Project Description:
Students will work with Professor Sammons to help him conduct research for his book project on the Yazoo Land Sales. In collaboration with the professor, students will undertake a variety of research tasks, including: data entry from old land records; researching the biographies of land speculators; reading and taking notes on a range of primary sources, including digitized newspapers from Georgia in the 1790s and early 1800s, and digitized correspondence from officials in the US War Department. Students will gain experience in different kinds of historical research, learn more about Native American history and the political and economic history of the early US, and learn more about the variety of undertakings necessary to produce historical scholarship.
Prerequisites
Students should have some experience conducting primary source research. Other skills that could be helpful but are not required: Experience with data entry, and making charts and graphs, in Excel. Experience reading cursive Experience using ArcGIS Advanced Spanish reading comprehension (for some Spanish language documents)
Special Comments
It is ok if students perform some of this work remotely/away from campus.
Project Information
Estimated Start Date: 6/3/2024
Estimated End Date: 7/26/2024
Maximum number of students sought: 2
Contact Information: Prof. Franklin Sammons (fsammons@wlu.edu)