This manual is a helpful guide for historians of every level, Chapter, District as well as the International. Some of this information was gleaned from the 1987 edition of the manual and updated. We are indebted to two historians of the first order, Dean Snyder and Wilbur Sparks, for their service and contributions to this instruction manual.

There is a great deal of information here. All historians can find something of use. It is our hope this will point you in the proper direction and be a constant reference.

We are confident that, if the job is done right, your members will benefit from and appreciate your efforts of preserving our heritage.

A Manual Guide for All Historians by Grady Kerr Click here to download manual

The Role of Society Historians The International Historian, Dean Snyder, summarized the historian’s role and function as follows: "The role of an historian is more than being a mere recorder of events. If he is true to his profession, he is also an evaluator. His study permits him to distinguish trivial events from important ones. To recognize great ‘turning points’ and to form judgments regarding decisions made in the light of their effectiveness to meet the needs of the times. People make history and so, to some extent, the historian is also a biographer, describing and comparing the effectiveness of leaders and leadership. Thus we have three basic roles: Recorder, Evaluator and Biographer. In a private membership organization such as this Society, the historian can limit his attention to these basics. Or he can go farther. He can include a role of Promoter. Even in a society with the key word, Preservation in its title, our history will never get the attention it deserves without promotional effort."