Historian's Craftbag

Professor Dunlavy

University of Wisconsin-Madison

| Writing | Analysis | Research Process | Bibliographic Tools |
 

rev. 3 March 2006

Writing Tools

  • Marius, Richard, and Melvin E. Page.  A Short Guide to Writing about History.  4th ed.  New York:  Longman, 2002.  Note especially the section on different modes of writing.

  • Strunk, William, Jr., and E. G. White.  The Elements of Style.  4th ed.  New York: Longman, 2000.  An amazing classic; memorize it!  Now available online -- click the title.

  • Turabian, Kate L.  A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.  6th ed., revised by John Grossman and Alice Bennett.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. This is based on the Chicago Manual of Style.
 

Analytical Tools

  • Browne, M. Neil, and Stuart M. Keeley. Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking. 7th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2004.

  • David Hackett Fischer, Historians' Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper & Row, 1970). Dated but still useful. 

  • Raymond Williams, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, rev. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985).  

  • Marc Bloch, The Historian's Craft (New York: Random House, Vintage Books, 1953). A classic that still offers inspiration. 

  • Joan Wallach Scott, Gender and the Politics of History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988). 

  • Lynn Hunt, ed., The New Cultural History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989).
 

On the Research Process

  • Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams.  The Craft of Research.  2d ed.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

  • Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff, The Modern Researcher, 5th ed. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992).
 

PORTALS TO SECONDARY SOURCES

  • Francis Paul Prucha, Handbook for Research in American History: A Guide to Bibliographies and Other Reference Works, 2d rev. ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994).  Indispensable print portal to specialized bibliographies.

  • Norton, Mary Beth, general ed.  The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature.  3rd ed.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 1995.  In Mem Lib Reference stacks (D20 A63 1995) and Historical Society Reading Room (Z6201 A55 1995).

  • Friedel, Frank, ed.  Harvard Guide to American History.  Rev. ed.  Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1974.  Quite dated but don't overlook this as a guide to the older literature (i.e., books and journal articles).  In Mem Lib Reference stacks (Z1236 F77 1974), Historical Society Reading Room (Z1236 F77 1974); copies under the same call number are also available in the regular stacks of both libraries.

  • Books -- besides searching MadCat, be sure to check the card catalogs in Memorial Library if you are looking for a book published in the 1970s or earlier.  The author-title catalog is located on 2d floor, adjacent to the computers in the Reference area; the subject catalog is in the North Basement.  If you still cannot locate a book, go to Article and Book Delivery on the library webpage, search WorldCat, and place an order (a.k.a. an interlibrary loan order).

  • Professional journals -- online indexes

    • America: History and Life (1982-) -- indexes contents of journals devoted to American history. *

    • Historical Abstracts (1970-) -- indexes journals devoted to world history. *

    • History of Science, Technology, and Society (1975-). Combined access to the major bibliographies of the history of science and the history of technology. *

    • EconLit (1969-) -- indexes and abstracts more than 300 scholarly English language periodicals and books in the field of economics. *

    • JSTOR:  Journal Storage Project

      • full-text database of more than 100 journals in the fields of African-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, botany, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population/demography, sociology, and statistics. Coverage begins with volume one of each title and usually continues through the early 1990s. Eight journals have 100 or more years of coverage; 35 journals have 50 or more years of coverage. Graphs, photographs, and other images are included.

    • PIO:  Periodicals Index Online (late 18th century - 1983) *

    • Magazine Stacks (1827- )

      • tables of contents of historical journals, monographic series, and occasional volumes; mainly in German and English.

    • Lexis-Nexis -- options include legal research (statutes, law review articles), newspapers (since the 1980s), and Congressional documents. *
 

PORTALS TO PRIMARY SOURCES -- under revision!

  • Books and journal articles -- if they were produced during the period that you are researching, they constitute (printed) primary sources for your purposes.  Use the tools under "Secondary Sources" above to find them.

  • Making of America (MOA) -- Digital, full-text  library of primary printed sources (books, pamphlets, periodicals) in U.S. social history ca. 1815-1877.

  • Popular periodicals (e.g., Time, Newsweek, Fortune, and other periodicals aimed at the general public):

  • 19th Century Masterfile: Series I, 1786-1907 *

    • Access to the periodical literature of the nineteenth century. Included is an online version of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1907); the foremost index for nineteenth century periodicals. Also included are: Index to Legal Periodical Literature (1786-1922), ed. Jones and Chipman; Index to Periodicals (1890-1902), by W.T. Stead; and An Alphabetical Subject Index and Encyclopedia to Periodical Articles on Religion (1890-1899), ed. Ernest Cushing Richardson. The full-text of articles is not provided; check MadCat to see if the UW-Madison Libraries have the journals indexed by this resource.

  • Making of America (MOA) -- Digital, full-text  library of primary printed sources (books, pamphlets, periodicals) in U.S. social history ca. 1815-1877. 

