The Connecticut Digital Newspaper Project is looking for historians, scholars, and educators who would be interested in creating topic guides for Connecticut newspapers recently scanned and included in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America database. These subject guides will be shared on the CDNP website in order to promote research using historical newspapers.
Those who are interested in creating a topic guide are encouraged to indicate their interest to the CDNP by sending an email to Anna Newman at anna.newman@ct.gov. The email should include a short introduction to yourself and a description of any recent work that you have done or are doing in the history of Connecticut. If you have developed an interest and some expertise in an aspect of one of the topics below, or another subject important to these eras, please indicate that in your email. A sample of your work would be welcomed.
Elements of the topic guide.
- Three to four paragraph, or 400-600 word, introduction to the topic as manifested in Connecticut in the Progressive Era.
- A short timeline of national or Connecticut events that contextualize the topic (around 10 dates).
- A short bibliography that will direct researchers to more resources (around than 10 items).
- A “How to Search this topic in Chronicling America” element. This section will include samples of the search terms that will actually yield results related to Connecticut for this historical period. It may also include proper names of persons, institutions, or places that will yield relevant results.
- Some sample search results, that is, a list of articles that can be retrieved on this topic from the database and that give a good sense of the richness of the newspapers as a resource for research. You should provide at least 10 results. If the quality of the articles retrieved is high, more results may be acceptable.
Sample topic guides can be found at https://ctdigitalnewspaperproject.org/topic-guides/.
Some possible topics:
- Gilded Age corporatization
- Panic of 1907
- Progressive Era Reforms
- Education
- Sanitation
- Pure food
- Public Health
- Social Work/Settlement Houses
- Conservation
- Municipalization of Utilities
- Reactions to trust-busting
- Suffrage movement
- Country Life Movement & Agriculture
- City Beautiful impulse
- Immigration
- Immigrant Life/Specific Communities
- Immigration Policy Debates
- Americanization Policy & Plans
- African American Community
- Culture wars
- Connecticut Reactions to Red Summer
- Life and work
- Women and Gender
- Suffrage movement
- Working Women
- Fashion
- Divorce
- World War I Mobilization
- Industry
- Military
- Community (gardens, canning, “slackers”)
- Debates regarding U.S. entry
- Civil Liberties and World War I
- World War I and German-Americans
- Industry and Labor
- Connecticut as Industrial Powerhouse
- Working Women
- Workers’ Compensation Legislation
- State Federation of Labor
- Industrial Workers of the World
- Eight-Hour Day Movement
- Labor Parties, Socialist Electoral Politics
- State Republican and Democratic Parties
- State Government
- Debate over formulas for representation
- New Haven Railroad and state politics
- Municipal politics
- Connecticut Judiciary
- Popular Culture: Movies, Dance, Vaudeville & Theater