(no subject)

[aleathiel]

ARGH!

My dissertation is on nineteenth century women in the USA moving west. Having looked at stuff in general, my supervisor told me to limit it and basically just to look at the southern states as they have been less analysed - ie to put aside the "wagon trains" and "oregon trail" and so on in favour of a look at the plantation women and slaves and so on. While I was pissed off at first, given that I found the northern stuff interesting, I took her point and became fascinated by the sneaky glimpses I could find of stuff in the south.

Problem. Very little primary source material. Basically I haven't got enough letters and journals and so on on which to base my work. Not digitalised and published ones anyway. And I have neither the money nor the time to fly out to Alabama or whatever.

So now she's saying, unless I can find more material, I'll have to look at the northern wagon trains. As it is I'm now a quarter of the way through the time I have to write this. How can I change now?

Sorry, that was a rant, but I could really do with some advice. Actually, I could do with one of you saying "ah but there's a fabulous collection of women's letters here..." but I'm being realistic.


EDIT: Now that I'm calmer, I'll be clearer. The problem is that I'm working on the migration from the coastal southern states to inland (Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee...) in the 1830s and 40s. I'm having trouble locating primary sources because I'm in the UK so they need to be online, on microfilm or published.

Comments

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

Ouch! I have to say that your supervisor's request to focus on the south makes very little sense to me. That area was settled by Europeans back in the 1700s -- how in the world could it be considered part of the westward push which happened much later?

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Sorry, my post was very vague. What I was/am looking at is the migration in the 1830s and 40s from the coastal areas (Virginia, Carolinas etc) inland to Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee. A lot of it was in search of more plantation space and it is very interesting because of the role of women and families in plantations society. It's also interesting because it hasn't been very thoroughly explored whereas I'm never going to come up with something new on wagon trains and such.

Essentially the problem is that because it's not a very well explored area the material hasn't been very well sorted and so on. Much of it is probably in boxes in libraries. All the digitalised material on the south is mostly slave narratives and stuff on the civil war. Essentially if I can't find some sort of collection of letters or journals either online or published or on microfilm I'm going to have to give up because I don't have either the money or, really, the time, to fly out and go through the libraries myself. Especially if I can't be sure what I'll find. I know the letters and journals exist because I can see them in going through bibliographies of other books written about women in the south in the early c19.

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

Anne Firor Scott, Duke historian, wrote a seminal monograph __The Southern Lady_. I got a chance to interview her when I was doing my own thesis for undergrad. She was rather aged at the time so I don't know if she is still alive, but I am sure her work details where she found her sources. Also, Nina Silber, a professor at Boston University, is a American women's historian, and taught the social history of the American South courses there. Looking them up could help you find some source material. I actually have a copy of the Southern Lady if you'd like to borrow it.

<--Civil War era American history degree holder, for what it's worth

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes more sense. You can count my family among those people. In the 1800s, they moseyed northwest from the south to Idaho and Washington. And yep you are going to have a hard time finding research materials. Can I link to your post? There are many people in the south on my flist who might be able to help.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I'd love that. If anyone can just give me suggestions as to where I can find primary sources, basically anything I can access from my somewhat limited position on the other side of the ocean.

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

Of course, you've probably already poured over Scott's work, since she's the obvious first stop. Maybe if you found out the location of some documents, you could have someone make the visit for you? Virginia is across the river and I am in the Delta (ie, cotton) part of Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas about 10 x a year. And half my family lives in Georgia. Of course, copying primary documents isnt always possible and using someone else's interpretations of them would make it secondary source material. Oh well, I'm trying here. I have a soft spot for southern women's history, can you tell?

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I can get a copy of The Southern Lady tomorrow (just checked the library catalogue) - I'll go have a look at her bibliography. It's possible her early stuff would be useful if she has published sources. The problem I'm having is that even when I know the name of something, if it's in a collection in a library or archive somewhere in the states rather that digitalised, on microfilm somewhere in the UK, or published, I can't get at it.

I'll have a look for Nina Silber too.

Thanks so much.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

You are an angel. I have indeed read Scott's book, although I don't have a copy in my room right now, I can get one first thing in the morning. Here bibliography is something I'll have to have another look at.

