HIST 301: The Historians Craft (Sheriff, Spring 2024)

Due to the complexities and nuances of your projects, you will need to utilize books beyond our immediate collections.

For this reason, I suggest using WorldCat and ILL. 

I actually suggest Starting in Worldcat. Some general suggestions:

• Limited to non-fictional, non-juvenile under advanced settings
• Don't be scared off if there are hundreds of results. Most of those are going to be 1-library holdings materials.
• You can limit to the "books" only section to narrow the results, but it's better to skim everything if you can. 
• If you have a very popular topic, under Publisher you may want to use "university" to limit to university presses. This will make you lose a lot of results but can help get started.

• William Henry Harrison campaign of 1840
  • ("William Henry Harrison" OR "William Harrison") AND 1840
    • Narrow to non-fiction, limit to last ~50 years.
  • Subject search for:
    • Presidents AND "united states" AND "election" AND 1840 
      • Narrow to non-fiction, limit to last ~50 years.
  • General note: articles and chapters probably a better starting point
  • Another note: pay attention to chapters in books like 
    • The reader's companion to the American presidency / Alan Brinkley;  Davis Dyer 2000
    • A companion to the antebellum presidents, 1837-1861 / Joel H Silbey 2014

• Responses to Lincoln’s Assassination
  • Lincoln AND Assassination AND (reaction* OR response* OR "public opinion")
  • Subject search for:
    • lincoln AND abraham AND (assassination OR burial) AND "public opinion")

• Reconstruction-era voting and voting restrictions
  • (Reconstruction OR postemancipation) AND (voting OR suffrage) AND (restriction* OR suppression OR "jim crow") 
  • "voter suppression" AND (Reconstruction OR postemancipation)
  • "African Americans" AND "voter suppression"
  • General note: There are a lot of results, but depending on the shape of your project, you will possibly want to skim much of the list to see what stands out.

• The Lost Cause or the Civil War at W&M
  • (College of William & Mary) AND ("civil war" OR "lost cause")
    • NOTE: This is a case where using our catalog is better than worldcat. We will own every book about W&M, so it cuts down on a lot of false hits.
    • This search misses some works like  From student to warrior : a military history of the College of William and Mary  
  • Subject search for:
    • "College of William & Mary" AND History
      • skim results for titles of interest
  • More broadly, look at books about higher education more broadly (in Worldcat) with:
    • Subject search for:
      • ("higher education" OR "education, higher") AND ("civil war" OR "lost cause")
    • keyword search for:
      • ("higher education" OR "education, higher") AND "lost cause"
  • Look at chapters in larger books about the history of american education, which can be found in worldcat with the subject search
    • ("education, higher" OR "higher education") AND "united states" AND history AND 19th.
      • Of especial note is Thelin's excellent History of american higher education

• Civil War POW camps 
  • In worldcat, start with keyword search for:
    • "civil war" AND ("united states" OR america*) AND "prisoners of war"
  • There are TONs of books. 
    • Limit to Non-fiction, non Juvenile
    • limit to post 1980
    • As a SUBJECT search, try
      • "united states" AND history AND "Civil war" AND "prisoners and prisons"
        • results are still extremely broad.
          • you might need to narrow to a specific side of the conflict.
          • Ex for a focus on confederate POW camps, try the SUBJECT search
            • ("military prisons" OR "prisoners of War") AND "confederate states" AND History
          • You might need to focus on specific camps, such as Andersonville with the Subject search:
            • Andersonville AND "Civil War"

• Crime in the media
  • As a Subject search [in advanced search, exclude fiction and juvenile works]:
    • media AND "united states" AND history
  • As keywords, [in advanced search, exclude fiction and juvenile works]
    • "True crime" AND history AND "united states" AND 19th
  • Books generally about newspapers in 19th century america:
    • subject search for
      • Newspapers AND 19th AND "united States" AND history
        • Reference works about individual newspapers (circulation, location, cost, etc)

• W&M’s student culture at the transition from all-male to co-ed
  • (College of William & Mary) AND (co-education OR co-educational OR coeducation OR coeducational)
    • NOTE: This is a case where using our catalog is better than worldcat. We will own every book about W&M, so it cuts down on a lot of false hits.
  • Subject search for:
    • "College of William & Mary" AND History
      • skim results for titles of interest
  • More broadly, look at books about higher education more broadly (in Worldcat) with:
    • Subject search for:
      • ("higher education" OR "education, higher") AND "united states" AND history AND coeducation
  • Look at chapters in larger books about the history of american education, which can be found in worldcat with the subject search
    • ("education, higher" OR "higher education") AND "united states" AND history
      • Of especial note is Thelin's excellent History of american higher education

