Historical Site Studies

Conducting an historical site study

Site studies are important in the study of history. The CD-ROM, The Snowy: an historical site study, will take you through the steps of investigating an historically significant site. The notes explain how to conduct a site study and use the CD-ROM as well as introducing the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme.

What is a site study?

A site study is where an historian investigates a particular place in order to understand its economic, political, social and cultural history. A site study may be conducted on a particular building, street or even a town. However, the larger the area, the more work for the historian.

You will be investigating the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme (The Scheme) for your site study. There are four main stages of conducting an historical investigation of a site.

These are:

1planning

2research

3a visit to the site (fieldwork)

4the presentation of findings.

Why do site studies?

Site studies are an important part of an historian’s work. Investigating a site enables an historian to gather their own evidence from which they form opinions. Studying specific places and structures can help an historian better understand the economic, political, social or cultural history of a society.

Your investigation of The Scheme will involve not only studying the evidence the CD-ROM provides, but also conducting your own research to gather information to help you form an opinion about how the Snowy Mountains site has changed over time.

In this way, the site study will allow you to demonstrate historical skills you have learned.

Evidence

Both primary and secondary evidence help you understand about the people, places and events in Australian history.

/ Activity 1
Complete the table by classifying the following pieces of evidence as either primary or secondary.
Item / Type of evidence
a diary entry
a chapter from a history book
a television documentary about World War I
a fossil
a student’s model of the Gallipoli landing
a coin
a photo of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy taken in 1972
/ Check your responses by going to the ‘Suggested answers’section.

When conducting a site study, primary and secondary, written and non-written evidence is required to help an historian understand how the site has changed over time. If you are able to visit the Snowy Mountains Scheme yourself, you will be able to study the buildings, roads and other structures first-hand. However, for those not able to visit the site, The Snowy: an historical site study will provide you with photographs of many different aspects of life on The Snowy.

A sample site study

Many schools choose to conduct an historical investigation of a local cemetery. Graveyards are a wonderful source of information for historians.

Imagine you have conducted a site study of a local graveyard. Below you will find a table of findings from your imaginary cemetery.

/ Activity 2
Complete the table by writing what this information tells you about the site.
Information found / What this information tells you
There are 130 graves. The oldest is dated 1842. The most recent grave is dated 1902.
The Catholic section of the cemetery has the most graves.
Most of the names on the graves such as O’Brien and Fogarty are Irish.
There are 20 graves dated 1900 where the cause of death was listed as the Bubonic Plague.
/ Check your responses by going to the ‘Suggested answers’section.

Several assumptions can be made based on the evidence the cemetery site provides. However, it is very important to undertake additional research of the site. By researching the cemetery and local area through additional non-written evidence and written sources, an historian is able to gather further evidence to support or dispute the assumptions made from the fieldwork.

How to conduct a site study?

There are many different ways to conduct a site study. Often the method depends on what the historian is investigating. However, as indicated earlier, there are a number of steps all historians take during the process.

/ Activity 3
Recall the four main steps an historian takes during a site study.

______

/ Check your responses by going to the ‘Suggested answers’section.

1Planning

Before going to a site, an historian must know what they are looking for. An historical site study is not just a walk around an area looking at old buildings and other features. A site study is conducted with a purpose in mind. For example, an historian may be trying to work out where the original main street of a town was, or which cultural groups have impacted on the area. An historian may also wish to determine how the use of the site has changed over time.

Our site study

Let’s have a look at our site study assignment.

How did construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme change both the physical environment of the Snowy Mountains and the lives of the people who lived and worked there?

In your answer refer to at least one town and one person.

/ Think about the words in the question. If you are unsure of any of their meanings, look up a dictionary.

2Research

Usually before visiting a site, an historian spends time researching the area in which the site is located. Information may come in a variety of forms. An historian may use both primary and reliable secondary evidence to provide background knowledge of both the site and the people who used it.

Much of this information will be written evidence, such as old building plans, maps, newspaper articles and electoral rolls. However, non-written evidence, such as sketches of the area and photographs, will also prove valuable.

/ Activity 4
In the box below, jot down some types of evidence that would help you investigate the economic, political, social and cultural history of a site. A couple have already been done for you.
maps
letters
web sites
/ Check your responses by going to the ‘Suggested answers’section.

An historian may find their information in a variety of places. As well as using libraries and the Internet, an historian may contact (usually by writing letters or emails) local historical societies, government departments, local councils, The National Archives of Australia and possibly businesses and residents from the site. The websites listed within the ‘Bibliography’will help.

An historian is careful when recording their research to ensure they keep a record of where the information came from (title, author and publishing details). This is necessary, as they must acknowledge any sources used, generally in a bibliography.

3Field work

Once an historian has decided on the purpose of the investigation and has researched the area thoroughly, they are ready to visit the site.

Armed with a plan of what to look for, an historian will walk around the area to examine the site closely. They must be careful not to damage, move or disturb any part of the site, as places or sites and the objects within them are important to our heritage.

