Category Archives: Doing Historical Research

Children, Trauma, and Memory

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

In Part I of this series, But Is It True?, I suggested a couple of research techniques scholars routinely use to fact-check stories. The story, in this case, is about Little Crow’s death as related by Mary Elizabeth Lamson, whose … Continue reading →

Posted in Commemorating Controversy, Doing Historical Research, Little Crow | 2 Comments

But Is It True?

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Thank you so much for the great questions you’ve been leaving in the comments on posts here! Your curiosity has given me a better idea of who is reading and the varied backgrounds you bring to these stories. I’ll start … Continue reading →

Posted in Doing Historical Research | 2 Comments

The William Watts Folwell Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

In 1922, corresponding with Minnesota historian William Watts Folwell, Thomas A. Robertson mused, “This writing of history is, of course, a very particular and tedious work, but it seems sometimes that they catch too much at mere hearsay matters and … Continue reading →

Posted in Doing Historical Research, Minnesota Historical Society, William Watts Folwell | 1 Comment

The Dakota War Goes Digital

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Every golden moment in my research career is tied to the feel of old paper beneath my fingertips. So I will be the last one to counsel researchers to settle for sources available on the Internet! At the same time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Doing Historical Research, Minnesota Historical Society | Leave a comment

“The scaffolding must have been sufficient to build the state capitol”

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

Truth be told, one of the reasons I love doing history is that there’s always something new just around the corner. Today, filing sources that I pulled to write about the execution artifacts, I encountered two more newspaper clippings about … Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Earth County Beam, Doing Historical Research | Leave a comment

Up in Smoke, Twice?

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Carrie Zeman

I’m writing a paper on the provenance of a collection of 1862 execution-related artifacts, inluding the mystery beam in Blue Earth County and have a pile of sources on my desk to digest, including a newspaper clippings file. Clippings files are a … Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Earth County Beam, Doing Historical Research | Leave a comment