Reading Local: Why?

Some people have tall stacks of books they haven’t read yet. I have a long list of blog posts I haven’t written yet. I may even be a hoarder.

There’s plenty of local stories at any given moment. And, honestly, there are many I don’t know anything about. If there were community blogs for Western HoCo, or Elkridge, Fulton/Maple Lawn and so on, I’d read them. In many ways EC Pix is close to being that community “blog” for Ellicott City, which is why I like it so much.

In a similar vein, Howard County Lynching Truth and Reconciliation uses extant primary sources to tell the stories of local Black residents who lived here long ago and whose lives were not deemed worthy of attention. I thought of how much I had learned from reading their posts when I toured the Harriet Tubman School and Cultural Center last week.

I’m fascinated by local stories. And I know my area of expertise is mostly Columbia with an Oakland Mills focus. This is probably why I’m so determined right now to learn for about Elkridge, for example. I know that I have so much more to learn.

Quite by accident I learned that there used to be an actual newspaper called The View which covered Ellicott City and Western Howard County. The View was owned and operated by Phyllis Greenbaum and Pete Cook, who sold it to Patuxent Publishing in order to open a coffee shop.

Ooh, a coffee shop. Now there’s a great place to hear local stories.

Are local stories important to you? If yes, why? If no, why not? I’m curious. Also, what’s the biggest local story right now in Columbia/HoCo?

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Request: I’m looking for local answers to this question for an upcoming post. The more, the merrier.

Respond through the blog or in the comments. Thanks!

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