Minutes from Class

Today we began researching through special archives. We learned the difference between primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources are usually items such as maps, journals, etc; which is a specific "evidence" of an activity or event. On the other hand, secondary sources are items such as articles that are mainly interpretations or evaluations of an event. 

 

We briefly spoke about online newspaper databases such as LexisNexis Academic and Chronicling America which has scanned newspapers from the 1800s to 1920s. 

 

We had the opportunity to look at old books such as the Richmond Directories which included the names and addresses of individuals from specific years. We also learned that African Americans were noted as having an asterisk next to their name displaying which household owned slaves.

We also got to go through manuscripts which consisted of personal papers and organization records, such as the YWCA scrapbook collection that included images and newspaper clippings.