In studying great themes in history, it is all too easy to forget that the United States is made up of individuals, and that these individuals were people not entirely unlike ourselves. An understanding of the lives of individuals—the sentiments and motivations of those people who “made history happen”—is crucial in understanding the greater events of U.S. (and Ohio ) history. Our feature article in this edition of the Northeast Ohio Journal of History helps us to remember this simple truth. In “ Lucy Markerly: A Case Study of an Englishwoman's Immigration to the Western Reserve in the 1830s,” John Nelson uses the individual experiences of one of the multitudes of people who flocked to the United States in the early 1800s to draw attention to such larger themes as the immigration experience, gender roles, religion, and assimilation. In so doing, this single story helps the reader keep sight of the fact that there is no single story to the history of immigration.
While you are visiting the journal, please take the time to drop by our new discussion board. Taking advantage of the technology available to us as an electronic journal, we believe this new feature will make our journal more interactive and serve to engender substantive debate, discussion, and exchange of information for all people interested in the history of Ohio .
In addition to the usual book reviews, we also encourage the reader to explore the other features of our site. For those who missed earlier issues, please visit our "Archives" link, which contains the entire contents of previous volumes. We have expanded our "Research Links" feature, adding not only more primary sources but also more links to local historical agencies. We strongly encourage the reader to suggest or send new links for this page. The same is true for items in "Current History," which is a clearinghouse for information on events of a historical nature in Northeast Ohio . Because we update this section constantly, please feel free to send announcements for it at any time.
We would also like to remind our readers that printer-friendly versions accompany each article and review. These PDF files are not only easier on the eyes when printed, but also contain basic issue data and page numbers for convenience in citation.
As always, please address any inquiries about this project (or about any other aspect of the journal) to the editor at kkern@uakron.edu . We welcome all comments and suggestions.
Kevin Kern
