What Is Social History - 1504 Words

What is Social History? Take 2 Social History is a vast term that very closely ties into the concept of history as a whole. The use of social history is necessary when it comes to fully understanding the past. Many nonfiction books and movies carry the essence of social history to give the viewers a deeper perspective of major issues. Social history is the use of personal stories that shed light on dominant issues by building public awareness. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson uses personal stories to help highlight the major issue of the cruelty of homicide and publicizes it though the Chicago World’s Fair. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Fair during which a man named H.H. Holmes became known as one of America’s first†¦show more content†¦For a while, Holmes told them that she had gone out of town to be with some family. Later, the truth got out and people spread it around the city creating awareness of the issue. Mrs. Holton was one of Holmes’ many victims and her tragic story has added another perspective to the issue of homicide. After this book was published, the many that read it became more aware of the cruelty of homicide. The different perspectives included allow people to comprehend the history of Chicago and realize that anyone can encounter this type of situation. Therefore, social history is seen in this book because her personal story as well as the all other victims’ stories gave Larson’s audience an insight of the events and about the issues conferred. Holmes’ story was put into this book to give the readers an understanding of the events that took place during the time of the Chicago World’s Fair. With this understanding, the audience is able to further realize how cruel homicide is and that one must be careful when interacting with strangers. This publication was recognized by thousands and acted as an aid to spread awareness of the matter. The movie Titanic is based off of the personal stories of several people who were on the ship; it expresses the importance of safety precautions and assisted in spreading awareness of the issue. Though the main characters in the movie were fictional, there were five characters that were based off of real people who were on the ship. Margaret