Saturday, August 4, 2018

Reviewing Historical Accuracy Through Digitized Yearbooks, Newspapers, Or Magazines

By Susan Baker


As the technology gains momentum, everything from hospitals to police departments to educational institutions are scanning their records into digital files. This allows for greater clarity as well as enlargement of photographic images. For a fee, any private citizen is able to obtain old newspaper articles, magazines, or digitized yearbooks.

People who are looking into their ancestry may wish to get obtain a yearbook from their parents or grandparents in order to see what they looked like, and what clubs and honors they may have received. This helps give them a more complete history of their family, and gives life to stories they may have heard. It can be especially beneficial for those who were adopted, or lost their parents early in life.

These days one might even be able to access copies of diplomas, awards, and even old shipping documents going back into antiquity can help us trace the movements of our ancestors. When one combines their DNA history with the movements of their family, as told by relatives, it truly gives life to the stories. This can also provide researchers with data on the spread of diseases that seem to run in certain families.

Writers find these services to be of great benefit to their profession. An entire genre of novels known as Historical Fiction has cropped up in the past twenty years. In order to ensure historical accuracy, these writers often must obtain documents and photographs going back to the very early explorers setting sail in antiquity to seek their fortunes and claim lands for Queen and Country.

Politicians beware, as old records can be obtained to reveal misdeeds in their past, giving a shadow over their perceived integrity. Anyone with skeletons in their closet who seeks to run for a public office should expect their history to be exposed by independent journalists making a name for themselves. The public has a right to know the real truth about anyone they are expected to vote for.

It is not uncommon for a reporter to do an expose on a candidate that is entirely biased and intended to make that candidate look better than they are. This is where many private citizens conducting research, obtaining documents, and keeping these records for prosperity become heroes. Biased political writing must be exposed in order for citizens to have any real power in the political process.

Anyone who has lost a family member to a crime which remains unsolved are encouraged to pursue digital copies of past investigations. Fresh eyes on an old case can reveal a great deal about a crime, and might even be able to solve it decades later. A murder half a century old can still be solved, and sometimes the guilty party can still be made to pay for their atrocity.

Every private citizen now has the power to create a true and accurate picture of their family history. All histories combined become the real story behind the watered-down and misrepresented white-wash taught in schools. While original documents may have notations and other details that are lost forever, a digital copy can at least tell a clearer truth and illuminate the darkness of the past.




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