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The
following excerpts are from the National
Archives and Records Administration web site.
"Students
can benefit in several ways from researching their
school's history. . . This is history that is near
at hand and that has a direct connection to their
lives."
--Larry
J. Hackman, New York State Archivist, 1985
(Today Mr. Hackman is the Director of the Harry S.
Truman Library).
Do you
have photographs of the victory gardens that
students in your school planted and tended during
World War II?
What
evidence exists in your school or community that
illustrates the impact of the 1954 Supreme Court
decision in Brown vs. Board of Education?
Does an
old filing cabinet hold copies of letters that
your students wrote to President and Mrs.
Eisenhower in 1958 concerning the admission of
Alaska into the Union?
Did the
science curriculum in your school change during
the years when NASA's Apollo Program was being
carried out?
Schools
produce rich historical records. Yearbooks, school
lunch menus, flyers promoting dances or student
elections, photographs, letters, issues of the
school newspaper, and other items document not
only the history of the school, but also often
reflect the history of the community, state, or
nation. Developing a school archives provides a
valuable service-learning opportunity for students
and creates a lasting legacy from which future
students will benefit.
A school
archives is different from an official school
records system. Most school districts have an
established record-keeping system for official
records, which includes record-keeping guidelines,
a records officer, and a records center or other
storage facility. A school archives can take on
many characteristics and serve many purposes--but
it will not replace the official record-keeping
systems.
A school
archives or historical collection should serve two
primary purposes:
- Be a
repository for the collection and preservation
of historically valuable documents relating to
the history of the school or the community,
which otherwise would be lost.
- Constitute
an element of a program for teaching
research-related skills to students.
For more
information about a school archives program visit
the National
Archives and Records Administration
site.
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