Reform Era (1815-1850) & Reformers Research Guide
Reference Desk (413) 774-1509	Research Guides | Library Home

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Selected Reference Sources

Reference sources are useful for:
Obtaining an overview or background information on a topic
Choosing a topic
Understanding terminology related to a topic
Identifying good search terms
Locating additional information through bibliographies

• American social leaders from colonial times to the present R 303.484 M148am
• American reformers: an H.W. Wilson biographical dictionary R 303.484 A512
• Encyclopedia of women social reformers R 303.484 R221en
• Rebels and renegades: a chronology of social and political dissent in the United States R 303.484 H219re
• Dictionary of American communal and utopian history R 321.071 F655d
• Encyclopedia of American social movements R 303.484 E56
• The ABC-CLIO world history companion to utopican movements R 321.071 H742ab
• American Eras: the Reform Era and Eastern U.S. Development, 1815-1850 R 973.5 A512r
• Dictionary of American History R 973.03 A214e
• Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century R 973.03 E56n
• Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History, Vol. 1 R 973 E56
• Encyclopedia of American Social History R 973 E56
• American National Biography R 920.073 A512 (also available as a biography database)
• Encyclopedia of Women in American History R 305.42 E56wo

Selected Supreme Court Reference Sources

• Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court R 347.7326 E56sh
• Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court R 347.7326 E56
• The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States R 347.7326 O98
• Illustrated Great Decisions of the Supreme Court R 347.7326 M457il
• Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources that Shaped America (in print and e-book) R 973 M643

Finding Books in the Catalog on Reform Era Topics

• The online catalog is an electronic index to the materials owned by the Boyden Library
• A major advantage of an index is the ability to search by subject
• The catalog is also a database consisting of a record for each item owned by the library
• The information in these records is organized into fields that can be searched (author, title, subject)
• Keyword searching is also possible using Boolean logic

Subject Headings

• Subject headings are chosen from a standardarized list of headings--this is called a "controlled vocabulary"
• Materials on a given subject are grouped together under a subject heading
• Subject headings are excellent search terms in the catalog and research databases
• NOTE: the phrase Reform Era does NOT work as a subject heading
• The best heading for this time period is United States --History--1815-1871
• A keyword search for the phrase <reform era> will retrieve books that include this phrase in the title or in the contents field

Reform Era Subject Headings
Note below the use of subheadings for the century, time period (1815-1871), and location (United States, etc.)

• Social reformers
• Social reformers--United States (plus additional subdivisions for biography, history)
• Social reformers--Massachusetts
• Reformers
• Women social reformers
• Women political activists
• Radicalism
• Radicals
• Protest movements
• United States--Civilization--19th century
• United States--History--Dictionaries
• United States--History--19th century--Encyclopedias
• United States--History--1815-1871
• United States--Intellectual life
• United States--Supreme Court

Topic	Call #	Subject Headings and Subheadings
Social reformers	R 303.484	Social reformers--see also Reformers
Utopian communities	R 321.071	Collective settlements--United States--Encyclopedias Utopias--History Utopian socialism--History Collectivism--History
Or, try a subject search for the specific community: Oneida Community; Shakers; Brook Farm
Women's rights	R 305.42	Women's rights--History see also Feminism--History Women--United States--History--Encyclopedias Women--United States--Social Conditions
Or, try a subject search for the person you are interested in: Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Grimke, Angelina

Finding Biographical Sources

Compare the information in the older source, Dictionary of American Biography (R 920.073 D554), with the information in the newer source, American National Biography (R 920.073 A512). To locate a whole book about a person, search the catalog using the following format: Dix, Dorothea.

Biography Databases:

• Biography Resource Center provides the full text of articles from references sources as well as periodical articles
• American National Biography (the electronic version of the paper reference source)
• Biographical information is also available in the history databases listed below
• Also see Oxford Art Online for artists

Finding Obituaries

• Use the biography databases or a reference source to find the exact death date of your individual
• Then use the newspaper databases below, limiting your search to the death date and a week or two beyond, to find an obituary
• In the Historical Newspapers database, it is possible to limit the search to obituaries under More Search Options, but this does not pick up the major articles on an individual--search the person's name and limit by date
• Choosing the obituaries limiter in the graphical version also eliminates major articles
• In America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922, limit to Death Notices under Article Types and limit by date

Finding Articles and Audio-Visual Materials

Use history research databases to find articles in periodicals and reference sources about a historical group or person.

• Search by subject for articles about a person using this format: last name, first name
• Search by author if the person was an author or public speaker, search for articles or letters written by the person, speeches by the person, etc.
• Some databases also offer images, video, and audio (History Reference Center, History Study Center, American History Online)

History Databases
(for access to the research databases from an off-campus computer, go to DAOrgs/Library)

• American History Online (full text)
  Provides comprehensive coverage of the history of America and its people--includes biographies, primary sources, timelines, images, maps and charts
• History Reference Center (full text)
  Full text of over 750 historical encyclopedias and other non-fiction books and 60 leading history periodicals--55,000 historical documents; 40,000 biographies of historical figures; 10,000 historical photos and maps; and 80 hours of historical film and video
• History Study Center (full text)
  Digitized primary and secondary sources, reference sources, historical images, video clips, and links to reliable web sites
  Try the advanced search for better results
  Study Guides:
  Education in the United States
  American Society & Culture, 1801-1865
  Women in America, 1776-1918
• CQ Supreme Court Collection
  Includes analysis of Supreme Court decisions, case summaries, biographies of the justices, links to justice opinions, and more
• American Periodicals Series (1740-1940) and Historical Newspapers (full text)
  Digitized images of American magazines and journals including general interest magazines, children's publications, and more than 20 journals for women
  Digitized images of the following newspapers for this period:
  Hartford Courant (1764-1984)
  Chicago Tribune (1849-1986)
  The New York Times (1851-2005)
  NOTE: Consider all options for limiting the search to keep the number of results manageable
• The graphical version of the newspaper database is for students and includes Topics, Timelines, Famous Dead People, This Day in History, and a What Happened search for specific days--does not include American Periodicals Series
• Archive of Americana (full text)(1639-1900)
  Includes several historical collections containing books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, government documents and ephemera
  Search more than one collection (above) or search one individual collection:
  American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I
  Broadsides printed between 1820 and 1900 and ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900
  Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819
  Books, pamphlets, broadsides and other imprints
  America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922
  Hundreds of historic newspapers from more than 20 states
• Accessible Archives (full text)
  Provides the full text of a group of historical periodicals including:
  Godey's Lady's Book (1830-1885)--" considered among the most important resources of 19th century American life and culture"
  The Liberator (1831-1865)--" the most influential newspaper in the antebellum, antislavery crusade"
  African American Newspapers (19th Century)
• Oxford Art Online (full text)
  Online access to the full text of Grove Art Online and Oxford Companion to Western Art and more--includes biographies and images for American artists from this era
• American Song (use background music from the period while giving a presentation)
  Includes well known classics of American music plus music that relates to all areas of American life, every ethnic group, and every time period--songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys--songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and anti-war protests--hymns, funny songs, college songs, sea shanties, shape note songs, and songs about topics such as New York and electricity

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