Research with Primary Sources: Finding Evidence in Special Collections
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A bibliographic instruction session on doing historical research in special collections libraries
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Research with Primary Sources: Finding Evidence in Special Collections
- 1. Research with Primary Sources Finding evidence in special collections Examples from the Lollie Johnson Papers, UTSA Libraries digital.utsa.edu/cdm/lolliejohnsonpapers
- 2. What are primary sources? “A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.” Quoted from: http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html
- 3. Primary sources provide facts & feelings FACTS: Names, dates, places, events, relationships, and lots of other data FEELINGS: Personal perspectives, opinions, sentiments, and social conditions
- 4. Facts What can we learn?
- 5. Facts Lollie Johnson owned Noo Zoo Lollie Johnson is associated with the San Antonio gay community In 1991, San Antonio had a defined gay community Noo Zoo opened in early 1983 Hot Tea is a supporter of Lollie Johnson, Noo Zoo, and the San Antonio gay community
- 6. Feelings What can we learn?
- 7. Feelings Social conditions Worries and fears Role models The experience of coming out
- 9. Source Criticism Evaluate sources based on: • Date: When was the source produced? • Locality: Where was it produced? • Authorship: By whom was it produced? • Analysis: From what pre-existing material was it produced? • Integrity: In what original form was it produced? • Credibility: What is the evidential value of its contents? Source: Gilbert J. Garraghan, A Guide to Historical Method (Fordham University Press: New York, 1946): 168.
- 10. Lollie Johnson Papers Let’s have a look inside Special Collections! digital.utsa.edu/cdm/lolliejohnsonpapers
- 11. About Lollie Johnson Laura Lollie Johnson (1939-2001) was born in Beaumont, Texas, but moved to San Antonio in her youth and graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1956. A divorced mother of three, she worked for almost 10 years as a bartender before opening the Kali Club in 1971. Many other bars followed, including the Hypothesis Club (1972-1976), The Zoo Club (1974-1979), Faces (1979-1983), and her longest running establishment, the Noo Zoo Company (1983-1993). The success of her nightclub businesses was credited to her commitment to the San Antonio Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered community, which made up the majority of her customer base. Lollie was also active in the local community groups, including Alamo Human Rights Committee, Lavender Alcalde, and 1st Gay Conference in San Antonio. Additionally, she served as secretary on the Board of Directors of the San Antonio AIDS foundation and was treasurer and vice president of the San Antonio Tavern Guild.
- 12. About the Collection The Lollie Johnson Papers include newspaper clippings, correspondence, printed materials, photographs, negatives, a small notebook, menus, programs, and artifacts. Photographs comprise the largest portion of the collection, recording Lollie’s family and friends, homes, clubs and vacations throughout her lifetime. The photographs taken at her clubs show events such as Halloween parties, open-mic nights, New Year’s Eve parties, and female impersonator shows. Employees and bar patrons are well documented, as are her many house parties.
- 13. Information Keywords: San Antonio, bartender, LGBT, community groups, events, open-mic, parties, bar patrons, newspaper clippings, correspondence, printed materials, artifacts, photographs, negatives, notebook, menus, programs What questions can we answer? What questions can we develop?
- 14. At the club What do we see?
- 15. At the club People Activities Visual art Performance art Fashion & costume Interior design & decor
- 16. At home What do we see?
- 18. Methodology Identify: • Data needs • Likely sources Find evidence: • Facts • Feelings Critique evidence: • Date • Locality • Authorship • Analysis • Integrity • Credibility
- 19. Go exploring! digital.utsa.edu/cdm/lolliejohnsonpapers Presentation by Allison Jai O’Dell @AllisonJaiODell | AJODELL@gmail.com
Editor's Notes
- Today we’re going to talk about doing research with primary sources – we’re going to talk about digging through all the cool stuff in special collections, and finding evidence to support our research questions. So – first off – who remembers what a primary source is?
- Primary sources are documents or objects that have the closest connection with history. Primary sources were created during the activity that you aim to study. They offer insider perspectives. Secondary and tertiary sources provide summarization and analysis. Primary sources are the real documentary deal. Primary sources may contain information that is not yet reflected in secondary or tertiary sources – that is, primary sources often contain data that no one has used, yet – or, they may contain data that can be interpreted from a fresh perspective. Can you think of some examples of primary sources? ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, such as diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, and official records CREATIVE WORKS, including poetry, drama, novels, music, art RELICS OR ARTIFACTS, such as pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings
- We can narrow down the data in primary sources to two areas: facts and feelings. This is a good mnemonic for what you’re looking for in primary sources. Facts, such as names, dates, places, events, and relationships. Feelings, such as personal perspectives, opinions, sentiments, and social conditions.
- Ok, let’s try it out. What facts do you see in this document?
- What feelings do you see in this document?
- When you’re looking at primary sources, make sure you pay attention to voices and audiences. Who is the author here? Who are they writing for? And how does that impact the meaning of the document?
- Approach sources with a critical eye. Ask yourself: When was this made? Where was it made? How does it fit into the historical puzzle? Who made it, and why? Who was their audience? What were they trying to express? What other cultural information does this source rely on? What does it contribute to? How does the medium of the source – pamphlet, book, photo, letter, diary, cassette, whatever – contribute to its meaning? How credible is the source in answering my questions?
- Let’s take a look at an example collection. When you approach a new collection – whether in person or online – you will be given some information to help you understand its contents.
- Usually, you’ll get a biographical summary of the collection’s creator. This is from the Lollie Johnson Papers digital collection. We see that Lollie was a San Antonio resident, a bartender and club owner, and that she was active in the San Antonio LGBT community.
- We also get a description of the type of materials in the collection, what they are about, and what they feature.
- For the sake of brevity, I’ve clustered together some keywords from the biographical summary and the collection summary. Your job is to assess what data is likely to be in the collection. So – what do you think? What sort of information are we likely to find? What are some research questions you could to try to answer with this collection?
- When you start digging into primary sources, try to think creatively about the data that’s available. These are images from Lollie’s nightclubs. There’s a lot of data available. What do you see in these photos?
- This is an image of Lollie in front of here home. What do you see here?
- Think outside the box. The description of this image only said that it was an image of Lollie at home. Let’s say you were looking for information on San Antonio architecture or plant-life or climates. There’s data in this image to support that. When looking for primary sources, don’t be limited by keyword searching. You want to think about what data you need, and what kinds of sources might have that data. Think broadly! You never know. An image of an old bartender hosing down her front porch might be just the thing you need to show climate change in central Texas.
- Your methodology is a combination of finding evidence, and analyzing that evidence critically. First, you should clearly state your research question, and identify your data needs. Then, look for sources likely to have the data you need. Then, draw out the raw data in the sources – What facts can you find? What feelings do you perceive? And what inferences can you make from the data at hand? And think critically: How reliable are these sources? What are their biases and perspectives? How do they compare to one another? How do they work together to build history?
- When you’re ready to go exploring, the special collections librarians are here to help!