Focus on Theme: What is it about my hometown?

I would suggest — what is it about your hometown?  I’ve three books published involving Johnstown.  A few years back, I thought it was just going to be one, the Johnstown Industry work.  That was what I had described in an interview as a love letter to the place of my birth; I really did think that it was going to be it.  

And yet — here we are.

I also mentioned in that interview something I still think is true.  That is a recognition of the sheer magnitude and number of stories that every city holds, from the very smallest town to the very largest.  Of course, not all those stories or that history is truly accessible and that is something that is truly lost.  The point instead is to preserve what there is left, and to honor the people who built it.  This isn’t a plea for aggressive and over-the-top preservationism so much as a nod in the direction of recognition for those who came before us.

Johnstown’s attractive attributes for history writing are made, just like the constraints of the books themselves, from its limitations.  It is a small city, smaller now than it has been in more than 130 years.  Many of its important records, at least those from the 19th century, were destroyed in the 1889 flood.  There is, however, enough remaining, and certainly enough physical culture itself, to still have something.  And the confines of these limitations tend to focus the mind and layers of inquiry; there is a story here.  One need only suss it out.

While I’m talking about this topic, it’s important to note that I recognize that not everyone is going to be interested in the history of where they came from.  I was in that exact camp for much of my life; it might be too much of an overstatement to say I had no interest in it. I can say that there were plenty of areas that interested me more (see my previous blog entry about my toying with the idea of the Knights Templar for a dissertation topic!)  The point instead is twofold – one, trust your instincts in that if you do feel a pull toward it, then move in that direction and two, understand and accept that there is without question deep realms of exploration that can be fruitful and immensely satisfying to traverse (as long as you can reach it.)

For the second book, Johnstown Waters, I already had the experience with the first one.  I had a contract in hand from The History Press to pursue it, and I had already reached out to the main source, the Cambria Somerset Authority (LINK) to see if I was going to be able to secure access to their resources.  I had already explored electronic and online resources as well, such as Newspapers.com.  This is also where I reached the exact opposite problem normally confronting me when dealing with local history; it’s not that I couldn’t find a source. 

It’s that there were way too many.  When I was combing through the CSA archives, I quickly realized that there were materials in there that could sustain several dissertations and countless other works.  The problem came down to what can be used and what couldn’t be used, despite its relative merit. 

The answer?  The constraints.  I still had a word count limit, a photography limit, and the realities of publishing.  The other constraint was determining that theme, the arc of the narrative itself.  Entrepreneurs like to reference concepts such as the MVP – the minimum viable product.  What you’re looking to do with that narrative arc is not necessarily the minimum, at least from looking at it as the reader, but you are looking to get by with the leanest construction that you can marshal, in order to get the narrative, story, and relevant ideas to your reader.  For Johnstown Industry, it was the contrast of past and present industrial areas, and the effects of change.  For Johnstown Waters, it was the chronological story of these overlooked resources, the reservoirs, and the story of their beginning, development, and their own role and place in the changes over time. All of these had to be done within a set of requirements and specifications.

We can see now how things came together, at least for me.  One has a source, one has a re-source, one has constraints, and one has a narrative arc.