Depending on what the historian is looking for, they may plan their site visit in a number of ways. Some examples of visits to a site include:

•an historian researching ways a building has been used during its history. When the historian visits the site, they will look for evidence of this earlier use.

•investigating a local cemetery. Some of the things an historian may be looking for could include evidence of the dominance of a particular religious group or evidence of any epidemics that killed a large number of people around the same time. An historian may also wish to investigate if the increase in cremations in the post-war period impacted on the local cemetery.

Our site study will involve researching changes that occurred because of the construction of The Snowy Mountains Scheme. Your research could take quite a while. When it is time to visit the site, through the CD-ROM, you will be looking for evidence of these changes. It will take several hours to study the material that is presented on the CD-ROM.

4Presentation of findings

After the historian has visited the site, they may need to do further research, as the site study may have raised additional questions in the historian’s mind about the site. Once they have completed this research, they will present their findings.

Generally historians do this either by writing an article for a newspaper or historical journal, or they may present a paper at a conference or university.

Your site study

The presentation of your findings after you have studied The Snowy Mountains Scheme will be up to you, in consultation with your teacher of course! Your teacher may be using the site study as an assessment task or you may be asked to plan and conduct your own historical site study as an assessment task after you have finished The Snowy CD-ROM and learned how to conduct your own investigation.

Some ideas for your presentation include:

•an essay

•an oral report

•a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation

•a project

•a series of posters.

Start thinking of how you wish to present the findings of your site study.

/ Complete Exercises 1 and 2.

Your site study

By navigating your way around the CD-ROM, you will have discovered that there is a variety of sources and information about The Scheme, especially its impact on the towns of Adaminaby, Cabramurra and Cooma. The CD-ROM also provides information about the people who were affected by construction of The Scheme. These things will help you conduct your site study of The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme.

Step-by-step

You have learnt the main steps an historian has to take in order to complete an historical site study. The Snowy CD-ROM has been structured to provide you with current sources and information, and evidence from the past. This information will help you form an opinion about how construction of The Scheme changed the local area and the people living and working there.

/ Activity 5
Complete the following table by writing what you have done towards your site study so far.
Step 1 — Planning
What are you looking for in your investigation of The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme?
Step 2 — Research
Where have you found information to help you in your site study?
/ Check your responses by going to the ‘Suggested answers’section.

Your investigation

Now that the research step is in progress, you should begin your actual investigation of The Snowy site.

Keep in mind your purpose in studying The Snowy. The best way to do this is to devise a study sheet or questionnaire, which directs you to look for things that will help you complete your major task.

Have another look at the major task.

How did construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme change both the physical environment of the Snowy Mountains and the lives of the people who lived and worked there?

In your answer refer to at least one town and one person.

The question directs you to refer to at least one town and one person. This means that although you will provide some general information in your response about how the entire area and its people changed, you will also need to include specific information about at least one town and one person.

The towns investigated on the CD-ROM are: Adaminaby, Cabramurra and Cooma. Joe Schweiger, Allan McGrath and Ena Berents are the personalities.

Ideas

Some of the things you may wish to focus on during your study of the Snowy Mountains area could include:

•the size of the town(s) and how it/they changed

•Indigenous Australians who originally lived in the area

•the changes in the area, for example, population make-up, buildings, infrastructure and the countryside, roads built for the SMA

•the impact of post-war immigration on the area

•the ways in which The Scheme affected different groups such as women and children

•the impact of The Scheme on the environment.

/ Now it’s time for you to study the site by using the CD-ROM.
Don’t forget to use the map button to familiarise yourself with the specific locations you are investigating.

Presenting your findings

After you have researched the site, the final step in your site study is to present your findings. This is where you give your opinion about how both the physical environment of the Snowy Mountains and the people who lived and worked there were changed by the construction of The Snowy Mountains Scheme.

Previously you were asked to begin talking to your teacher about the way you were going to present the findings of your research.

/ Think about it!
How have you decided to present your findings?

•as an essay

•as an oral report

•as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation

•as a project

•as a series of posters

/ You should now have spent some time researching and conducting your site study. Think about what you have done and tick the columns in the following table to indicate your progress.
Task / Yes / No / Started
Do you know the purpose of your site study?
Have you researched The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme and its impact on the landscape and people of The Snowy?
Did you get your research materials from a variety of sources? For example, books, newspapers, the Internet, oral history, the CD-ROM?
Have you studied the site itself, either through a field trip or by using the CD-ROM?
Have you collected information from the actual site (or CD-ROM) to help you form an opinion about the changes to both the physical environment and people of The Snowy?
/ If you have answered ‘Yes’to all of these questions then you are ready to work on your presentation and complete your site study. Good luck!

Exercises — Historical site study

Exercise 1

Answer the following questions based on what you have learnt in this lesson.

1Write down your main purpose in conducting a site study of The Snowy Mountains Scheme.

______

2How do you plan to research The Snowy Mountains Scheme and its impact on the local area and people?

______

Now it’s time to start researching! Be aware that this process could take some time, especially if you have to wait for replies to letters and emails that you have written to various organizations.