I'm slightly pressed for time - I need a draft written by early January basically although it isn't due until May - but thanks so much for the offer. If you are going to be in the area sometime between now and Christmas and I find something that could be copied or whatever, then I may take you up on that offer if it was a genuine one.

[shrinetolust.livejournal.com]

Do you have a decent librarian at your school? You may have explored this already, but most librarians should know where to look for those sorts of things (often state libs or major universities have archives) and could call those libraries and ask them for copies to be sent to you. You could maybe even try making phone calls yourself, explaining what you need, and asking for assistance. I used to work in Interlibrary Loan and sometimes we hit a brick wall with older materials, but seriously, sometimes the universities sent us original copies of stuff from the 1800s with no problem whatsoever. A lot of librarians would rather something go out than have it never looked at again. But even if they don't want to send the original, they might make copies. There are also listservs that librarians use, and they can put messages out to other librarians in the country, asking if they have these sorts of materials.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we have a fabulous library (I'm studying at the University of Cambridge). The problem is that I doubt stuff would be sent from the states to the UK. Our interlibrary loan system is UK based from the look of it (can you tell what I've been doing today). But I'll talk to my supervisor and see what she thinks - it's possible fellows of the university can get things called that undergrads couldnt.

[shrinetolust.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yeah, I'd forgotten you were across the way. :P Still, though, copies can be FedExed or shipped. I know we got stuff from the British Library all the time...granted it can get a bit pricey. And Cambridge...sheesh... definitely someone should be able to help you out.

Try this search on Worldcat: http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/open/tryit/default.htm

You may find something useful and it will tell you which libraries it's at--that might make it easier then for your supervisor to request specifics.

Hope this helps!

[godiva696.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I can't be helpful in any real sense, but I would like to say that, even though the draft should technically be handed in at the beginning of Lent Term, in practice this can be relaxed. And the draft in no way indicates the finished product. Trust me - my finished dissertation bore no resemblance to the first draft, and that was fine. (More than fine, it was expected.)
By all means, though, rant about your supervisor; it's not fair to make you change your direction and then backtrack on that. Also, panic is an expected reaction to the task. *hugs*
Hope the nice people on your flist can help you out more usefully!

[frahulettaes.livejournal.com]

Hi,
You don't know me from adam but I love research questions.
I was hacking around and I found this site:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail_states-gen.html
Which is geneology from the deep south and with migration patterns.
It's a collection of site urls and groups. Since you're looking for personal accounts, why not join some of these groups? Geneologists can be very knowledgable.
You could send out an s.o.s. through them and perhaps the collective hive can help you out?
Also, if you find anything extent in Los Angeles, I can copy and send it to you.
But I'm pretty sure Los Angeles is pretty dry on deep south extent materials.

[legomyarrow.livejournal.com]

I came here from Stewardess' post, hope you don't mind. This link is to the American Women's History: A Research Guide (http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html) site. I don't know how much it will help, but it's something. Also, I'm in the middle of North Carolina, within reasonable driving distance of Duke University, the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, and the University of Tennessee, if you find you need something from around these parts.

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I can't give anything but moral support, although I can give plenty of that, since my area of interest was the medieval universities and I'm in California. [wry smile] Wrong end of the country, so even offering to swap houses for a year wouldn't help. :P It looks like you're getting some good responses, though, so I hope you turn up something you can use (or several somethings). Luck!

Angie

[ezzvaldez.livejournal.com]

This might be helpful:
Southern women and their families in the 19th century, papers and diaries (Microform)
--Archival materials from a number of libraries in the southern U.S.
(http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1842)

This is something in my school's library. I might be able to send copies of stuff to you if you need it.

