Teaching Western History using Online Primary
Sources
Updated:
May 3, 2008
Site History:
- Fifth version: Supplemental to NCCAT seminar, "Cowboys, Cowgirls, and the Old West," June 2009.
- Fourth version: Supplemental to HI 491 on the American West, NCSU senior seminar Spring 2009.
- Third version: Supplement to a special issue of Journal of the West, 46:2 Spring 2007, on "Teaching About the West."
- Second incarnation: Revised for HI 491J Spring 2006, Ranch and Frontier Life in the American West
- First incarnation: Old West Research Links for NCCAT "Cowboy Life and Legend" Seminar. June 6-10, 2005, Cullowhee, NC
- Table of Contents: “Teaching the West,” Journal of the West, 46: 2, Spring 2007 Guest Editor: Richard W. Slatta
- Richard W. Slatta, “Introduction: Teaching the West,” p. 11.Richard W. Slatta is professor of history at North Carolina State University and author of Cowboy: The Illustrated History (2006), The Mythical West (2001), and The Cowboy Encyclopedia (1994), among other books. See supplemental links below.
- Richard W. Slatta and Maxine P. Atkinson, North Carolina State University, “Using Primary Sources Online: An Inquiry-guided Approach to Teaching Western History,” p. 14. Maxine P. Atkinson is director of the campus First Year Inquiry program at North Carolina State University and associate professor of sociology. See Suppplemental links on "Learning and Teaching More Effectively" as well as the links below.
- James C. Crisp, "Documenting Davy's Death: The Problematic ‘Dolson Letter’ from Texas, 1836," p. 22. Associate Professor of History, NCSU, author of Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett’s Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution (Oxford, 2004).
- Carol J. Williams, "Beyond illustration: illuminations of the photographic 'frontier,'" p. 29. Carol Williams teaches North American Women's History at the University of Lethbridge, her book Framing the West: Race, Gender and the Photographic Frontier won the AHA Pacific Coast Branch Norris and Carol Hundley Prize in 2004. Erratum: Typo--the date that BC and Vancouver Island joined the Canadian confederation was 1871 not 1867.
- Thomas A. Woods, “Evoking Sense of Place at Western Historic Sites and Museums,” p. 41. Tom Woods, is a public historian and President, Making Sense of Place, Inc.
- Decoursey Clayton Lucas, "Shared Struggles" - Ethnic Farming Settlements across the Great Plains,” p. 51. The focus will be on Jewish and African-American Farming Communities along with several Utopian settlements in the region. Identifier: A James Madison Fellow (1996), Decoursey Clayton Lucas teaches American History and Human Geography at Hymn Brand Hebrew Academy and Rockhurst University respectively.
Editorial apology: Owing to an editing lapse, Clayton is referred to with female pronouns in the journal. As a quick look at his photos show, Clayton is decidedly male. Guest editor Rich Slatta and the Journal of the West staff tender profuse apologies to Clayton for the error. "Virtual collaboration" has many benefits, but it also has drawbacks--
- Kay Reeve, “Crossing Borders, Finding Common Ground: Using Interdisciplinary Approaches and Sources for Teaching Western History,” p. 58. Kay Reeve is Professor of History at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where she teaches both a traditional History of the American West course and a team-aught interdisciplinary course on the subject. Supplemental materials to Reeve essay [PDF]
- Jessie Embry, Paul Lambert, Jessica Glass, Wendy Brown, Sara Nuila, Verlan Lewis, Dave Dixon, and Virginia J. Maynes, "Finding Common Ground: Teaching the West from the Social Science, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences Viewpoints," p. 67. Jessie L. Embry is the Associate Director of the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies and an Associate Research Professor at Brigham Young University. She coordinates a Western Studies Minor and teaches American Studies class on the West at BYU. Supplemental Materials to Embry, et al. essay [PDF]
Teaching Western History using Online Primary
Sources
Developed for a special issue of Journal of the West (Spring 2007) on "Teachng the West." These sources emphasize exploration, ranch, and cowboy life. Instructors may use search tools to locate equally rich and varied materials for all topics in Western American history. Use these sites to explore a variety of primary sources about Old West, frontier, and ranch life. The first few links are just for fun-- explore them when you have time.
Just for Fun: All work and no play. . .
Lazy S Ranch Scenes Take a ride around the Cowboy Professor's Virtual Ranch
Lazy S Ranch HQ
June 2005 NCCAT notes and pictures from Cowboy Seminars of the past
A sample of essays by Dr. Slatta Examples of popular, not scholarly, historical writing. Students, enjoy but don't emulate.
Cover illustration and description of Dr. Slatta's Cowboy: The Illustrated History, published August 2006.
