4 Whole Number 227
Photocopies: (without any books) — 15 copies• about all of us, and those like us who have lived be-
included in the base fee plus $.25 per page
fore on our little planet. We are all a part of history.
afterwards
How we live, what we value and those things we en-
Extensive photocopies/r
joy, dislike or fear are all important parts of our story.
esearch requests. After•
the initial 15 minutes included in the base fee,
Unfortunately, the traditional teaching of history has
$20 per hour, billed in half-hour increments.
only focused on the big names, dates, events and
If we anticipate that a request will require additional
trends. Those were the pieces of information recorded
time (long photocopy requests, etc.) we will notify the by story tellers, stone table makers, diarists and latter
requestor by e-mail whenever possible.
day recorders of “the news.” We see this kind of em-
Non-Members are charged a $5 fee in addition to
phasis on the “big story” continuing to dominate our
member fees.
news today and the result is a meaningless parade of
shallow reports concerning the triumphs and disas-
Interlibrary Loan
The APRL also will provide materials to a member
ters in the lives of real and so-called celebrities. Anna
through the Interlibrary Loan System. If an item is
Nicole Smith, O. J. Simpson, Tiger Woods, Paris
requested through another library, and prepaid, the
Hilton, Barry Bonds, Alberto Gonzales, Martha
APRL will ship the item to that library. However, the
Stewart are all names that dominate our TV and print
borrowing library must make the request. An individual
“news”. Google any of these names and you will find
cannot request that an item be shipped to a library. The references such as 3 million entries for Anna Nicole
same user fees apply.
Smith, 7.5 million for O. J. Simpson and over 17 mil-
lion for Tiger Woods. How relevant are the stories we
Note: We do not lend books overseas. We sometimes
read and see about these celebrities to our own lives?
lend books to members in Canada, however, that is
usually cost-prohibitive (costs more than the value of the
What does that tell us about the relevance of histori-
materials), as we require the materials to be sent via
cal celebrities to the lives of common people—like
Registered Mail both ways.
us—who lived in earlier days?
There is a growing recognition among many of today’s
Availability of back numbers from Sherry Straley
historians that an effort should be made to preserve
experiences, knowledge and opinions of ordinary
Sherry acquired the entire supply of available La Posta
back numbers in 1997 and has received multiple copies
people who have participated in “significant histori-
of almost every number published over the past 10
cal events.” When I was a professor at New Mexico
years. She has faithfully stored this large volume of
State back in the mid-70s, the History Department
journals for us as a service to the postal history
launched a project they called the Local Oral History
community. Sherry charges very reasonable fees for both
Program. One of the first people that they were able
issues and shipping to our subscribers, with rates to interview in a series of taped sessions was the wife
varying according to numbers ordered. It is our hope of Pancho Villa—only 1.8 million Google hits by the
that you will use the APRL Index to find articles, then
way. I thought that was a brilliant idea! No doubt his-
contact Sherry as your first option to obtain original
torians working at other universities around the na-
back issues if possible. Her contact details are:
tion were undertaking similar projects.
Sherry Straley
In 1990 Ken Burns produced the first of his epic his-
2214 Arden Way #199
torical projects for TV using early photographs and
Sacramento CA 95825 (916) 359-1898
letters from the soldiers to tell the story of the Ameri-
E-mail:
collectibles@4agent.org
can Civil War from a whole new perspective. It earned
both critical acclaim and massive public support, and
Burns has since gone on to investigate such other
SOCIAL POSTAL HISTORY
American stories as jazz history, baseball and most
Many of today’s historians have come to understand
recently, World War II.
that their field of study is not just about political lead-
Other writers and story tellers have followed the lead
ers and military conflicts; cataclysmic natural and
of Ken Burns is using personal accounts from letters
man-made events; or even broad sweeping changes
and diaries to shed new light on historical events. Clint
in economic, social or religious systems. History is
Eastwood’s highly acclaimed Letters from Iwo Jima—
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