Some interesting relationships between food and history -- working women and convenience food, exploration and the importation of new vegetables, reliance on potatoes and Irish emigration -- are suggested to indicate the usefulness of exploring history through eating habits. (JH)

A review of primary sources relative to the death of John Sassamon, an American Indian, reveals the difficulties of ethnocentrism, religious bias, and/or personal interest encountered by historians. (JC)

This guidebook examines the kinds of oral history materials available to local researchers and presents ways to evaluate and interpret those materials. There are six chapters. Chapter one describes the relevance and scope of local history, the role of the interviewer within the community, the contributions that oral sources can make to local…

A description is given of the library of American historian Jared Sparks, which was acquired by Cornell University in 1872. The collection consists of 5000 volumes and several hundred maps, including 45 manuscript maps of the American Revolution. Among the cartographers represented are Fleury, Capitaine du Chesnoy, and Erskine. (Author)

Undergraduate history students can gain insight into the historical process from a short exercise using copies of documents that give conflicting interpretations of the same event. Explains how to lead class discussions based on two letters about lawlessness in Arizona in the 1880s. (Author/AV)

Explores the influence of Jacksonian democracy upon the ideas and activities of William Lyon Mackenzie, a reformer who sparked the 1837 Yonge Rebellion in upper Canada. Examines similarities in several original documents written by Mackenzie and Jackson. (RKM)

Examines the frequently found gap between the teaching of facts and the learning of critical thinking skills in the history classroom. Describes how history facts can be taught through the application of critical thinking skills. Includes sample test items and teaching examples. (JDH)

Citation analysis of a systematic sample of 27 historical and historiographic articles was used to study the citation patterns of secondary sources in the history of technology. These patterns are compared with previous citation studies in history and other humanities areas and with multi-disciplinary citation studies in the social sciences.…

Discusses recent trends in Asian studies, such as emphasizing an inquiry approach, and lists general references and primary sources relevant to the topic. States that today's social studies literature reveals a greater awareness of Asia, although some gaps are still evident. Identifies additional areas in which Asian studies must be strengthened.…

Describes the benefits to researchers of the microfiche publication of the "National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States," which consists of finding aids for U.S. manuscript and archival collections. Arranged in four parts based on origin, each is described in detail as to scope and arrangement. (EM)

Provides guidelines for conducting research on a community college's past as a means of gaining insight about institutional strengths and weaknesses and future directions. Suggests groups to interview and documents to analyze to construct the factual history and ways of seeking out campus lore and customs to enrich the history. (DMM)

In this article, reprinted from the September 1898 issue of "McClure's Magazine," a Cheyenne Indian gives a first hand account of the defeat of General Custer by a force of three thousand warriors from the major Plains tribes at the battle of the Little Bighorn. (RM)

The study questions on this one-page guide can be used in the history classroom to help students identify the important features of a historical document. The questions can be used as the basis of class discussion, or they can serve as a preliminary writing assignment before a major essay. (RM)

Herbert Hoover became U.S. President in 1929, just months before the stock market crashed and the United States was flung into an economic depression. Harry S. Truman became U.S. President on April 12, 1945, after the death of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman disagreed on many political issues, their…

By 1860 much of the beauty of St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis (Minnesota) had been destroyed, as mills on both sides of the river used the power of the falls to turn millions of bushels of wheat into flour. Steel rails linked bonanza farms hundreds of miles to the west to the mills. The mills, the farms, and the railroads depended on each other…