Readings

Table of Readings & Discussion Questions

Table depicts finalized list of recommended readings and discussion questions for each plenary and breakout session during the WASAH Summer Institute.

Steven Sheehan (Breakout Session 0A)--"Culture of Consumption"

10 page article authored by Christopher Lasch, entitled "The Culture of Consumption," from the Encyclopedia of American Social History, pp. 1381-1390 (1993)

Steven Sheehan (Breakout Session 0A)--"More is Better"

42 page article written by Shelley Nickles, titled "More is Better: Mass Consumption, Gender, and Class Identity in Postwar America", found in American Quarterly 54, pp. 581-622 (December 2002).

Paisley Harris (Breakout Session 2A) -- Calcutt v. Gerig

Court opinion of the U.S. Circuit Court, 6th Circuit, Court of appeals for Calcutt v. Gerig (1921).

Paisley Harris (Breakout Session 2A) -- Letters re: Chappelle Case

7 pages of letter exchanges in 1910 regarding the Chappelle case.

Paisley Harris (Breakout Session 2A) -- Chappelle v. Illinois Central Railroad Co.

Full opinion of the Interstate Commerce Commission's opinion for this hearing.

Nancy LoPatin-Lummis (Breakout Session 3A) -- "Take Your Choice"

Writing entitled "Take Your Choice: The Age of George III, written in 1776.

Catherine Kalish (Breakout Session 4A)--List of Books Banned in the U.S.

Handout entitled "Books Banned at One Time or Another in the United States," created by Adler Books.

Catherine Kalish (Breakout Session 4A)--"Just Open the Door"

Erin D. Howerton's 4-page essay, "Just Open the Door: Banned Books (and a Librarian!) in the Classroom," published in the Young Adult Library Service's Spring 2007 Volume

Catherine Kalish (Breakout Session 4A)--"Books Cannot be Killed by Fire"

Nikola von Merveldt's 13-page essay, "Books cannot be Killed by Fire: The German Freedom Library and the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books as Agents of Cultural Memory," published in Library Trends, Winter 2007.

Harvey Kaye (Breakout Session 5A)--"Paine in His Own Words"

Handout of various Thomas Paine writings, prepared by Harvey Kaye.

Stephen Vincent (Breakout Session 6B)--"From Contested Terrain" Essay

25 page essay written by Stephen Vincent, entitled "From Contested Terrain to Free Black Refuge: Slavery and Emancipation in the Upper Ohio Valley." (2003)

Stephen Vincent (Breakout Session 6B)--Abraham Lincoln's Views

Handout features Abraham Lincoln's 1858 views on the rights of African Americans.

Stephen Vincent (Breakout Session 6B)--"Racial Ambivalence Among Quakers"

Handout entitled "Racial Ambivalence among Quakers: Excerpts from Two Documents Pertaining to the 1826 Relocation of Several Dozen Slaves from North Carolina to Indiana."

Stephen Vincent (Breakout Session 6B)--"Holy Warriors" by Stewart

Pages 125-148 from James Brewer Stewart's "Holy Warriors: Abolitionists and American Slavery." Reading is from Chapter entitled "Races, Classes and Freedom."

Michael Jacobs (Breakout Session 7B)--"Declaration of Independence"

Copy of the American Declaration of Independence language, comparing preliminary and final language.

Michael Jacobs (Breakout Session 7B)--"Jackie Robinson Letter to Pres. Eisenhower"

Letter from baseball great Jackie Robinson to President Eisenhower, dated 5/13/58, urging him to more proactively support integration of Negroes into schools and other facets of public life.

Michael Jacobs (Breakout Session 7B)--"Emancipation Proclamation"

This item depicts the language from Abraham Lincoln's famous 1863 speech, "The Emancipation Proclamation."

Michael Jacobs (Breakout Session 7B)--"Brown v. Board of Education"

File features the court opinion language from the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision "Brown v. Board of Education," striking down the concept of "separate but equal" schools.

Jack Rakove (Plenary Session 2)--"Original Meanings," Ch. 1

This is the first chapter of Jack Rakove's book, "Original Meanings," to be read for his plenary session.

Jack Rakove (Breakout Session 9B)--"Original Meanings," Ch. 10

This is the tenth chapter in Jack Rakove's book, "Original Meanings."

Brett Barker (Breakout Session 2B) -- "Impact of Total War" Article by Lorence

James Lorence's 9-page article entitled "The Impact of Total War: War Powers under the Constitution," in Chapter 15 of "Enduring Voices, Vol. I.

Kerry Trask (Apostle Islands Trip) -- Various Readings

File contains several readings: (a) two short pieces from Pierre Esprit Radisson's Lake Superior Journal, titled "Caesars in the Wilderness" and "Famine," (both from William Joseph Seno's (ed.) Up Country: Voices from the Great Lakes Wilderness); (b) R. David Edmunds, "Shells That Ring for Shadows on Her Face: Potawatomi Commerce in the Old Northwest," Wisconsin Magazine of History, Spring 1993.; and (c) Kerry A. Trask, "Settlement in a Half-Savage Land: Life and Loss in the Metis Community of LaBaye," Michigan Historical Review, Spring 1989.

Jack Rakove (Breakout Session 9B)-"Declaring Rights," Jefferson-Madison correspondence

The following is an exchange between James Madison and Thomas Jefferson reprinted from Jack Rakove's book, "Declaring Rights."

Jack Rakove (Breakout Session 9B)--"The Dilemma of Declaring Rights"

This article by Jack Rakove is published in the collection, "The Nature of Rights at the American Founding and Beyond" (Barry Shain, editor).

John Grider (Breakout Session 10B)--"A Race So Different"

An essay by Hoang Gia Phan entitled "'A Race So Different': Chinese Exclusion, the Slaughterhouse Cases, and Plessy v. Ferguson." Published in Labor History, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May 2004).

Recommended Readings -- Links to Websites

Some of the summer institute presenters recommended that teaching scholars review websites that relate to the session topics. Listed below are the presenters, session number, website and nature of content on the website.

PowerPoint Slides and Handouts

Various Materials Presented or Distributed at Summer Institute Sessions

Stephen Vincent - Additional Readings: Free Blacks in Midwest

Suggested readings on African Americans and Race Relations in the Midwest through the Civil War.

Stephen Vincent -- Ira Berlin Article

Ira Berlin article entitled, "The Revolution in Black Life," about the impact of the American Revolution on blacks.