A Model for Humanities Detective Work

This is a detective story -- a two-fold story. On the one hand, it recounts my inquiry into the life of an ordinary woman. On the other, it tells the findings that emerged from my search. It is a description and a model of humanities detective work that probes all sorts of artifacts -- personal belongings, memorabilia, photographs and artworks, documents and personal papers, printed materials, toys, tools, work places, home furnishing and living quarters -- for clues to the life of someone who lived in another place and time. The detective work is the inquiry, the creative questioning, the unexpected clues found in unsuspected places, and the hunches, deductions, inferences, and imaginings those findings spawn.