Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Resources for Writing Your Stories



Writing a good story isn't always a breeze, so here are a few resources to help you get started! Check out the video above for some great pointers on developing a strong narrative, and feel free to explore Spokane Historical for ideas on how to create your story. 
  1. Guidelines to Creating Stops: your one-stop-shop document on all the guidelines for creating a Spokane Historical Story
  2. Primary Resources Folder: here you will find a comprehensive guide to research resources and digitized copies of regional history materials including a book on Starbuck
  3. Photographic Resources: as you are researching and writing your story, a good thing to think about is how you can tell your story visually with images. Here are a few resources for images:
    1. Washington State Archives, Digital Archives 
    2. Local Libraries and University collections. Try searching the digital collections at WSU, EWU, and UW. Or See if any local libraries have photographic collections like the Spokane Public Library's Northwest Room
    3. Flickr
      Be sure you are looking for a Creative Commons License (once you've typed in your keyword you can narrow your search results). If you don't know what that is, come talk to Dr. Cebula or Anna. Otherwise, make sure you have permission of the owner to use the photograph!
    4. Google
      Like Flickr, try narrowing your search using search tools, click usage rights and select non-commercial reuse. You can also follow the link and see if you can contact the owner for these usage rights. 

Good luck you guys!

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Online Resources for Researching a House


  1. Washington State Digital Archives

    Use the name search on the homepage to find government documents on births, deaths, and census records (1910 and prior). You might even find a naturalization, prison, or military service record in these searches!
  2. Family Search

    This free version of Ancestry.com can be used to find all sorts of records, but mostly it is useful for finding an index of census records up to 1940.
  3. Historic Newspapers

    There are several sites that you can use to view historic articles about Spokane. These include Google News Archive, the Library of Congress' Chronicling America, and Legacy Washington's Historic Newspapers Collection.

    Use this handy document to figure out which website you need to use to find related articles.
     
  4. Spokane High School Yearbooks

    Update: You may go directly to this page at the Internet Archive for a better search engine for the yearbooks.

    The Spokane Public Library has recently digitized and uploaded yearbooks from around Spokane. These yearbooks are organized by school and year.
  5. Architectural Guides

    There are hundreds of sites that can help you determine your home's architectural style. The Washington State Department of Archaeology and History has a really good resource guide for determining architectural styles in Washington. This about.com article is also full of terrific images for determining your house's style. 

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Meeting at the Spokane Public Library

On April 23rd, HIST 407 will meet at the Northwest Room of the Spokane Public Library at 2:30 p.m. Bring a pencil and (if you have one) a camera. Prepare for your visit by exploring SPL's Digital Collections.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Free Jared Diamond Tickets

Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winning author, is lecturing at EWU and at the FOX on Thursday, April 23, 2015.  This opportunity is brought to the EWU and Spokane communities by the Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation, as part of their International Speaker Series.

I have attached posters for the two lecture events:  Collapse, Thursday, 1:00 pm, Showalter Auditorium; and, The World Until Yesterday, 7:00 pm, FOX Theater, Spokane. 

We have held back 300 FREE tickets for the EVENING lecture at the FOX – The World Until Yesterday - for EWU STUDENTS with CURRENT ID.  Tickets are available at the Reference Desk at the JFK Library on the Cheney Campus and at the Student Services Window, in Phase I at Riverpoint.  These tickets are for students, so please spread the word in your classes!   


The lecture Thursday afternoon on campus is FREE for all.  Tickets can be purchased by staff and faculty for the evening lecture at www.foxtheaterspokane.com.  They are only $15.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Readings for Tuesday

Esteemed Student:

I have updated the readings schedule, at least for the next two weeks. When you come to class Tuesday you will have a quiz and discussion on the following readings:

  • Kyving and Marty, chapters 1 and 2
  • Thrush, Native Seattle, Forward, Preface, chapters 1, 2, 3
  • Web: Waterlines Project (Don’t read every page, but be able to describe what this project is about and some of its interesting features.)

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Welcome to Class, Spring 2015 Edition

I am excited to be teaching my favorite class again this spring. I will be spending this week and weekend sprucing up this website, so you can ignore all the posts below this one!