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HIST 301: The Historian's Craft (Fisher, Spring 2023)

Decoding Institutional Histories

In small groups, please skim the following documents. They are all published by the College of William & Mary between 1855 - 1914 and discuss the history of the university. Of particular note is discussion of the "Indian School," which I have highlighted.  

In groups, please discuss:

  • When was the document published?
  • When were the high-lighed excerpts published?
  • Are these primary or secondary sources?
  • What is the strong/weakness of uses these sources to study the history of the Brafferton? 
  • How does the college's history of the Brafferton change over time?
  • What, if anything, is confusing about these materials?

HINT!

If you're looking for primary sources about a specific institution, especially sources from before the 1940s, search for the institution as Author in GoogleBook, HathiTrust, and Internet Archive. Many of their materials will be digitized and keyword searchable.