Asian American Activism
Background Sources | Secondary Sources: Books | Secondary Sources: Journal Articles |
Finding Published Primary Sources | Selected Web Resources
Background
Sources
Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide background information and can be used to identify key people, events and dates which can then be used as search terms for finding additional information. More importantly, because encyclopedias often cover the major issues surrounding the subect, they can help you narrow your research from a broad “who, what, where, when” topic to a “how or why” question. In addition many encyclopedia articles include short bibliographies that will lead you to the major works on the topic.
 
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- Asian American encyclopedia
Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference
E184.O6 A827 1995
- Asian Americans and the Supreme Court: a documentary history
Suzzallo Reference
KF4755.A75 A84 1992
- The Columbia guide to Asian American history
Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Stacks
E184.O6 C64 2001
- Encyclopedia of Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present
Suzzallo Reference
E184.J3 E53 2001
- Encyclopedia of American social history
Suzzallo Reference, Undergraduate Reference
HN57 .E58 1993
- Encyclopedia of minorities in American politics
Suzzallo Reference
E184.A1 E574 2000
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Finding Books
Use the following databases to locate books in the UW Libraries and in
other libraries around the region, nation and world. Books unavailable at
the UW and Summit can be requested through the
UWorld Express (interlibrary loan)
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UW Libraries Catalog
A listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material
available at the University of Washington Libraries.
- Summit
Joint catalog of 27 Oregon and Washington academic libraries. Books can be requested online and sent to the UW -- you'll need your library barcode and PIN.
- OCLC WorldCat [UW only]
A listing of books, journal subscriptions and other material
available in hundreds of major libraries in the U.S. and abroad.
- OhioLINK
Use OhioLink to access chapters of recent books, use the "keywords"
search option.
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Finding Articles
Use indexes/abstracts/bibliographies to find articles (from scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers and sometimes books, dissertations, government reports, etc.) on a topic. There are indexes covering all sorts of subjects, use those which best fit your research topic. For a complete list of electronic indexes see Databases & Catalogs on the Information Gateway.
Once you identify articles you need make sure you have the complete citation (author, title, journal name, volume, pages and year), then look in the UW Libraries Catalog for the journal name (do a title search for the journal name to see if the UW subscribes) to see if and where the journal is kept (library location and call number).
Databases marked UW Only require that you access these from computers on campus or from home using UWICK or the libraries proxy server. Articles
from journals which the UW does not own can be requested through the
UWorld Express (interlibrary loan).
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- America History & Life [UW only]
Major index to articles in U.S. and Canadian history. Also includes citations to selected books, dissertations and reviews.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies [UW only]
Index to articles, books and book chapters dealing with all subjects in Asian studies including overseas communities.
- Expanded Academic Index [UW only]
Interdisciplinary index to magazine and journal articles in all subjects, includes some full-text. For a similar database also see Research Library [UW only]
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Finding Published Primary Sources
Using Secondary Sources to Find Primary Sources
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Secondary sources, scholarly journal articles and books, are a great source for identifying potential primary sources. Find a few articles, books or dissertations related to your topic and then mine the footnotes and bibliography. You will have the best luck finding published primary sources such as books, government reports, newspapers and magazines within the UW Libraries. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to determine if we have the primary source.
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Finding Primary Sources -- Books
The UW Libraries has a strong collection of books that can be considered primary sources for history. These include books written during the period for your topic (i.e., during the 1890s), books written by participants, published collections of correspondence and other personal writings, memoirs and reprints of collections of primary source material. Use the UW Libraries Catalog to search for these materials.
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- Limit your search by publication date.
- Search for books written by key participants and organizations.
- Browse the shelves in the appropriate subject area.
- Use special subject terms that designate primary sources:
sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence, interviews - Example:
- japanese americans and su:(sources or narratives or interviews)
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Finding Primary Sources -- Articles
The UW Libraries has a strong collection of magazines and journals from the 19th and 20th century. Many of them are in print (either in Suzzallo Periodicals or in a storage area), others are on microfilm. There is limited electronic indexing for early 20th century material.
The libraries also has a basic collection of major U.S. newspapers on microfilm for the late 19th and 20th centuries. Complete runs are available for such papers as the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle Oregonian and Seattle Times. The libraries has a strong collection on Northwest papers. A selective list of Ethnic and Special Audience newspapers is available and will help identify some of the many local ethnic and labor papers available. Newspapers are housed in the Microform and Newspaper Collections (Mcnews) on the ground floor of Suzzallo.
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Magazines and Journals
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Newspapers
- Ethnic NewsWatch [UW only]
Full-text collection of ethnic newspapers with selective coverage dating back to 1960 (most Asian publications from 1990 on). Includes Korea Times, Northwest Asian Weekly, VietNow Magazine, Filipino Express and other publications.
