The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region ca. 1600-1925

Go directly to the collection, The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region ca. 1600-1925, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection. Critical thinking topics include:

Constructing Timelines | Using Poems as Historical Documents | Reading Imaginatively | Views on the Richmond Theater Fire | Using Photographs to Develop Research Questions | Interrogating Memoirs and Recollections | Analyzing Value-Laden Decisions

Historical Research: Using Photographs to Develop Research Questions

Liberty and Lombard—Looking East on Lombard. ("Photographic Views and Description of the Great Baltimore Fire")

Historical research begins with questions, but formulating good historical questions often does not come easily. Print out the pictures from "Photographic Views and Description of the Great Baltimore Fire." Examine the photos and generate two lists: (1) things we can determine from the photos and (2) questions we have about what is shown in the photographs. From this analysis, develop a list of research questions about the fire. Search The Capital and the Bay for answers to the questions generated. Pool the results of your work and determine what questions remain unanswered. Develop a strategy for finding answers to the remaining questions.

Historical Research: Interrogating Memoirs and Recollections

Many of the documents in The Capital and the Bay are memoirs, recollections, or autobiographies—accounts of past events as seen through the lens of someone’s personal experience. Using these documents illustrates that specific kinds of sources may require that particular questions be asked in interrogating those sources. For example, in using memoirs, recollections, or autobiographies, we should consider the following:

• Who published the work and why?
• Do persons of all social classes and ethnic and racial groups have access to these publishing resources? What does that suggest about such sources?
• What are the writer’s qualifications to comment on particular topics? Was he/she directly involved in the events covered? Is he/she well connected socially and politically? Is he/she an able observer? Does he/she have a class bias?
• When were the recollections written—near the time the events covered in the recollection actually occurred or much later? How were they written—based on notes, journals, and letters or based on memory?

In responding to the first question, you may note that white women and men and African American men are represented in the memoirs and autobiographies, but African American women and Native Americans are not represented. Develop a hypothesis about why this might be the case and how it biases the historical record.

Constructing Timelines | Using Poems as Historical Documents | Reading Imaginatively | Views on the Richmond Theater Fire | Using Photographs to Develop Research Questions | Interrogating Memoirs and Recollections | Analyzing Value-Laden Decisions