  • Readers' Guide Fulltext and Retrospective *

    • Indexes and abstracts more than 240 general interest periodicals, including the New York Times. Its subject matter covers news and current events in politics, business, science, education, religion, the arts, foreign affairs, sports and hobbies, fashion, food and cooking, and health and nutrition. Feature articles are indexed and abstracted, as are speeches, obituaries, recipes, product evaluations, do-it-yourself works, reviews, and original works of fiction. More than 500 retrospective general-interest periodicals (pre-1983) are also included, without abstracts. Full-text articles from 120 journals have been added beginning with 1994.
  • Newspapers
    • Search MadCat
    • Check the newspapers card catalog in the Historical Society's Microforms Room (past the circulation desk).
    • New York Times (1851-1999) -- full-text and full-image articles available in downloadable PDF files. *
    • [Chicago Tribune]
    • Lexis-Nexis -- the "News" portion indexes newspapers, but only in recent years. *
  • Legal cases, law review articles
    • Lexis-Nexis -- the "Legal Research" portion offers the full text of legal cases and law review articles. *
  • Government Documents
    • A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation -- Library of Congress's searchable database of U.S. Congressional documents and debates, 1774-1873.
    • [+Lexis-Nexis - congressional info]
    • Public Affairs Information Service International (PAIS) -- covers public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general.  Electronic coverage since 1972; printed volumes back to 1915 are available in Memorial Library's Reference Room. *
    • 19th Century Masterfile:  Series V - Patent and Government Document Indices.  Includes messsages and papers of the U.S. presidents, 1789-1897, and some British parliamentary materials to 1830. *
    • Law Library of Congress
      • Guide to Law Online -- international, national, and U.S. state coverage.
      • Links for the State of Wisconsin.  Online materials are generally only available from the 1990s on.  In searching for Wisconsin government documents, always be sure to consult with a reference librarian at the Wisconsin Historical Society.
    •

  • Archives

    • ArCat - searchable catalog of the collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society Archive.

    • National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUMUC) - Library of Congress's free-of-charge catalog of archival materials.

    • WorldCat - searchable catalog of more than 49 million books, serials, audiovisual media, maps, archives, manuscripts, scores, and computer files owned by more than 9,000 OCLC member libraries around the world, including UW-Madison and the Library of Congress. More than 400 languages are represented. One of its many uses is the ability to make online interlibrary loan requests for books. Since March 1997, links to Internet sources have been added. * Also available

 

* Licensed access for UW-Madison faculty, students, staff, which means that you should be able to access it from off-campus, using your UW ID number and last name.
 

Secondary Works

Here is a selection of secondary works that may be useful for research on American capitalism, with an emphasis on corporations.

  • Atack, Jeremy. "Industrial Structure and the Emergence of the Modern Industrial Corporation." Explorations in Economic History 22 (1985): 29-52.

  • Banner, Stuart.  Anglo-American Securities Regulation:  Cultural and Political Roots, 1690-1860.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 1998.

  • Bowman, Scott R. The Modern Corporation and American Political Thought:  Law, Power, and Ideology. University Park, Penn.: Pennsylvania University Press, 1996.

  • Brandes, Stuart D. American Welfare Capitalism, 1880-1940. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.

  • Carruthers, Bruce G., and Terrence C. Halliday. Rescuing Business:  The Making of Corporate Bankruptcy Law in England and the United States. Clarendon, 1998.

  • Chandler, Alfred D., Jr. Inventing the Electronic Century:  The Epic Story of the Consumer Electronics and Computer Science Industries.  New York:  Free Press, 2001.

  • --------------.  Scale and Scope:  The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.  Comparative study of the U.S., Britain, and Germany.

  • --------------.  Strategy and Structure:  Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962.

  • --------------.  The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977.  The now-classic analysis of the rise of "big business" -- note that his treatment does not distinguish between partnerships and corporations.  This is available online at ACLS History E-Books Project.

  • Chandler, Alfred D., Jr., and Herman Daems, eds. Managerial Hierarchies:  Comparative Perspectives on the Rise of the Modern Industrial Enterprise. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1980. This has separate chapters on the U.S., Britain, France, Germany.

  • Davis, John P. Corporations:  A Study of the Origin and Development of Great Business Combinations and of Their Relation to the Authority of the State. Edited and Introduction by Abram Chayes. New York: Capricorn Books, 1961.

  • Davis, Joseph Stancliffe. Essays in the Earlier History of American Corporations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1917.  This is in four parts; we read portions of part IV on 18th-century corporations.

  • Dewing, Arthur S. Corporation Promotions and Reorganizations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914. Has chapters on specific companies or consolidations:  United States Leather Company, starch consolidations, glucose combination, National Cordage Company, Westinghouse, National Salt Company, United States Realty and Construction Company, Americn Bicycle Company, American Malting Company, New England Cotton Yarn Company, Cotton Duck Consolidation, International Cotton Mills Corporation, Asphalt consolidation, United States Shipbuilding Company, American Glue Company.