- LexisNexis Academic [UW only]
Large, full-text newspaper and legal database. Earliest newspaper coverage dates back to mid 1970s. Good for finding news material on more contemporary topics. Also includes Roper opinion poll material back to 1935.
- New York Times Index
Index to the newspaper is available in print from 1851 to the present. Partially available on line - Historical Index to the New York Times covers 1863-1905 and 1913-1922. Other indexes providing retrospective coverage include the San Francisco Newspapers Index, 1904-1959 [on microfilm in Mcnews M-2810] and the Library Association of Portland Newspaper Index, 1851-1984 [on microfilm in Mcnews M-1244]. If you are using a paper without an index, use the one for the New York Times to pinpoint dates. If you are working on a particular event, then you can just browse newspapers from that week. NOTE: The King County Library System and Seattle Public subscribe to the full-image New York Times Historical Backfile. To use this database you will need a KCLS or SPL library card.
- Pacific Northwest Regional Newspaper and Periodical Index
Card index available in the Special Collections located in the basement of Allen South. The regional index covers local newspapers, magazines, and other material dealing with PNW history from the 1850s to the present. Current years are available online.
- San Francisco newspapers index, 1904-1959
Microfiche index to
San Francisco call (Jan. 1, 1904 - Aug. 31, 1913); San Francisco examiner (Sept. 1, 1913 - Sept. 23, 1928); San Francisco chronicle (Sept. 1, 1913 - Dec. 31, 1949). Microforms & Newspapers M 2810. Also see the San Francisco chronicle index, 1950-1980, M 2809.
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Finding Primary Sources -- Government Reports
The UW Libraries has a strong collection of U.S. government documents including federal agency publications, congressional hearings and reports and other material. Some material is printed while others are available on microfilm. Some material can be found through the UW Libraries Catalog, for other material use the sources listed below. For more information about locating government documents check with the Government Publications section is on the ground floor of Suzzallo.
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- Congressional Universe [UW only]
Full-text debates, bills, reports dating back to approximately 1989 and indexing of congressional reports and hearings dating back to 1789.
- MarciveWeb Docs [UW only]
Catalog to U.S. government documents published since 1976. For earlier documents see the Monthly Catalog to United States Government Publications (GovPub. 328.73 Un37m) and its predecessors.
- Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
Catalog of more than 120,000 digitized items from NARA's collection plus citations to an additional 440,000 items. Material that has been digitized include more than 400 documents related to the Chinese Exclusion Act and thousands of photographs of relocation camps.
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Selected Web Sites
There is a growing collection of primary sources (especially images) available freely on the web however it is important to remember that anyone can publish on the web. There is no quality control so before citing a web site in your research paper take time to judge the quality of the web page. Some questions to consider are:
- Content: What is the site about?
- Motive: Is any sort of bias evident in the site? What is the site’s motivation or purpose?
- Source: Who is the publisher of the site? Who is the author of the site?
- Authority: Can you find information about the publisher or the organization that is responsible for the site? What is the authority or expertise of the site’s author?
- Documentation: Does the site have references or citations that lead to more information? Are the original sources of the documents cited?
 
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- Chinese in California, 1850-1925
"The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California from 1850 to 1925 through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials. Included are photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter." Part of American Memory. Also see the excerpts of primary and secondary sources dealing with Chinese American history produced by the Museum of the City of San Francico.
- Conscience and the Constitution
Webpage accompanying the PBS documentary includes trial transcripts, news clippings, audio clips and photographs. Also see the PBS website for Becoming American: The Chinese Experience.
- Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Project to collect oral histories, photographs and documents dealing with Japanese American history with special focus of World War II. The site currently contains narrative with selected documents, images and oral histories plus study questions and bibliographies. Registration required to access the complete site.
- Digital Northwest Collections
Collections of digitized historical photographs from the UW Libraries collections. Other collections of historic PNW photographs include the Salem Public Library Historic Photographs Collections, Museum of History and Industry photo database and the BC Archives Visual Records database
- A History Bursting with Telling: Asian Americans in Washington State
A curriculum packet developed by the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest. Includes narrative and documents.
- Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive
JARDA brings together collections from many California respositories. Included in the collection are digitized photographs, documents, diaries, and finding aids.
- Korean American Digital Archive
"The Korean American Digital Archive includes materials that document the record of the Korean American community during the period of resistance to Japanese rule in Korea. Over 11,000 pages of documents, over 1,800 photographs, and several oral history sound recordings reveal the organizational and private experience of Koreans in America between 1903 and 1965."
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Illustration: "And Still They Come!" From The Wasp, 1880. Courtesy of the Chinese in California, 1850-1925.
History Subject Page | Ethnic Studies Subject Page | UW Libraries
29 March 2004
Theresa Mudrock
- mudrock@u.washington.edu
