Activities of local historians on conservation historical and cultural heritage of the Kursk province during the civil war

Introduction. The local history movement, which was formed on a voluntary basis in the Russian Empire, was placed in difficult conditions during the Civil War: a fratricidal war, which did not spare human lives, also destroyed the country’s historical and cultural values. This served as an impetus for the activation of the activity of local historians in the center, and especially in the localities. In the center are active figures of local lore S. F. Oldenburg and V. P. Semenov-Tian-Shansky called on the intelligentsia to make efforts to preserve cultural values maximumly; the All-Russian Collegium for Museums and the Preservation of Antiquities was created as part of the People’s Commissariat of the RSFSR, which included, inter alia, the famous artists I. E. Grabar, A. V. Grishchenko, K. S. Malevich. In the provinces, local historians united into the Academic Archival Commissions. They fought against the robbery of noble estates, collected and preserved cultural and historical values, and organized educational conversations. Methods. the solution of the research problems was provided by a set of interconnected theoretical (analysis of scientific literature, comparative analysis, comparison, generalization, systematization) and empirical (study and generalization of sources, hermeneutic) methods. Results. The local history movement in the Soviet Russia was placed under the control of the state authorities. During the Civil War local historians performed the function of preserving the cultural and historical heritage, organized another area of work - the history of studying the activities of the Bolshevik party on the fieldwork. Conclusion. The dedicated work of members of local history organizations in extreme conditions helped to save many cultural heritage objects from destruction: in the Kursk province, for example, the noble estates of the Nelidovs, Baryatinsky, Yusupovs and others. They managed to maintain the personnel of the organizations. Their budget even existed, which indicates a high organization of their work.