Traditions and Cultures 103: The Making of American Cultures

The Meanings of Freedom in American History
A Research Guide

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Starting your research

Are you looking for (click on one)

Finding information on a named person

Primary sources of information:
What to Search:

Old bookfeather quill pen

Diaries, letters, memoirs, journals

Use the SABIO Information Gateway
pointerchoose "Catalogs of Books and More," and select Author

  • Search the person as an author (Last name, first name)
    e.g. Jefferson, Thomas
           Bloomer, Amelia

newspaper

Reports about the person or place in newspapers of the time

 bullet 18th and 19th Century Newspapers in the UA Library

magazine

Reports about the person in magazines of the time

pointer Search Pooles' Plus

  • Identify the magazines where the articles were published, then
  • Search the SABIO Catalog for the magazine title, find the call number and then the magazine.

keyboard

Websites

 bullet Thomas Jefferson Papers
bullet The Frederick Douglass Papers
bullet Georgia Digital Library (Primary sources relating to Cherokee Indians - see Southeastern Native American Documents, Digital Newspapers-Cherokee Phoenix)
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Finding information on a Group or Organization

Primary sources of information:
What to Search:

Old bookfeather quill pen

Diaries, letters, minutes, journals

Use the SABIO Information Gateway
pointerchoose "Catalogs of Books and More" and select Subject Headings:

  • American loyalists
  • American Party (used for Know Nothings)
  • Cherokee Indians History
  • New Harmony
  • Oneida Community
  • Personal Narratives British United States
  • Plantation life
  • Plantation owners
  • Slave insurrections
  • Slaveholders
  • Slavery united states personal narratives
  • Slaves writing, American

pointer Or search for the following as a Keyword:

  • Abolitionists
  • Anti-federalists
  • Black state conventions
  • Negro conventions (must use plural)
  • Opposition and constitution
  • Slave narratives

newspaper

Reports about the group or organization in newspapers of the time

 bullet 18th and 19th Century Newspapers in the UA Library

keyboard

Websites

bullet American Civil War Collections
bullet American Life Histories (includes slave narratives)
bullet American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology
bullet** Documenting the American South (the best to start with)
bullet First-Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920 (search "fugitive slave" or "slaveholder")
bulletGeorgia Digital Library (Primary sources relating to Cherokee Indians - see Southeastern Native American Documents, Digital Newspapers-Cherokee Phoenix, Civil Unrest)
bullet North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial to 1950
bullet The Southern Homefront 1861-1865
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Finding information about Historical Events

Primary sources of information:
What to Search:

Old book

Diaries, letters, memoirs

feather quill pen

 

pointer Use the SABIO Information Gateway and choose "Catalogs of Books and More" to search Subject Headings:

  • Confederate States of America
  • Dakota Indians wars 1862
  • Draft Riot New York
  • Mexican War
  • Navajo Indians Wars
  • United States History Revolution
  • United States History Civil War

pointer Hint: Use "Limit/Sort" (middle button on top row) when you find too many hits, then:

  • On the 3rd line, select "Words in SUBJECT."
  • In the box, type in
    • PERSONAL NARRATIVES
    • DIARIES
    • CORRESPONDENCE
    • SOURCES

pointer Search by Keyword

  • Long walk Navajo

newspaper

Reports about the event or group in newspapers of the time

bullet 18th and 19th Century Newspapers in the UA Library
bullet Historical Newspapers Online (index to New York Times, 1863-1905)
bullet RSAP - Links to full text 19th century newspapers and magazines

magazine

Reports about the event in magazines of the time

pointer Search Pooles' Plus, a database of 19th-century magazines

  • Identify the magazines where the articles were published, then
  • Search the SABIO Catalog for the magazine title, find the call number and then the magazine

bullet Harpweek (Harpers Weekly, 1857-1865)

keyboard

Websites

bullet American Memory Project - Library of Congress
bullet American Life Histories (includes slave narratives)
bullet Documenting the American South
bullet First-Person Narratives of the American South, 1860-1920
bulletGeorgia Digital Library (Primary sources relating to Cherokee Indians - see Southeastern Native American Documents, Digital Newspapers-Cherokee Phoenix, Civil Unrest)
bullet American Civil War Collections
bullet Valley of the Shadow - story of two communities, one North and one South during and after the Civil War

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Finding information from Census Records

Primary sources of information:
What to Search:

Printed Government Documents

bulletHistorical U.S. Census Documents at the University of Arizona Library

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Websites

bullet United States Historical Census Data Browser

  1. Select a decade from blue column on the left.
  2. Select variables (up to 15); use the [Ctrl] key as you click to select more than one variable.
  3. Click "Browse Data" button near the bottom of the page.
  4. To retrieve county-level information
    • check the box to the left of the state name
    • click the "View Counties" button.

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Finding Information on Other Topics

Primary sources of information:
What to Search:

Old bookfeather quill pen

Manuals and materials published at the time

pointer Use the SABIO Information Gateway choose "Catalogs of Books and More," and select Subject Headings:

  • Abolitionists >and then Limit/Sort by Words in the SUBJECT to sources
  • Antislavery movements
  • Etiquette for women
  • Marriage guides
  • Minstrel shows
  • Women Conduct of life
  • Conduct of Life >and then Limit/Sort by Words in the SUBJECT men (to find manuals in men's social roles)

pointerUse Limit/Sort by date. Select after 1800 and before 1870

pointer Search by Keyword

  • conjuring
  • conjur* and slav*

magazine

Reports about the event or group in magazines of the time

bulletHarpweek : The Civil War Era 1857-1865

bulletSearch Pooles' Plus, a database of 19th-century magazines.

Hint: Searching "Married women" locates magazine articles about behavior and the role of women.

  • Identify the magazines where the articles were published, then
  • Search the SABIO Catalog for the magazine title, find the call number and then the magazine

keyboard

Websites

bullet North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial to 1950
bullet Documenting the American South
bullet Godey's Lady's Book, 1850 issues. Famous women's magazine

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Special Information for Topics 25, 26, 27, 28 & 29

 

bulletTopic 25: Use Loom and Spindle: Life Among the Early Mill Girls, by Harriet Jane Hanson Robinson. and The Lowell Offering (magazine produced by mill workers). (Search SABIO title)

bulletTopics 26,27,28 & 29: Use Documentary History of American Industrial Society (Search SABIO for it by title)

 
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| SABIO Information Gateway (UA Library catalog) |

This page is maintained by: Ruth Dickstein, Librarian, University of Arizona Library.
E-mail: dicksteinr@u.library.arizona.edu

Web design by Lisa Waite Bunker and Ruth Dickstein
Last revised May 20, 2002.