Hello, /r/AskHistorians!

Your wonderful mods have given me the go ahead to ask, so I'm here today hoping you can collectively point me in the right direction. I'm currently working on a project that requires me to have at least a slightly greater knowledge about the individual history of each State in the US. Now obviously I've found some great resources on government and historical society websites, and while I am working through them I was looking for a more...personal touch? I guess?

Basically I was hoping I could find a professional historian for each state that I could ask just a small handful of subjective and objective questions about their state's history. Unfortunately that's not as simple as googling "[Insert State] State Historian", apparently. So, I'm looking for recommendations! If you know of someone who has a wealth of knowledge about a particular state (not necessarily in a specific topic, but broad knowledge about the culture and history) I would LOVE to reach out to them. At this point any help, regardless of how big or small, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time, everyone!

Almost people know the parable of the Good Samaritan and how the Samaritans were viewed as vile people. Why was this? Was it only the Jews that hated the Samaritans?

I heard a claim recently that one of the main reasons behind the establishing of public schools in the US was to actively keep children out of the workforce, so they wouldn't compete with adult labour (particularly as industrialization was reducing the workforce in some areas).

I imagine if there is any truth to this, it would have been focused on urban areas. Were there any large scale protests or movements from farmers against mandatory schooling, as it would keep children away from the farms during the critical spring and fall months?

Tangential to this - how do the motivations behind public schools in the US compare to the similar systems being established in other countries during the 19th century (particularly Canada and the UK)? Were they established for broadly the same reasons, or were there decidedly different motivations?

I'm aware that languages like Russian, Arabic, Chinese, etc. all use different alphabets, but why did European languages like German, English, French, Spanish, and Italian end up with very different languages, all with the same alphabet.

My teacher for A-level told us, and referred to the textbook, and stated "Hitler thought the USSR would help him in his fight against democracy". Whilst being clearly wrong, is there some kind of basis to what he was saying; they were both heavily ideologically opposed, and the USSR despised capitalism (rightfully so).

In the strategy game Europa Universalis IV, there are a few events that vaguely simulate the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th century. But sometimes​ a country like the Netherlands or Switzerland converts to the Reformed branch of Christianity. I understand that the game isn't exactly historically accurate, but if there are any differences, I would be curious to know them.

If I were to walk through a Roman town at any given time between 27BC and the fall of Constantinople, would I find street names like we know them today, something like "Augustus Ave"?

they already have states and districts, why is the country divided up in a separate third way?

There must be so many.

Is there a particular reason like fewer survivors (which there obviously were)?

So we all know the story of the 10 commandments, with Moses going up the mountain and carving them into stone etc... But is/was there any physical evidence of these ever existing? I recall doing A level Philosphy or Religion, and hearing 2 stories. One involves them having truly existed in the Jerusalem and being destroyed during a war. The other is to do with a church that has a chest in it, that one priest lives in, and in that chest is the 10 commandments, and the priest is replaced by one person when they die, and they commit their lives to simply protecting the commandments in the chest (although I can't for the life of me remember where this place is)

Can anyone provide any info on either?

Since there's a wealth of poetry and writing is it not possible to approximate how some words would be pronounced? Also are the no dictionaries or prounounciation guides that survived from the classical era?

The settlers and explorers travelling to Australia would travel there through the Indian Ocean. So why were the first colonies established on the Eastcoast, and why has that never changed? The only bigger city on the western part of Australia is Perth, whereas the Eastern part has many bigger cities.

I've started reading 'The French Revolution' by Christopher Hibbert, and I'm not clear on why there was violence 'all over France' in 1788. What were the edicts which King Louis XVI imposed, and was this the primary cause of unrest that year? Previously Hibbert has discussed the new tax on land which had been blocked by the Assembly of Notables - was this imposed by the King as part of his edicts and how did the lower classes react? Alternatively, was the long-term problem of poverty in France for the peasantry the principal driver of rioting? My main confusion is to why there was widespread rioting when the measures imposed by the monarch, as I understand them, acted against the nobility rather than the peasants. Why were so many people involved?