Online version of HI 491J Syllabus, Ranch and Frontier Life, Spring 2006(PDF)
Pedagogical Background for Constructionist History
- Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels (1956)
- Turning a Draft into an Essay
- Suggested books for western history book reviews Also read about how to how to identify and navigate a scholarly monograph. We favor primary sources in our historical research, but when you use secondary sources, THEY MUST BE SCHOLARLY!!
- A constructivist approach to history
- Wiki Participatory, Collaborative History Ride on over to the Cowboy History Wiki-- contribute some ideas, links, etc. to broaden our history horizons.
- So you want to study and do history! Here's how.
- Using Primary Sources on the Web American Library Association
- Making Sense of Evidence History Matters
- Use the many links to important topics: writing, notetaking, research, etc. from Dr. Slatta's NCSU Home Range
- Colorado Digitization Program A variety of sources and approaches to using primary sources
- NARA
Digital Classroom Great suggestions on using historical
documents in the classroom. U.S. National Archives and
Records Administration
- Comparing Frontiers Bibliography
- Duke University Libaries Guide to Boolean Operators and Other E-Research Techniques
- Cornell Unilversity Library Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites
- Univesity of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, 10 Cs for Evaluating Web Sources
- Slatta's Guidelines for Evaluating Internet Sites
Historical Background: Secondary Sources and Finding Aids
- Slatta, Western frontier life in America World Book Encyclopedia contribution
- Slatta, Cowboy Life and Legend Online Guidebook Short chapters on a variety of cowboy topics. Be certain to check out the section on "Primary Sources and Memoirs about Cowboy Life."
- Library of Congress Resources for Teachers
- Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier
- West
Web, hosted by Catherine Lavender
- Cowboy and Cowgirl Links
- WWW-Virtual Library, The American West Lots of links. See Topical links to people, family life, photos, etc.
- Archives to the Ken Burns's PBS Program, "The West" Click on various time periods to access documents.
- Nevada History in Maps
- eGranary Digital Library Additional Resources A list of scholastic journals and electronic resources that are available online via the worldwide web
- Kansas Heritage A variety of sources on Kansas history and culture
- NCSU D. H. Hill Library Resources, primary and secondary
First-hand Accounts
See also topical section below on Latinos, Native Americans, Women
- Lewis and Clark Expedition
- Oregon Trail Archive Diaries, memoirs, period books
- Nebraska Studies Select a period from the timeline, click on a topic. You may also search for primary sources, including photographs.
- American Life Histories from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 WPA Project Use keywords to search these oral interview transcripts. Hear about ranch life firsthand.
- Primary sources and bibliographies related to the Arid American West
- Eyewitness accounts of life in the Old West Wide variety of topics
- History Link: History of Washington State Click on Search (upper righthand corner), then use the People's History link for primary sources
- Subject Guide to the Colorado History Society collection Link courtesy of Ray Wrabley
- Columbia River Basin Ethnic Heritage Archives (CRBEHA) Excellent tutorials on primary sources, coverings ethnic groups in the Columbia River Basin. Link courtesy of Troy Reeves
- American Memory Collections (Library of Congress) Everyone should be able to find relevant materials from these collections. Use keywords to locate information and images. A list of the types of materials accessible appears below. Most of the topics listed on the browse index (Advertising to Women) have material about the American West.
- Books & Other Printed Texts
- Manuscripts
- Sheet Music
- Maps
- Motion Pictures
- Photos & Prints
- Sound Recordings
- "California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900
- Online Archive of California covers virtually any topic in California history
- Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945-1982
- Nebraska
Prairie Settlement: Photographs and Family Letters
- Digital History 600 documents on Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and much more
- Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
- KanColl Search the Kansas collection for 19th-century books and other voices
- Southwest Collection, Texas Tech Univ. Link courtesy of Tug Wilson
- Memoirs, journals, letters, reports and images from "New Perspectives on THE WEST" (PBS)
- Eyewitness to History: The Old West
- Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA): Cornell University
- American Journeys "18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later."
- American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920: American Memory project "comprises 253 published narratives by Americans and foreign visitors recounting their travels in the colonies and the United States"
- Frontier sources from American Memory project
- Additional primary sources for a wide range of topics
By Type of Source:
Periodicals, Printed Sources
- Harpweek Online version of the 19th-Century popular magazine, 1857-1912. Searchable by type of story, including ads. Access via NCSU Library page.
- Colorado Newspapers Link courtesy of Ray Wrabley
- 19th-Century Utah Digital Newspapers
- Making of America: Search 19th-Century Magazines
- Patent
information for Glidden barbed wire
- Wyoming Tales and Trails See "Tales" section on the left side of the page.
