On October 16, 2015, people gathered in Special Collections to hear Curator of Rare Books, Beth Kilmarx, and Professor of History, Sean Dunwoody, speak at the A Day in the Life: Painting a Picture of History event. Ms. Kilmarx spoke about using Special Collections and the collections we have available. Prof. Dunwoody spoke about using everyday sources for research to reveal an exciting story and how such sources have fueled his personal research.
Primary Sources are first-hand accounts of an event, a life, a moment in time. They provide a window into the past—unfiltered access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the specific period under study, produced by people who lived during that period. Primary sources require scholars to be analytical, to examine sources thoughtfully, and to determine what else they need to know to make inferences from the materials. They help scholars relate personally to events of the past, gaining a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events.
This event was made possible by generous support from the Stephen David Ross University and Community Projects Fund of the Binghamton University Foundation.