New South Associates’ historians have researched cultural resources such as sites, buildings, landscapes, and objects in the southeast that date from the Spanish Colonial period to the Cold War. This research has been used in many ways, but primarily in the development of historic contexts. Context is critical to an understanding of a resource’s past and its cultural importance. They provide an important tool for the evaluation of a resource’s significance, laying out a road map for strong NRHP evaluations as well as future research. Good research can shape an archaeological data plan, create informed queries for use in an oral history project, and can provide baseline information that leads to strong landscape analysis. It can also lead to a better understanding of the breadth of resources that the American public value and why.