ASKING QUESTIONS, GETTING ANSWERS

Student historians begin with what they already know. Make a careful inventory of everything you have ascertained beforehand about the person, place, event, or artifact you are researching. Use the old newspaper reporter's "Who-What-When-Where-Why" approach to ask yourself the relevant questions. The process is well worth the time you will invest on it, as you discover the missing pieces for your future research.

Off-air recordings and downloaded files can be used free-of-charge beginning November 1, 2026 through November 30, 2029.

This guide for educators offers an instructional outline for teaching students critical interviewing skills. It was authored by Syd Golston, a much honored educator, mentor and the former president of the National Council for the Social Studies.

Questions for the biography of a person:

Who?

1.  What is this person's full name? (Are there alternate spellings of his name? Was there more than one person in your community who shared this same name?)

2. Who were his parents, children, or other family members? What defines him or gives him identity - family, education, religion, profession, social class - and what do you know about these aspects?

3. Do you have a photograph or portrait of him?

What?

1.  Which events or conditions in this person's life can you document?  Where are the gaps?

2. Have you seen records or narratives that included him?

3. In what ways does he fit into what you know about the larger history of the region, state, or nation?

When?

1. What are the person's accurate birth and death dates?

2. Which people in your community were his contemporaries?

3. Which events occurred when he was alive?

Where?

1. What were the person's accurate addresses?

2. Do you know where he lived and worked at different times of his life, and what characterized these locales?

Why?

1. Which interpretations of this man's experiences can you already make?

2. How have others analyzed him?

For the description of a place:

Who?

1. Who lived or worked at this site?  Who visited it?

2. Who owned the property over time?

What?

1. Which events or conditions occurred here that you can already document?

2. Have you seen records or narratives that included it?

3. Do you have photographs or pictures of it, or artifacts from here?

4. In what ways does this site fit into the larger history of the region, state, or nation?

When?

1. In what month and year was this place settled or built?

2. How has it changed over time?

3. What were other places in the vicinity like at this time?

Where?

1. Do you have maps of this site, or enough information to construct your own map?

Why?

1. Has anyone else interpreted the development or importance of this site?

For the study of an event:

Who?

1. Who were the participants is the event?

2. Who was affected by the event, both directly and indirectly, whether or not he was actually present?

What?

1. What were the step by step developments of this event?

2. Have you seen records or first person narratives that described what happened?

3. Do you have photographs or pictures of it, or artifacts connected with the event?

4. In what ways did this occurrence influence or reflect the larger history of the region, state, or nation?

When?

1. Do you know the accurate dates for this occurrence?

2. What was happening at the same time as this event, in the region, state, nation, and world?

Where?

1. Can you locate this event precisely?

2. Do you have photographs, pictures, of maps of the locale?

Why?

1. What were the motivations of the participants?

For the analysis of an artifact:

Who?

1. Who made/sold/used this object?

2. Can you document its provenance (= the chain of ownership of the artifact)?

What?

1. How was the object used?

2. Of what is it made?

3. How was it manufactured or crafted?

4. How much did it cost, if it was purchased?

5. Do you have pictures of it?

6.  Have you seen records or narratives which include this object or ones like it? 

7. How did it figure in the larger picture of societal events or conditions?

When?

1. When did the artifact come into being?

2. What was the time span of its use?

3. What were related contemporary objects like?

Where?

1. Where was the artifact made/sold/used?

Why?

1. How does this artifact define or explain the conditions of the period in which you find it?

Other Resources:

Compiling your inventory reveals some next steps to you. You will know better how to fill out a request form at a historical society, archive, museum, or library, and to shape your search. There are many sources of historical information to consult.

"Finding Guides" for communities

Cities and towns have sometimes anticipated researchers' resource needs and have done much of the legwork for you. Make sure you don't reinvent the wheel! Public and private holdings are described in these guides.

State histories

Especially on significant anniversaries, like centennials of settlement or admission to the union, states compile or revise their official histories. Local archives generally have these on their shelves.

Community histories, town guidebooks or tour books

Your municipality probably has several items like this. Some are written recently but will review the history of your community; even better, some date from the very past eras you are researching.

Newspapers

Your community newspaper is "the first rough draft of history," composed when events and their details were at their freshest  and most accessible. In addition, newspaper files provide annals of social history - what people bought, wore, ate, read, enjoyed. Few things bring the time period to life as well as the newspaper.

WPA County Surveys and the American Guide Series

You've had an opportunity to see the exhaustive collection of information and folklore in the guidebooks. A vast majority of all the communities in the United States are discussed in them, however briefly. You can get the old County Surveys at record offices in the county seats, but often locally as well.

Census Records

At larger libraries you can read the federal government's census records, which were compiled every ten years beginning in 1790, on microfilm. States have also done census collecting in the middle of each decade, to provide more accurately for the needs of growing and shifting populations.

Maps

Insurance companies have mapped towns and cities since the 19th century, to determine fire insurance rates. The most famous of the mapmakers they employed was the Sanborn Map Company. Many cities' old Sanborn maps are kept in records offices and historical societies. All levels of government also prepare maps - from town street maps to the topographical maps of the U.S. Geological Society.

City Telephone and Business Directories

Historical societies and archives keep these. The advertisements in them, as well as the listings, may be helpful to you.

Photographs

Towns and businesses keep photographs - and people certainly do. A well labeled photograph is often a bonanza to the researcher.  Photo archives in official sites are only one source for photographs; private scrapbooks are excellent, too (see below) - although they may not be as well labeled as the photographs in the archives.

Yearbooks, Church and Club Annuals

Here you may have better luck outside the official archives. You can go directly to churches, high schools, colleges, or service clubs for their own collections. High school yearbooks often survive longer than other sources, since they are keepsakes for their owners.

Business Records

Often these outlast personal records. Businesses store better records than private citizens, if only because they may need them for taxes or lawsuits.

Journals, Letters, and Papers

These survive often for well known citizens, but can also be located for ordinary people. Most of us find these the best reading of all; reading a diary is much more compelling than reading an account of the same event in a newspaper, although it may not be as accurate.

Genealogies

The popularity of researching your ancestors has increased resources for history students tremendously. Much of this information has been directly published on the internet. (See bibliography) The Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the world's largest source of genealogical information.

Artifacts and Memorabilia

Keepsakes and family heirlooms are often chosen by students to research. However, industrial objects from factories, farms, or mines may be equally intriguing. Don't overlook the large artifacts which blend into the scenery: telephone poles, railroad tracks, old graffiti on rocks. (The latter is a habit Americans have had for centuries - not just recently.)

People

You will receive suggestions about living sources almost immediately in your research. Be sure to record each lead and follow it up.