Format for Papers

Guidelines for Authors in the Ghost Town Initiative

Every topic is unique, as is every author. Nevertheless, participation in the Ghost Town Initiative entails a commonality of purpose and organization. Authors are expected to observe the general guidelines for papers in HIST 710. In addition, this page provides more specific guidance for authors in the initiative.

Some Common Questions to Address

What people, events, and circumstances led to the founding of the town?

What people, events, and circumstances influenced its growth and development?

What were key physical features of the town?

What was life like in the town during its heyday?

Who were some memorable individuals and groups that characterized the town?

What were some interesting incidents in the history of the town?

What caused the town to decline and become a ghost town?

What physical features remain at the site?

Generic Outline for Ghost Town Papers
Introduction	Lead	Describe a pivotal incident in the history of the town*
	Thesis	Make a declarative statement about the rise and fall of the town
Background (drawing on secondary literature)	Towns on the plains	Survey the common reasons and processes for the establishment, evolution, and decline of towns
		Describe what life was like in towns on the plains
	Town type	Discuss the attributes of this type of town (inland town, railroad town, ethnic settlement, and so on)**
Body (drawing on primary research)	Origins	Describe settlement of the locality
		Relate founding of the town (and founders)***
		Describe early institutions and features
	Evolution	Establish periods of development, causes, demarcations
		Describe what life was like during these eras***
		Emphasize the heyday of the town****
	Local color	Tell about interesting people and incidents in the town’s history
	Decline and disappearance	Identify causes of decline (general and particular)*****
		Describe the decline
		Describe what remains of the town******
Conclusion	Confirm thesis
	Historiography	Relate your findings to those in the secondary literature on towns of the plains
	Memory	Identify the memory group(s) of the town and discuss its significance to them

*Choose an incident that relates to the thesis of the paper, so that you can make an easy transition to the thesis at the end of the introduction.

**Characterize the town, what type of town it is. This should be mentioned in your thesis statement and reprised in your conclusion.

***In treating the life of the town, be inclusive as to gender, age, race, and class.

****What was the heyday of the town? The time when the town has people, prosperity, and most of all, prospects, a sense of the future.

*****Professional historians emphasize general causes, such as farm consolidation, or the decline of railroads. Local people emphasize particular causes. Weigh each.

******Be sure that any extant features you describe here have been mentioned in the text above.

HIST 710