Originally Posted by
Joseph Svinth
Once you've established a general outline, then, as you know names and towns, my recommendation is to start looking at the newspaper archives.
Start with the obvious, meaning advertisements for schools, articles about teachers, etc. At the same time, follow the people as if doing standard genealogical research. That is, include marriages, divorces, day job activities, university or high school yearbook entries, arrests, and all that sort of thing. Poohbahs are people, same as anybody else, and their mundane activities often explain things that seem otherwise inexplicable.
Follow the money, too. Okay, it's not always dollars, pounds, and euros, but there is some kind of reward here. Maybe it's cash. Maybe the guy likes little kids (any sense of the phrase you want). Maybe he's interested in building character (which has lots of meanings, too). Perhaps he has political ambitions. For example, read up on Oswald Mosely and jiujitsu. (Now there is an unwritten history. Not undocumented, mind you, just unwritten.)
See if there are government mentions. Business licenses are one way to document. If you incorporated, then you signed up with the county, city, or whomever to pay taxes. Even if you taught out of the rec center, there were probably flyers. In addition, were there lawsuits, opening day events, advertisements? What was the dojo street address? When did it move from one location to another? What caused the move? What's there now? Did they buy or rent property? That sort of thing.
Finally, see if you can find family members and former business partners. You definitely want to talk to Poohbah's sisters, mother, and so on. Why? Because in most societies, the Aunties are the Official Keepers of The Family Archives and if Poohbah annoys the Aunties, then his holiday get-togethers get pretty embarrassing for, oh, the next 70 years or so.