• Perception of political compromise in antebellum America
  • As keywords, try
    • antebellum AND (politics OR political) AND compromise
    • (19th OR antebellum) AND politic* AND compromise* AND "public opinion"
    • (19th OR antebellum) AND compromise* AND "public opinion"
  • search 19th AND (politics OR political) AND "united states" AND history in the Subject field and compromise* as a keyword together

• Impact of the Lost Cause on K-12
  • In advanced search, exclude juvenile and fiction
  • In worldcat as SUBJECTS, history AND (school* OR education) AND "united states" and "lost cause" as a keyword
    • note that many useful results will be chapters, not whole books. Ex "Lost cause victorious, 1920-1964' in Teaching white supremacy : America's democratic ordeal and the forging of our national identity / Donald Yacovone 2022
  • In worldcat as SUBJECTS,
    • "United states" AND "history" AND "civil war" AND teaching
      • To narrow
        • ("United states" AND "history" AND "civil war" AND teaching) NOT higher
    •  "history" AND "civil war" AND teaching AND (middle OR high)

• New York City Draft Riot
  • exclude fiction and juvenile
  • Starting with keywords, try
    • "new york" AND ("draft riot" OR "draft riots") AND "civil war"
  • search as SUBJECTS:
    • "new york" AND ("draft riot" OR "draft riots") AND "civil war"
  • There is a Lot on this topic, so you'll want to narrow in by adding another search term as a keyword.

• Know Nothings (in particular, he is looking at the Bedini Riot in Cincinnati 1852, but if there were anything in Special Collections related to the Know Nothings, that would be great.) 
  • [An aside -- I at first read this as "Nothing in particular" and really wasn't sure how to proceed.}
  • In worldcat, started with Keyword search
    • ("Cincinnati riot" OR "Bedini Riot") AND 1853
  • In worldcat, also tried SUBJECT search for
    • riots AND ohio AND cincinnati
  • Due to limited results, I look in googlebook, which confirms books talk about the topic, but within wider conversations about anti-immigration, anti-Catholicism, and the history of the city itself. 
    • I suggest looking at these books, specifically the sections on your topic.
  • Stepping out more broadly, in Worldcat [omit fiction and juvenole]
    • TITLE search for
      • "Know Nothings"
    • Keyword search
      • "Know Nothings" AND "third parties"
    • Keyword search
      • "Know Nothings" AND (riot* OR violence)
    • Subject search:
      • populism AND "united states" AND history AND 19th
    • Keyword search
      • "Know Nothings" AND populism
    • ​​​​​​​This topic does not have much published work, so I also tried ("Cincinnati riot" OR "Bedini Riot") AND 1853 in Proquest Dissertations and Theses.
    • Much broader search for "Cincinnati" AND "Bedini" AND 1853 AND riot* in proquest dissertations.

• Antebellum representations of indigenous people in the press
  • In worldcat, search as a keyword (omit fiction, juvenile)
    • ("united states" OR america*) AND ​​​​​​​(antebellum OR 19th) AND (depict* OR represent* OR opinion*) AND ("native americans" OR "indigenous" OR "indians of North America") AND (newspaper* OR journalis* OR media)
  • In worldcat as a Subject search, try
    • "indians of North america" AND "press coverage" AND history
  • For a broader search still, try in worldcat as Keywords
    • ("native americans" OR "indigenous" OR "indians of North America" OR "first peoples") AND "press coverage" AND history
  • For context, consider broader books about the 19th-century American Press. In Worldcat, try a subject search for
    • "united states" AND history AND newspapers AND 19th
    • "united states" AND history AND journalism AND 19th
      • ​​​​​​​As a subject search "united states" AND history AND (journalism OR newspapers OR "popular press") AND 19th  and as a KEYWORD search antebellum

• Religion’s impact on the enslaved during the Civil War
  • In Worldcat, subject search for
    • "Civil war" AND (religion OR religious) AND ("african Americans" OR enslaved OR slaves)
    • "civil war" AND "united states" and "religious aspects" AND ("African americans" OR enslaved OR slaves)
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Be sure to exclude fiction, juvenile, etc.
    • I suspect you will also end ups using chapters about the Civil War in larger works more broadly focused on Religion and African Americans during the 19th century.
      • In Worldcat, subject search: "African americans" AND relig* AND history AND 19th  with "civil war" as a keyword.

