From the course syllabus: A final objective of the course is to provide an introduction to historical research. A major unit of the course will be a research project on Woodrow Wilson, built on the rich collection of primary and secondary materials in the Lake Forest College library. This assignment will be spaced out over a good period of time, and will require several “installments” of work. The final project will be a 1500-word research essay.

 

Room 002 (lower level) has the Woodrow Wilson papers, many bibliographies, and other books related to Wilson and the Wilsonian era for you to use.  The material must be used in 002 and may not be checked out.  Room 002 is reserved for the use of HIST 121 students during these hours (it can also be used at other times, if it available):

Tuesday: 8:00 am - 11:45 pm
Wednesday: 6:00 pm - 11:45 pm
Friday: 1:00 pm - 5:45 pm
Saturday: 12 noon - 5:45 pm
Sunday: 12 noon - 11:45 pm

To use Room 002, please visit the Circulation Desk on the main floor.

Characteristics and Examples of Primary Sources:

Primary Sources are those created during the time that you are researching.  Generally, they provide unfiltered information, which you may then interpret and comment upon.  Primary sources are often found in books and newspaper articles.  For this project, you will be paying special attention to the letters and papers of Woodrow Wilson and his contemporaries.

• Original documents (letters, diaries, manuscripts, speeches, interviews, news photographs and footage, first-hand accounts, memoirs, official records, statistics)
• Creative works (art, poetry, fiction, music, dance)
• Relics or artifacts (furnishings, textiles (including clothing), decorative arts, buildings, remains, jewelry)

Characteristics and Examples of Secondary Sources:

Secondary sources interpret and analyze primary sources.  They act as a filter between you and the object of your study.  Secondary sources often incorporate and present primary sources.

• Publications (biographies, criticism, commentary, literature reviews interpretations of news events by non-contemporaries, encyclopedias, textbooks)
• Documentary films

We are indebted to Princeton University's "What is a Primary Source?"

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Use I-Share to find and request books on your topic.  Use the 14-digit barcode from your College ID (numbers all begin with 210110 ....)

A number of books on Wilson have been placed "on reserve" in Room 002, including those listed below.   These books may only be used in Room 002, but you may request a copy of any Room 002 book through I-Share (subject to availability).

 

Bibliographies (lists of writings by and about Wilson):

Woodrow Wilson: A Bibliography     E766 .M85 1997

Woodrow Wilson: A Bibliography of His Times and Presidency      E766 .B83 1990

Woodrow Wilson: A Selected Bibliography of His Published Writings, Addresses, and Public Papers     E767 .T95 1948

Primary Sources (Books)

Primary Source Material (letters, speeches, messages, and writings by Wilson):

Papers of Woodrow Wilson     E660 .W717
Volume 26 indexes Volumes 14-15 (1902-1912)
Volume 39 indexes Volumes 27-38 (1913-1916)
Volume 52 indexes Volumes 40-51 (19161918)
Volume 69 indexes Volumes 53-68 (1918-1924)

The Messages and Papers of Woodrow Wilson     E766 .U56

Woodrow Wilson, Life and Letters     E767 .B16

The Political Thought of Woodrow Wilson, 1875-1910     E767.1. T47 1988

Woodrow Wilson:  Essential Writings and Speeches of the Scholar-President     E660 .W712 2006

 

Primary Source Material (writings by Wilson's contemporaries or others):

Axson, Stockton.  "Brother Woodrow": A Memoir of Woodrow Wilson    E767 .A95 1993

Daniels, Josephus.  The Cabinet Diaries, 1913-1921     E766 .D29 1963

Daniels, Josephus.  The Wilson Era, Years of Peace, 1910-1917     E766 .D3

Daniels, Josephus.  The Wilson Era, Years of War and After, 1917-1923    E766 .D33

Grayson, Cary T.  Woodrow Wilson: An Intimate Memoir   E767 .G85

Hoover, Herbert.  The Ordeal of Woodrow Wilson     E767 .H78 1958

Houston, David F.  Eight Years with Wilson's Cabinet, 1913 to 1920 (2 volumes)   E766 .H86

Page, Walter H. The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page (3 volumes)     E664.P15 H4 1922

Seymour, Charles.  Letters from the Paris Peace Conference     D644 .S47

Tribble, Edward (ed.)  A President in Love: The Courtship Letters of Woodrow Wilson and Edith Boliing Galt    E767 .W837 1981

Tumulty, Joesph P.  Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him     E767 .T9

Wilson, Edith Bolling.  My Memoir     E767.3 .W55

Watson, James.  As I Knew Them: Memoirs     E748.W36 W3

 

Many other books contain a mix of primary and secondary source material.  Two important sets are:

Foreign Relations of the United States (selected years)    JX233 .A3

History of American Presidential Elections (see vol. 3) E 183 .S28

 

Secondary Sources (Books)

To find secondary sources, use the bibliographies listed above (or other bibliographies).  Also search the I-Share catalog.  The following are approriate/relevant subject headings to search, although there are many others besides:

• Woodrow, Wilson, 1856-1924
• United States -- Politics and Government -- 1913-1921
• Progressivism (United States politics)
• United States -- Foreign Relations -- 1865-1921

 

Complete list of books in Room 002

 

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To find primary source material, look at newspapers and newsmagazines from the time period:

New York Times Article Archive
Abstracts 1851-present; full-text 1851-1922
(The New York Times is also available on microfilm 1851-present)

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature     Located in the Reference Room
1890-present
Use this to find articles from popular magazines

Public Affairs Information Service      Located in the Lower Level indexes, outside Room 68
Indexes public policy articles and government literature

Google New Archive     
Searches historic newspapers

To find secondary source material (and journal articles in particular), use subject databases such as:

America History & Life and Academic Search Premier

Google Scholar (includes JSTOR and Project Muse)

 

 

Looking for a particular newspaper or journal? Use our journal search.

If an article is not available in full-text, click on "Check Lake Forest" or to locate or request it.

 

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You are required to use Chicago Style for your paper, notes, and bibliography for this project.

• RefWorks (www.refworks.com/refworks)  (use this to organize your sources and produce bibliographies)
• Lake Forest College Chicago Style Citation Guide for Online Sources
• Hacker Guide Chicago Style Companion Website
• College Statement on Plagiarism

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