ІСТОРИЧНА НАУКА У ХАРКОВІ 50–60-х рр. ХХ ст.

The article offers an overview of changes that have occurred in research works of Kharkiv’s historians in the 1950-1960s, a period which saw liberalization of public life and which went down in history as the Khrushchev Thaw. New areas of scientific research of Kharkiv`s scholars were shown. Publications that saw light during that period were evaluated.

After the 20^th Congress of the CPSU which denounced the cult of Joseph Stalin’s personality, work has continued on a series of essays titled The History of Factories and Manufacturing Plants. For that purpose, author collectives comprised of dozens of historians and social scientists were created at Kharkiv’s higher education institutions. They used a large number of archive sources, recollections of veterans and people who participated in events of those years. A whole number of essays devoted to history of Kharkiv’s enterprises combine a popular form and scientific text.

To be sure, the most outstanding work in the field of social science was publication of the 26-volume History of Cities and Villages of the Ukrainian SSR. This huge work was created by thousands of authors with the help from the public, local lore researchers, journalists, pedagogues, historians and archivists supported by research institutes.

Kharkiv`s historians made their contribution to this publication, too. In terms of its factual and scientific base, this fundamental work remains unmatched even today.