• How the Civil War influenced Americans’ conceptualization of “America”
  • In worldcat, as SUBJECTS try "civil war" AND "united states" with "national identity" as a Keyword
  • As a Subject search, try
    • "civil war" AND "national characteristics"​​​​​​​
  • As Subject: "United States" AND "History" AND "Civil War" AND "influence" with keyword identity​​​​​​​

• Economic Development/Class tensions in the antebellum North 
  •  In Worldcat,
    • As SUBJECTS ("labor movement" OR class) AND history AND "united states"  with antebellum as a keyword.
    • As KEYWORDS "social tension" OR "social tensions"  with history AND "united states" AND 19th as subjects
    • As Keywords, tension* AND north* AND antebellum AND (social OR class)
  • Focusing on the economic aspect
    • In worldcat,
      • As subjects "united states" AND history AND 19th with keywords north* AND (industrial OR economic) AND (growth OR development)
      • As subjects "united states" AND "Economic conditions" with keywords north* AND antebellum

• African American soldiers in the Civil War
  •  in worldcat, make sure to exclude juvenile and nonfiction lit.
    • as SUBJECTS search
      • "civil war" AND (soldier* OR enlisted OR Combatant*) AND ("African americans" OR "african american")
      • "civil war" AND "african american soldiers"
    • There are a Lot of results so you'll want to narrow by adding a specific state or some other aspect as a keyword to narrrow
      • you can also search university in the publisher box to limit to University Press books.

• Native American displacement in the antebellum era
  • omit juvenile and nonfiction
  • in Worldcat, Keyword search for:
    • ("native americans" OR "indigenous" OR "indians of North America" OR "first peoples") AND (removal OR displacement OR relocat*) AND antebellum
  • The formal search term in Worldcat is Subject Search:
    • "Indians of North America" AND relocation
  • In Worldcat, try Subject search:
    • "Indians of North America" AND relocation AND 19th

• Plimoth Plantation (historical site in MA) 
  • In worldcat, as a KEYWORD search
    • ("Plimoth Patuxet" OR "Plimoth plantation") AND (museum OR "historic site" OR "historical site")
  • in Worldcat, search as an AUTHOR
    • "Plimoth Plantation"
      • this will bring up materials published by the organization itself too.
  • You might also be interested in other works about historic site and public history.
    • In worldcat, try the SUBJECT search
      • ("historical sites" OR "historic sites") AND "public history" AND "united states"

• The slave “grapevine” 
  • In Worldcat I tried the keyword search
    • ("slave* OR enslaved") AND  (communication* OR networks OR gossip OR rumors or grapevine)
    • The results were underwhelming
      • Checked in googlebook to see if other works are talking about this. Sure enough...
      • It looks like the topic isn't covered in full books but it address in books. Consult sections of the books highlighted in the books above.
      • It looks like articles and conf papers will be more helpful, ex “Grapevine in the Slave Market: African American Geographic Literacy, Information, and Escape”
      • See also, results in googlebook for slave AROUND(15) grapevine AND slaves AROUND(15) grapevine

• Enslaved people’s literacy pre- and post-emancipation
  • In worldcat, keyword search for
    • Literacy AND (enslaved OR slaves) AND "united states"
      • try Subject search for
        • Literacy AND (enslaved OR slaves) AND "united states"
    • Try as subject search for
      • Literacy AND "united states" AND "African americans" AND 19th

• Antebellum New Orleans, with potential focus on slave rebellion of 1811
  • In worldcat
    • Subject search "new orleans" AND history AND 19th with keyword Antebellum
  • In worldcat, keyword search
    • "new orleans" AND rebellion AND 1811
  • A lot of results for New Orleans, but I suggest skimming for works of interest rather than adding extra keywords that may cut down useful results.