Music
- 20th Annual Music and Poetry from the 2004 Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Elko, Nevada
- Cowboy Music Links
- More Cowboy Music Links
Radio, Film, TV
- Radio Lovers: Old Radio Westerns Shows include American Trail, Death Valley Days, Frontier Town, Gene Autry, Gunsmoke, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Tales of the Texas Rangers, The Town Crier
- Western Programs on Radio and TV
- Western films from the silents to spaghetti
- On May 9, 1961, in a speech before a meeting of television executives, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton N. Minow derided television programming as a "vast wasteland." He condemned senseless violence, as in Westerns, mindless comedy, and offensive advertising.
- Radio Days
Photographs and Paintings
- Western Art Museums
- Treasurenet Historical Images Collection images from the Civil War and the American West
- Photographs of the American West from the National Archives, 1861-1912
- Historic E. E. Smith photographs from the early 20th century Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, TX
- Library of Congress daguerreotypes, 1839 to 1864
- History of the American West, 1860-1920 Photographs from the Collection of the Denver (Colorado) Public Library
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Collection Do topical searches
- South Texas Border, 1900-1920 Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection
- Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920 Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F.A. Pazandak Photograph Collections
- Virtual Exhibit of "Like a Cowboy: Images in Politics, Prose, and Reality" National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Click on the links at the very bottom of the page.
- Photo Archive Links
- Wyoming Tales and Trails
- Scrapbook kept by American illustrator, James E. Taylor (1839-1901) A professional artist, Taylor’s newspaper illustrations served to popularize stereotypes of the Western frontier during the post-Civil War years.
- Photo Archive, Univ. of Utah Library
- Photographs of today's cowboys and cowgirls You can also use this site to search for other subjects, such as windmill, ranch house, horse, etc.
- National Museum of American Art A section under the "Browse Collections" heading offers nearly a hundred depictions of the American West by American artists.
Poetry
- Rod
Miller, "Does Slant Rhyme with Can't?" Views on the
rhyming controversy in cowboy poetry.
- Wyoming
Cowboy Poetry Archive
- Cowboy Poetry
- Agricomm Cowboy Poetry See links. Scroll toward the bottom of the page to read the poems.
Advertising, Statistics
- Advertising, UC-Davis
- Duke University Advertising Archive
- Another point of access for the Duke collection
- Harpweek Online version of the 19th-Century popular magazine, 1857-1912. Searchable by type of story, including ads. Access via NCSU Library page.
- US Census Do keyword searches for your topic. Also search for "historical."
- Statistical Abstract of the US PDF versions of this annual publication, going back to 1878
- Government Documents at D. H. Hill Libary, NC State U.
- Advertising Links from the University of Texas at Austin
By Social or Ethnic Group:
Women
- Temperance and Prohibition Movements Look for roles of women in these movements.
- Emma Goldman Papers fascinating life (1869-1940, deported from US in 1919) of a feminist leader
- Women and Social Movements
- Jewish Women's Archive
- Native American Women
- American Women: A Gateway to Library of Congress Resources for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States
- Votes for Women (National American Women Suffrage Association
Hispanic/Latino
-
The March of Portolá and the Log of the San Carlos, 1770 by Zoeth S. Eldredge & E. J. Molera (1909) The authors describe the first settlement of Monterey by the Spanish, and the surveying of San Francisco Bay.
- Hispanic Music and Culture from the Northern Rio Grande
- Living Voices,Voces Vivas audio files of interviews with Hispanics
African American
- Voices From the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Stories Search for terms like cowboy, ranch, cattle, etc.
- Born in Slavery: Transcripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-40
- African-American Mosaic:
Western Migration and Homesteading in Nicodemus, Kansas, 1870s
- North American Slave Narratives
Native American
- Native American Life
- National Archives Catalog wide-ranging materials, including Native Americans
- Avalon Project at Yale Law School great variety of political and legal documents
- Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
- Chickasaw History (Oklahoma)
- American Indians of the Pacific Northwest
- Indians Peoples of the Northern Great Plains
- Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce Pacific Northwest
- Native American Documents Project federal Indian policy
- Edward S. Curtis Photographs, "The North American Indian"
- Living Voices, Voces Vivas audio files of interviews with 40 Native Americans
Chinese
- Central Pacific Railroad Photo History Museum
- Harper's Weekly See "The Chinese American Experience"
- Chinese in California, 1850-1925
- Museum of the City of San Francisco
- USC Archival Research Center history of Los Angeles, including the Chinese community
Canadian
- Alaska and Western Canada Collection, the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections
- Canada's Digital Collection
- Early Canadiana Online
- Canada: our roots
Additional Finding Aids for Western Collections
Research help; some materials may not be online.
- Collaborative Digitization Program's Heritage West
- Digital Collections hosted by University of New Mexico Libraries
- Rocky Mountain Online Archive
- Guide to Primary Source Repositories University of Idaho
Libraries Special Collections and Archives
- Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, TX Link courtesy of Tug Wilson
- Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA) Link courtesy of Troy Reeves
- American Heritage Center University of Wyoming