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HIST 301: Historian's Craft (Petty, Fall 2024)

Where to start?

Big hint!

When you look at the book lists for your secondary sources, look at the results for collections of letters, essays, diaries, and other materials that can be used as primary sources. 

You can also change the publication date function to find primary sources on your topic through the main catalog.

Examples

 

  • Slavery in the Byzantine Empire
    • if you can't read Greek, consider source books -- these are translated collections of primary source documents.
    • You can also use the Loeb series database to see how slavery in the east was depicted by Roman authors.
  • Slaves Encountering Union soldiers and the myth of the faithful slave
  • history of union-busting and strike-breaking in the United States, perhaps specifically about the Pinkerton National Detective Agency (and maybe its relationship with/impact on modern law enforcement agencies)
    • newspaper coverage of the pinkertons (using Pinkerton AND strike as a search to start)
    • Use proquest congressional and heinonline to find govenment reports about the pinkertons and strike breaking
    • look at reports penned by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. google search them, they should be online
    • oral reports of individuals involved in strikes (will depend on which you examine
  • history of the advancement of workers’ rights and conditions in Hollywood
    • newspaper coverage of the actors guild
    • interviews with individuals involved in organizing organizations
    • government reports in proquest congressional and heinonline discussing the actors guild (spoiler, they are called communists -- that part of Hail Caesar was kinda spot on)
    • screen actors guild writings -- many are online or can be ILLd
    • lexis uni for legal cases
  • how the 1869 boating expedition down the Colorado River, led by Major John Wesley Powell, has been remembered in both government and pop culture circles
  • how the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 enabled the legal suppression of the United Steelworkers
  • how mothers and women generally are understood in Early American culture as "Republican Mothers" --teachers of the next generation of American citizens
    • published collections of writings by women
    • databases of women's letters and writings
    • depictions of virtuous and ideal women in newspapers
    • education books and materials for girls and women (see )  many of these readers are online
  • former mill and railroad towns in Virginia/West Virginia along the New River and the transition from company owned town to self-sustaining, different infrastructure compared to surrounding towns. Central pool—bluegrass origins in this town
    • newspaper coverage from the region
    • use census data, located on the tertiary source tab
    • consider sanborn maps to see grows of citys in late 19th early 20 centuries
    • personal narrative and interviews from individuals from the town/towns.
    • local records may be scanned by local library or historical society
    • company records may exist.
  • how the 1803 Marbury v. Madison case changed the federal government and if it gave the Supreme Court powers and scope beyond which the founders intended
    • ​​​​​​​talk to special collections about the Tucker and Wythe collections!
    • ​​​​​​​newspaper coverage from the period
    • use proquest congressional and heinonline for legislative discussions
    • look at court docs
    • look at legal and court docs from the period
    • look at papers of the presidents, all digital on NARA -- keyword search for the case.
  • history and evolution of city planning over centuries
    • ​​​​​​​Approach will really depend on the city.
    • many cities will draft city plans, which we can find online over time. 
    • writings of specific city planners (Ex, Wren's plan for London after the fire of 1666)
    • newspaper coverage of city growth
    • books about city planning for a specific time period (ex 1800-1850)
  • research variation between papering in early America and England as a possible way to signify the class disparity between the elite of mainland England and the elite of the colonies

Examples

 

  • economy of the 20th century Austro-Hungarian empire due to some new secondary sources coming out on it and the implications for the Empire's potential survival beyond 1918 without the external pressures of the WW1
    • European newspaper coverage of the empire
    • Foreign relations documents in Europe (mostly british in our collection)
    • writings by key diplomates and leaders (search their names as authors in worldcat)
    • reports by the League of Nations and other nations about the AH Empire
    • economic and statical reports by the AH Empire government.
    • Use secondary sources to guide you!
  • violence and control plantation mistresses used when dealing with the enslaved people who worked on their plantation
    • published memoirs and letters by mistresses (ex)(ex)(ex)(ex)
      • the mary chestnut diary is especially famous
    • databases of women's letters and writings
    • databases of materials by enslaved individuals
  • the effect of the Great Depression on the American agricultural industry, how farmers made it through that time, and how rural America specifically was affected by the stock market crash
    • newspaper coverage
    • federal legislation and congressional discussions in proquest congressional and heinonline
    • oral histories and interviews with farmers
    • contemporary economic reports
    • census agricultural reports
  • how ballet dancers have experienced physical and/or psychological exploitation in their industry since the 19th century
    • depiction and adverts of/for dancers in newspaper and magazines
    • materials produced by ballet dancer organizations (Search them as author in worldcat to find their reports)
    • legal and legislation action in heinonline, proquest congressional, and nexis uni
    • oral histories and interviews
  • history of musicians' relationships with record companies. Specifically, I would like to learn about how large record conglomerates like Capitol and Warner Music Group have profited off of artists and why record deals are often lopsided
    • newspaper coverage of disputes between artists and labels
    • legal and legislation action in heinonline, proquest congressional, and nexis uni
    • interviews with artists and execs
    • possible business records, but probably not.
    • discussions in popular music magazines.
  • something about New York city/tri state area commerce post-Civil War and pre-World War 2. Specifically, some connection between demographic/class information and laboring jobs such as meat packer
    • see historic statistics tab
    • census studies and reports of ny
    • ny legislative reports
    • legislation material in heinonline, proquest congressional
    • personal narratives and interviews
      • I think you'll have better luck finding materials if you narrow to a specific occupation.
      • let the secondary lit guide you.
  • history of drug abuse and drug prohibition in the United States, focusing on the period beginning in the 19th century through the "War on Drugs", and modern day
    • newspaper and magazine coverage
    • legal and legislation action in heinonline, proquest congressional, and nexis uni
    • pamphlets against drug abuse
    • contemp writings against drug us
    • adverts pro/anti drugs (my favorite is this budweiser advert that claims beer is better than medicine.)
    • medical journals (many in JSTOR)
  • history behind ayurvedic medicine and yoga (I will narrow it down a bit more from here) and how ayurvedic practices were introduced to the US
    • newspaper and magazine coverage
    • legal and legislation action in heinonline, proquest congressional, and nexis uni
    • books and pamphlets from the period
    • medical journals (many in JSTOR)
    • writings by leading practitioners (search them as author in worldcat)
  • research on is the Shenandoah Valley during the Revolutionary War-- if there isnt enough sources on this, i would extend it to the Virginia backcountry during the war

​​​​​​​

examples

  • Advancements in medicine and technology specifically from warfare in the 19th and 20th centuries that we most likely would not have otherwise
    • depends very heavily on your topic.
      • personal narratives
      • patent office records
      • declassified records
      • newspaper coverage of new technologies
      • federal budget reallocation
  • experiences of Native peoples during the Civil War
    • Native Americans listed in the war of the rebellion records, which are online
    • writings by Natives about their time in the war (Ex)(ex)
    • use fold3 genealogy database to identify individuals
    • newspaper and magazine coverage
    • pension records
    • writings by Native authors who lived during the period (use secondary lit to identify individuals
  • development of the California Dream, its start in the frontier period, how it developed over time and how it may differ from the traditional American Dream
  • history of tourism, but more focused on spiritual tourism. At one point, and to some extent still do, travel the globe for religion (Jerusalem, Mecca, Vatican City, Salt Lake City, Kathmandu, etc.).