The Task

Sixth National History Competition (2009-2010)

So, the object of your research could be public places of memory (memorials, memorial complexes etc. – old or completely new), together with the practices that make these places alive. They could be of national significance, but also to be part of the life of the smaller communities. Document the evidences about those places and the practices of the contemporaries about them. Search for information about the establishment of the place, about the first commemoration. You may use the same approach when researching places and personalities. Be curious not only about what happened in the Past, but how we remember it – when this particular event or personality becomes part of the official, community or family history, when its/their celebrations started and how they exist in the life of the community.

The aim of your competition work is to make a research that means to collect materials and documents about the place, event or personality, chosen by you. You can use public and private archives, press, and personal stories of contemporaries or to document by yourself the places and the practices, creating your own pictures or videos. The next step is to analyze all the collected information and to write how your facts show the connections between the Past and the Present. When you analyse these three main questions could help you:

What do we aim to find in the Past and how the Past finds its way into the Present?

This question will show which of the aims that belong to the Present make the interest about an event, personality or place from the Past and how it comes back to life.

The whims of the memory or what do we remember from the Past?

Because of the fact that memory is dependant by the motives of the Present sometimes it will consciously “forget”, or change or reject some details from the Past. If you find what is forgotten, this will help you answer the question about the present motives to remember the Past.

Is the Past that we wish it to be?

Is there nostalgia? How does the ideal Past look like? Do not forget that the Past is appraised. The memory is either joyful or sad. And this will determine the story about the Past, especially when your sources are personal stories.