ARKANSAS HISTORY TERM PAPERS
HISTORY 5023: HISTORICAL METHODS
DOCUMENTS
1. One handwritten, four-page letter from the 1850s
(Note: pages 1 and 4 are scanned together AND pages 2 and 3 are scanned together).
From the Butler-Coulter Family Letters (MC 1086, box 1, item 2).
Also, one related letter that is not part of the transcription assignment but which may offer you helpful information pertaining to the assigned letter (the related letter is also scanned with pages 1 and 4 together AND pages 2 and 3 scanned together). This related letter is also from the Butler-Coulter Family Letters (MC 1086, box 1, item 5).
A finding aid for this collection is available in paper format and also online at:
http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/findingaids/butlercoulter.html
2. One handwritten, four-page letter from the Civil War era
(Note: pages 1 and 4 are scanned together AND pages 2 and 3 are scanned together)
From the Peters Family Papers (MC 917, box 1, folder 2).
A finding aid for this collection is available only in paper format in the Special Collections Reading Room.
3. Two typed letters (one has two pages) illustrating a Senator responding to a constituent complaint. Letter 1 Letter 2, page 1 Letter 2, page 2
From the William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers (MC 1125, box 18, [no folder or item number is needed as letters are arranged alphabetically then chronologically]).
A finding aid for this collection is available in paper format in Special Collections and also online at: http://libinfo.uark.edu/SpecialCollections/findingaids/still/still1aid.html
ASSIGNMENTS
DOCUMENT EDITING ASSIGNMENT HIST 5023
Editing for publication – for this assignment choose one of the letters (or for “document 3" the pair of letters). The assignment is to “edit” the selected letter(s) for publication in a journal or book. It might be helpful to indicate the specific journal or type of book in which you imagine the edited document would be published – this
will help you keep a target audience in mind and help you maintain consistency in the style and level of difficulty for your editorial comments.
For a handwritten letter, first transcribe the letter. If you are unsure of a word, letter, or number, enclose it in brackets [ ]. Also use brackets if you feel you must insert a letter or word to make the document more readable to your intended audience.
For any of the letters you choose, write a brief introduction of one to three paragraphs outlining who wrote it, who received it, the author’s purpose in writing it, the context
and significance of the letter and/or the most important points in it, etc. Then add footnotes to identify or clarify such things as:
- the name of a person who may be mentioned by first name only,
- an organization identified by initials only,
- a location that gives no city or state,
- the significance of a name, date, place, event, organization, point of view expressed, etc.
Three goals for this assignment are:
- to introduce the special challenges associated with using handwritten primary sources;
These include difficulty in reading some handwriting, changes in spelling and grammar, elliptical references, physical deterioration of the document, etc.
- to provide opportunities for appreciating the complexity and time required in the work of
transcribing historical documents;
- to demonstrate why we must question the evidentiary reliability of transcribed primary sources.
Did the transcriber of a published letter have difficulties similar to those you may encounter in deciphering old handwriting or in determining to which “Jack” the letter writer was alluding? Was that numeral a “1" or was it a “7"?
To begin the assignment, I suggest:
- Make a print out of each page of the letter(s) you select.
- Read through the document and write in on the printout above any words you did not recognize readily.
- Underline or highlight any words you cannot decipher and will need to go back to interpret.
- Hints for deciphering old handwriting:
Use the zoom tool of the Adobe Reader or use a magnifying glass on the printout.
Analyze how letters are formed in words you do recognize.
Look for patterns or logical places for letters, for example the letters “I” and “a” often stand alone.
Carefully read through the sentence or paragraph for the full context when you find a word you cannot decipher. What words would make sense there?
- Circle or highlight in a different color names, places, events, organizations, etc., which you do not recognize readily or which you think the intended reader might need to have
explained in a footnote.
- Visit Special Collections to view the original letter(s) and related material in the collection.
- Use secondary sources or other primary sources to obtain background information on words, names, places, events, organizations, etc., which need to be explained to the intended
reader.
- Prepare the edited document. Use our “Citations Guide” to cite materials from Special Collections http://libinfo.uark.edu/specialcollections/about/citationsguide.pdf.
EXAMPLES OF PUBLISHED PRIMARY SOURCES
SECONDARY SOURCES YOU MAY FIND ESPECIALLY HELPFUL
ONLINE SOURCES
PRINT SOURCES
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Arkansas: A Narrative History by Jeannie M. Whayne ... [et al.]; with a foreword by Willard B. Gatewood (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2002).
RESERVE, MAIN, and ARK COLL F411 .A772 2002
- Arkansas Biography: A Collection of Notable Lives (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000).
REF, ARK COLL, and LAW CT 224 .W55 2000
- Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Arkansas Historical Association, History Dept., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1942- ). Cumulative index to volumes I -XXXV (1942-1976) (also in REF) and annual index in each volume.
MAIN, LAW, and ARK COLL F 406 .A6 Proquest
- Ashmore, Harry S. Arkansas, a Bicentennial History (New York: Norton, 1978).
RESERVE and ARK COLL F 411 .A85
- Bolton, S. Charles. Arkansas, 1800-1860: Remote and Restless. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1998).
MAIN, ARK COLL, and LAW LIBRARY F 411 .B72 1998
- Donovan, Timothy P., Willard B. Gatewood, Jr., and Jeannie M. Whayne. The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography. 2nd ed. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1995).
MAIN, RESERVE, and ARK COLL, F 410 .G6 1995
- Dougan, Michael B. Arkansas Odyssey: the Saga of Arkansas from Prehistoric Times to Present / a History. (Little Rock, Ark.: Rose Publishing Co., 1994).
MAIN, REFERENCE, ARK COLL and LAW LIBRARY F 411 .D68 1994
- Chism, Stephen J. Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index, 1819-1879. (Greenville, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1990).
REF-INDEX, SPEC COLL-REF, and ARK COLL F 410 .C54 1990
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