In the course Primary Research Through the History of Beverly, taught by W. Dean Eastman at Beverly High School in Beverly, Massachusetts, research is incorporated into students' learning opportunities.

The goal of the class is not necessarily for students to learn a chronological history of their hometown; rather, Beverly's history is used as a vehicle for understanding contexts of both the history of the nation and the world. The "primary research" aspect of the class is the focus, as students gain understanding of what it means to be historians, to conduct original research and write original papers.

This class is offered in a "history laboratory environment", where for example students learn about archaeology through field study in a archaeological pit built on the school grounds, or use an educational archives on the school grounds to discover aspects of the public schools at particular periods in history, or even rise at dawn to meet at local cemetaries to learn about Puritan gravestones and their meaning. These and other topics that students have researched in this class are offered on this website as examples of this approach to learning history.

This hands on approach to primary research makes history come alive through its own investigation!

W. Dean Eastman. "Primary research Through Local History at Beverly High School, Massachusetts." Local History Magazine 77: Jan/Feb 2000.