Although we have been asked to favor paper-based resources
for our reviews, I would like to present the online history journal/magazine, Common-place. According to the description, “a bit
friendlier than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular
magazine, Common-place speaks--and listens--to scholars, museum
curators, teachers, hobbyists, and just about anyone interested in American
history before 1900.” It goes on to say
that, rather than focusing on “great men and great events, Common-place
embraces the commonplace, or ordinary, in American life.” It is this that makes Common-place a unique
and worthy resource.
Each issue of Common-place
includes book reviews, a letter from the editor (called Publick Occurrences),
and a column called “Just Teach One,” in which a relatively obscure text is
featured as an educational material. “Object
Lessons” describe the history behind an object, including provenance, and the “Web
Library” feature is an annotated bibliography of web resources relating to
varying topics. Users can utilize a
search box to perform keyword searches, as well, using Boolean operators to
narrow returns.
Each issue also features relatively brief articles on
different topics in history, sometimes organized around a particular theme or
event, and other times simply relating to the period highlighted by the
magazine’s area of focus. Past themes
have included early American cities, Pacific routes, 19th-centurygraphics, and one issue entitled “A Cabinet of Curiosities,” in which articles focused on unusual items and, yes,
curiosity.
Articles can be contributed by any researchers, although the
vast majority of those who are published are post-secondary educators. History majors will recognize many names,
including Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Mary Beth Norton (both of whom appear multiple times), as being reputable and
authoritative in their fields of study.
Published pieces are immensely readable and include references, both paper-
and web-based, for further research.
As an undergraduate student in history at OSU, I frequently
turned to Common-place for research
ideas as well as materials to support my own theses. Later, post-graduation, I continued to turn
to Common-place for my reading
enjoyment. I imagine it to be the type
of work that scholars do for fun: research and writing in their preferred field
without the pressure of peer review. The
quality is high, as would be expected, but the writing is friendly and
fascinating. For those who do not
appreciate history, Common-place is a
possible antidote. For those who love
history (and I count myself among this group), Common-place is fun, fascinating, and extremely valuable.
I've always appreciated resources that attempt to shed more light on the everyday life aspects of history. It is so easy to get tied up in the major trends and events of the past that you sometimes lose sight of the fact that most people in history were just average, everyday people like ourselves. Often I feel as though the past gets sensationalized because our focus lies on major leaders or events; it is nice to have sources such as this one to help illuminate what else was happening at the time. I recently started reading a book called "Invisible Romans" which attempts to do the same; it foregoes descriptions of emperors and philosophers and instead focuses on everyday people: soldiers, housewives, slaves, etc. It is really quite fascinating.
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