• Antebellum Jewish immigration
  • Starting most broadly,
    • In worldcat, keyword search for
      • (jews OR jewish) AND (immigration OR immigrants) AND "united states" AND 19th
    • In worldcat, you can also narrow the search with a SUBJECT search for
      • (jews OR jewish) AND (immigration OR immigrants) AND "united states" AND 19th
    • To focus on the antebellum period specifically, try the Keyword search
      • (jews OR jewish) AND (immigration OR immigrants) AND "united states" AND antebellum
    • To narrow still further, search (jews OR jewish) AND (immigration OR immigrants) AND "united states" as subjects with antebellum as a Keyword.
    • Sidenote: you may also be interested in Samuel Myers (1790-1829), probably the first Jewish student to attend W&M in 1808. He was the son of Moses Myers. 

• Female soldiers in the Civil War
  • In worldcat, Subject search for
    •  "woman soldiers" AND  "civil war" AND "united states"
    • (women OR female) AND participation AND "civil war" AND "united states"
      • be sure to limit to nonfiction and non juvenile.
    • you may need to narrow to a specific side of the conflict.
      • to limit out the pop press books, you might search University as a publisher keyword to limit to university press works.

• California maritime trade and/or shipboard culture
  • In worldcat as a Subject search
    • california AND history AND 19th AND shipping
  • In worldcat, California AND history as subjects, "maritime life" OR "maritime culture" OR (sailors AND culture) as keywords
  • In worldcat as subject
    • ​​​​​​​"Seafaring life" AND california AND history
  • In worldcat as keywords
    • `"shipboard life" AND ("west coast" OR pacific OR california*) AND history
    • "maritime history" AND ("west coast" OR pacific OR california*) AND 19th
  • ​​​​​​​Helps to focus on a specific port
    • as SUBJECTs, "san francisco" AND 19th with (port OR shipping OR ports OR harbor* OR sailor* OR maritime) as KEYWORDS

• Port Royal, Virginia (and/or small farmers) during the Civil War
  • As keywords in Worldcat
    • virginia AND "port royal" AND "civil war"
  • As subject search
    • virginia AND "port royal" AND history
  • More broadly, as a subject search in worldcat
    • virginia AND history AND "civil war"
    • "civil war" AND shipping AND "united states"
  • In worldcat, "civil war" AND virginia AND "united states" as subjects with (port OR ports OR harbor* OR maritime) as keywords
  • In worldcat, omit fiction and juvenile
    • ("Small farms" OR "small farm" OR "Family farms" OR "family farm") AND "Civil war"
    • ("Small farms" OR "small farm" OR "Family farms" OR "family farm") AND "Civil war" AND virginia*

• "Flying the Hump" (route over the Himalayas from India to Yunnanyi, Kunming, and other locations in China) 1942
  • In worldcat as keywords, exclude fiction and juvenile
    • ("world war" AND 1945) AND "the hump" AND (pilot* OR flying OR flights)
  • In worldcat as keywords ("world war" AND 1945) AND "the hump" AND ("aerial operations") AND ("united states" OR america*)
  • books about individuals involved in the operations

• The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ social and political impacts through examining the progression of the government agency
  • In worldcat, SUBJECT search for
    • "Bureau of Indian Affairs" AND History AND  "United States"
    • "Social aspects" AND "Bureau of Indian Affairs"
    • (political OR politics) AND "Bureau of Indian Affairs"

• antebellum American theatre
  • In worldcat, start with a Subject search for "united states" AND theatre AND history with antebellum as a keyword
  • Subject terms within theatre listed in Worldcat also include: Musicals, Blackface, Minstrel shows, Revues, tent shows, sideshows, . 
    • Any of these in  SUBJECT search with  "united states" AND history with antebellum as a keyword will turn up results.
      • ex "United states" AND musicals AND history as Subjects with antebellum as keyword
  • Broader still, try as SUBJECT searches
    • "United states" AND history AND 19th AND theatre
    • "United states" AND history AND 19th AND musicals
    • "United states" AND history AND 19th AND minstrel*
    • "United states" AND history AND 19th AND sideshows

• California Gold Rush and its effect on business and economy prosperity.
  • In worldcat, start with a SUBJECT SEARCH for
    • california AND "gold rush" AND History
  • refine search by adding AND (econ* OR business*)
  • best best is to skim the longer list for interesting titles. 
  • In worldcat, try California AND History as subjects with "gold rush" as a TITLE term
    • exclude fiction and juvenile. 
    • you might search University in the publisher field to limit to university press only.