• due dates for writing assignments
• sources for writing assignments
• orientation sessions for Special Collections
• writing tips

Due Dates for Writing Assignments

• Note: All papers are due in section, except paper 4.

Sources for Writing Assignments

• You may choose one of the following sources for each writing assignment.
• Remember that you must use at least two separate kinds of sources--the Web, the newspapers on microfilm, or the diaries and letters of Special Collections--in two separate brief papers and in the final paper. 

Orientation Sessions for Special Collections:

• Monday, October 8 at 3-3:30
• Wednesday, October 10 at 9-9:30
• Thursday, October 11 at 11-11:30
• Monday, October 15 at 1-1:30
• Tuesday, October 16 at 10-10:30
• Wednesday, October 17 at 2-2:30

What difference did slavery make?  (due:  October 25)

Valley Project.  The Valley of the Shadow online archive contains documents and images about Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, before, during, and after the Civil War.  The archive is divided into three parts:  the Eve of War, the War Years, and Aftermath.  Use Part 1 on the Eve of War for this paper assignment.  Part 1 includes newspapers, censuses, and other sources before 1861.  With the newspaper database, you may search all Valley Project Civil War newspapers before 1861, individual newspapers (Valley Spirit, Franklin Repository, Staunton Spectator, and Republican Vindicator) before 1861, or all newspapers from either Augusta or Franklin county before 1861.  The Public Records section of Part 1 includes the census of both counties, tax statistics for Staunton, Virginia, and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and the free black registry for Augusta.  You are encouraged to browse Part 1 of the Valley Project on your own for the many other sources--including letters and diaries and church records--available for your paper.

Why secession? (due:  November 1)

Manuscripts in Special Collections. Special Collections, located on the second floor at Alderman Library, has set aside several collections of manuscripts for your examination. The list of available collections includes the papers of politicians and future soldiers discussing secession. Special Collections has restricted hours, so plan ahead for your visit.

Valley Project.  The Valley of the Shadow online archive contains documents and images about Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, before, during, and after the Civil War.  The archive is divided into three parts:  the Eve of War, the War Years, and Aftermath.  Use Part 1 on the Eve of War for this paper assignment.  Part 1 includes newspapers, censuses, letters and diaries, and church records. Concentrate on sources from October 1860 to April 1861.

Newspapers on Microfilm.  Alderman Library owns numerous newspapers on microfilm from the Civil War period.  Read through a southern newspaper from October 1860 to April 1861. You may find a newspaper to examine using Alderman's Historical U. S. Newspaper database, which allows you to locate holdings for a particular state and year.  For example, if you are interested in Virginians' responses to Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops after the firing on Fort Sumter, you would enter "Virginia" and "1861" in the "State and Year Range" search form.  To search by newspaper title, you must use Virgo.  Microfilm collections and microfilm readers are located in the Periodicals/Microfilms Room on the third floor of Alderman Library.  Be sure to enter your name on the sign-in sheet for the microfilm readers.  You are limited to one hour on a microfilm reader when others are waiting.  Unlike Special Collections, the Periodicals/Microfilms Room operates on the same hours as Alderman Library.  The morning is the best time to find an available microfilm reader and receive staff help with your materials.

DeBow's Review. The Making of America archive from the University of Michigan and Cornell University provides searchable page images of DeBow's Review, a southern magazine about "agricultural, commercial, and industrial progress." James D. B. DeBow began his magazine in New Orleans in 1846, but moved it to Washington, D. C., in 1853. By the beginning of the Civil War, DeBow's Review was the most widely circulated southern periodical. Once in the Browse menu of Making of America, click on "DeBow's Review." You may browse through the journal issue by issue or you may search the journal for keywords. For example, to find articles on secession, click on "boolean search" and enter "secession OR disunion." You may not simultaneously search by keyword and by year, so you must scroll down to view the hits from the relevant years. Be careful not to use the search icon on the navigation bar across the bottom of the screen, which searches through all the journals in the Making of America archive and not just DeBow's Review.

Was the Civil War an internal crisis for the South?  (due: November 8)

Manuscripts in Special Collections. Special Collections, located on the second floor of Alderman Library, has set aside several collections of manuscripts on the Civil War for your examination. The list of available collections includes the papers of soldiers and civilians discussing the war and their experiences. Special Collections has restricted hours, so plan ahead for your visit.

Valley Project.  The Valley of the Shadow online archive contains documents and images about Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, before, during, and after the Civil War.  The archive is divided into three parts:  the Eve of War, the War Years, and Aftermath.  Use Part 2 on the War Years for this paper assignment.  Part 2 includes newspapers, images, battle maps, letters and diaries, soldiers' dossiers, official records, and student projects.

Newspapers on Microfilm.  Alderman Library owns numerous newspapers on microfilm from the Civil War period.  You may find a newspaper to examine using Alderman's Historical U. S. Newspaper database, which allows you to locate holdings for a particular state and year.  For example, if you are interested in partisan warfare in Tennessee, you would enter "Tennessee" and "1861" to "1865" in the "State and Year Range" search form.  To search by newspaper title, you must use Virgo.  Microfilm collections and microfilm readers are located in the Periodicals/Microfilms Room on the third floor of Alderman Library.  Be sure to enter your name on the sign-in sheet for the microfilm reader.   You are limited to one hour on a microfilm reader when others are waiting.   Unlike Special Collections, the Periodicals/Microfilms Room operates on the same hours as Alderman Library.   The morning is the best time to find an available microfilm reader and receive staff help with your materials. 

Civil War Newspapers.  The Civil War:  A Newspaper Perspective contains full text articles from issues of the New York Herald, the Richmond Enquirer, and the Charleston Mercury.  The database includes news articles, eye-witness accounts of battles and events, official reports from government and military officials, editorials, advertisements, biographies, battlefield maps, and illustrations.  You may search the database by keyword or phrase or you may browse by month and year.

What did Reconstruction change?  (due:  November 20)

Valley Project.  The Valley of the Shadow online archive contains documents and images about Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, before, during, and after the Civil War.  The archive is divided into three parts:  the Eve of War, the War Years, and Aftermath.  Use Part 3 on the Aftermath for this paper assignment.  Part 3 includes property claims, veteran records, maps and images, newspapers, letters and diaries, and public records.

HarpWeek.  HarpWeek contains images of articles from Harper's Weekly for the Civil War Era and Reconstruction (1857 to 1871).  You may search the index of Harper's Weekly or the full text of the articles or you may browse the issues by date. 

Newspapers on Microfilm.  Alderman Library owns numerous newspapers on microfilm from the Civil War period. Sample the newspapers for the Reconstruction period. You may find a newspaper to examine using Alderman's Historical U. S. Newspaper database, which allows you to locate holdings for a particular state and year.  To search by newspaper title, you must use Virgo.  Microfilm collections and microfilm readers are located in the Periodicals/Microfilms Room on the third floor of Alderman Library.  Be sure to enter your name on the sign-in sheet for the microfilm reader. You are limited to one hour on a microfilm reader when others are waiting.   Unlike Special Collections, the Periodicals/Microfilms Room operates on the same hours as Alderman Library.   The morning is the best time to find an available microfilm reader and receive staff help with your materials.

Final Papers.  (due:  December 6)

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