  • Dodd, Edwin Merrick. American Business Corporations Until 1860:  With Special Reference to Massachusetts. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1954.

  • Dunlavy, Colleen A.  Politics and Industrialization:  Early Railroads in the United States and Prussia.  Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 1994.  Comparative study; chapters on regulation (2), building national associations, and technological choice.

  • Evans, George Heberton, Jr. Business Incorporations in the United States, 1800-1943. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., 1948.  A wealth of statistical information.

  • Fligstein, Neil. The Transformation of Corporate Control. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard University Press, 1990. [20th century]

  • Freyer, Tony Allan. Regulating Big Business: Antitrust in Great Britain and America, 1880 to 1990. Cambridge [England], New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

  • Grandy, Christopher. New Jersey and the Fiscal Origins of Modern American Corporation Law. New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1993.

  • Hartog, Hendrik. Public Property and Private Power:  The Corporation of the City of New York in American Law, 1730-1870. Ithaca and London: University of North Carolina Press, Cornell Paperbacks edition, 1983.  Excellent starting point for municipal corporations.

  • Horn, Norbert, and Jürgen Kocka, editors. Recht und Entwicklung der Großunternehmen Im 19. und Frühen 20. Jahrhundert:  Wirtschafts-, Sozial- und Rechtshistorische Untersuchungen Zur Industrialisierung in Deutschland, Frankreich, England und Den USA (= Law and the Formation of Big Enterprises in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries:  Studies in the History of Industrialization in Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979. Some essays are in English.

  • Hopt, K. J., et al.  Comparative Corporate Governance:  The State of the Art and Emerging Research.  Oxford:  Clarendon Press, 1998.  Includes serveral essays on the U.S., mostly dealing with the 20th century.

  • Hovenkamp, Herbert. Enterprise and American Law, 1836-1937. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991.

  • Hurst, James Willard. The Legitimacy of the Business Corporation in the Law of the United States, 1780-1970. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1970.

  • Jacoby, Sanford M., ed.  Masters to Managers:  Historical and Comparative Perspectives on American Employers.  New York: Columbia University Press, c1991.

  • Kaysen, Carl, ed. The American Corporation Today. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

  • Kuehnl, George J. The Wisconsin Business Corporation. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1959.  Coverage extends from the territorial period to about 1875.

  • Kwolek-Folland, Angel. Engendering Business:  Men and Women in the Corporate Office, 1870-1930. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

  • Lamoreaux, Naomi. The Great Merger Movement in American Business, 1895-1904. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

  • Lipartito, Kenneth, and David B. Sicilia, eds.  Constructing Corporate America:  History, Politics, Culture.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2004.

  • Linowes, David F. "The Corporation as Citizen." In The United States Constitution: Roots, Rights, and Responsibilities, edited by A. E. Dick Howard, 345-59. Washington, D.C., and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

  • Maier, Pauline. "The Revolutionary Origins of the American Corporation." William and Mary Quarterly 3d ser., vol. 50 (1993): 51-84.

  • Mark, Gregory A. "The Role of the State in Corporate Law Formation." International Corporate Law Annual 1: 1-16.

  • McCurdy, Charles W. "American Law and the Marketing Structure of the Large Corporation, 1875-1890." Journal of Economic History 38, no. 3 (September 1978): 631-49.

  • Micklethwait, John, and Adrian Woodridge.  The Company:  A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea.  New York:  Modern Library, 2003.

  • Nace, Ted.  Gangs of America:  The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy.  San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2003.

  • Roe, Mark J. "Delaware's Competition." Harvard Law Review 117, no. 2 (December 2003): 588-646.

  • Roe, Mark.  Strong Managers, Weak Owners:  The Political Roots of American Corporate Finance.  Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 1994.

  • Roy, William G. Socializing Capital:  The Rise of the Large Industrial Corporation in America. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.

  • Seavoy, Ronald E. The Origins of the American Business Corporation, 1784-1855. Contributions in Legal Studies, vol. No. 19. Westport, Conn., and London: Greenwood Press, 1982.

  • Sklar, Martin J. The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-1916: The Market, the Law, and Politics. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

  • Vernon, Raymond. The Economic and Political Consequences of Multinational Enterprise:  An Anthology. Boston: Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, 1972.

  • Wilkins, Mira. The Emergence of Multinational Enterprise:  American Business Abroad from the Colonial Era to 1914. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1970.

  • --------------.  The Maturing of Multinational Enterprise:  American Business Abroad from 1914 to 1970. Edited by Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. Harvard Studies in Business History, vol. XXVII. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1974.

  • --------------.  "European and North American Multinationals, 1870-1914:  Comparisons and Contrasts." In The End of Insularity:  Essays in Comparative Business History, edited by R. P. T. Davenport-Hines and Geoffrey Jones, 8-45. London: Frank Cass, 1988.

  • Zunz, Olivier.  Making America Corporate, 1870-1920.  Chicago:  University of Chicago Press.