Other possible stuff to look at:
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/
http://gerritsen.chadwyck.com/
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

[godiva696.livejournal.com]

Doh. I should have offered before - not sure that there'll be anything more here than you can find in the UL, but if there happens to be anything in Edinburgh, ask and I'll get it to you! I can also look in assorted numbers of online journals I now have access to... *hurries off*

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

Just let me know. My network within the south runs pretty deep for such a Yankee as myself. ;) I am pretty sure I'll be in Mississippi again before Xmas, but I won't know for certain until I get back from Canada the beginning of Nov. I know some faculty of the University of Arkansas and Ole Miss, too, so maybe they could help. Sounds like you have gotten some good advice from others' responses as well, so I am sure you'll come up with something. Also, I'm in walking distance of Georgetown and George Washington and American Universities, so be sure to speak up if it looks like they have anything interesting. :)

[perseph2hades.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you've already tried it, but a Google Scholar search might turn up something.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I saw your post. Thanks so much, I was so stressed about this whole thing last night and it's wonderful that so many people are trying to help. *clings to you and buries face in your shoulder*

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

You're wonderful, thanks so much. I'm going to make notes from bibliographies of where things are, see if there's any way I can get to them, what state the sources are in and so on. It's wonderful to know you would be willing to help if I could locate something and you were in the area.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

You're wonderful. I shall fully investigate it. Everyone being so helpful has really given me hope that this dissertation might not die.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks. I'm slightly away that my Lent term is going to be hellish though, since both my specified subject and my entire special subject are next term - so that's double what I'm used to doing in a term - on top of work on the dissertation.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think I can get stuff from Edinburgh on interlibrary loan without much difficulty, but I appreciate the offer.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, geneologists might be a good way to go. They certainly might be able to give me a clearer idea of where to look. Thanks so much, I really appreciate that everyone has been so helpful.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Why on earth would I mind? I am very grateful. And thanks so much for both the link and the offer. If it is a serious one then I may be in touch once I've waded through what they might have that hasn't been digitalized.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

:) Moral support is widely appreciated! I just needed a bit of confidence and hope. We'll see how it goes.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

That's brilliant. I'll add it to the list of things to investigate. Thanks so so much for your help.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I've had a look at a few entries and not found anything quite right yet, but I have to remember to have patience! It is probably a better option than regular google, I should remember that. *hugs* Thanks for the support.

[ezzvaldez.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! It was a nice little practical exercise for the budding reference librarian. :)

[frahulettaes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it was helpful.
Armchair geneologists often have family items that are the reason they've started looking at their families.
It seems like if you want personal accounts, they might be a good source.
I hope you find what you're looking for.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

I've read all the first three, thanks. I've scoured our library for secondary sources, and, unsurprisingly, those came up pretty quickly. They're great for background and for making sure I'm not covering old ground, but my dissertation has to be based on original documents, not what other people think of them. I've used the bibliographies in these too though, and that's helpful.

Thanks for the links - they look like they might be pretty useful. I'll have a proper look at them tonight. Thanks again.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I have made a new email addy (so as to not have to wade through my entire inbox) and subscribed to eight likely and related mailing lists. Thanks so much for the heads up.

[frahulettaes.livejournal.com]

my pleasure.

[frahulettaes.livejournal.com]

my pleasure.

[godiva696.livejournal.com]

Heh. Kind of figured... Hope things work out. *hugs*

[godiva696.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Yeah, that sucks. My assumptions were based on my course, as you might have guessed, and it was pretty much an even spread over the first two terms re: work. I'm basically limited to sending good luck vibes your way, I think!

[blueleadfish.livejournal.com]

One of the dissertation students in my department (Museum Studies) decided to change her topic 2 months before it was due for submission. Insane, yes, but it is possible! ;D

One thing you might want to consider is looking up some state historical associations online, and emailing them for references and copies. Even if they don't have something, I'm sure they can point you in the right direction!

[eirien-rhovan.livejournal.com]

Hey hon :) I don't know why but this post didn't show up on my flist. *kicks lj* Anyway, I don't know how useful it will be, but I found this site interesting:

http://docsouth.unc.edu/

*hugs*

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know it's possible, it's just discouraging. Never mind. And thanks.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Yup, thanks, it's on my favourites links already! *kisses*

Sadly, the dissertation collapsed the other day and I am frantically sorting new material. That's why I've kind of vanished from LJ, but I'll be back soon.

[aleathiel.livejournal.com]

Hey - which email address are you currently using? I was going to email you, but I have three addresses for you and sending it to all of them seemed slightly excessive.

[stewardess.livejournal.com]

stewardess.lotr at gmail.com.