Letters & Diaries

Historians value Personal texts Narrative or story-telling Democratic sources More candid Easier to relate to since they often deal with everyday events

Using Letters & Diaries May be difficult to find Most have not been saved Those in manuscript collections are unique – only 1 copy in existence May be difficult to read Handwritten Language differences over time May be difficult to use Usually organized just chronologically Not indexed Don’t really know if your topic is included until you’ve read the complete collection

Published letters & diaries Only small percentage are ever formally published Usually those of significant people May be incomplete or edited Letters & diaries on the WWW May be buried in larger collections May be incomplete, excerpted or transcribed

Your letter Transcribe at least the first paragraph Scan through the rest What can you glean from the document?

What type of document is this? When was it written? What does the document tell us about the author? Name? Age? Sex? Occupation? Location? What sort of evidence does the document provide you about the Japanese American experience during WWII? Who was forced to evacuate and who was not? What does the document tell you about the idea that military necessity caused Japanese American internment? What are the conditions like for Japanese Americans? What information would help you better understand the document?

Finding Published Collections of Letters & Diaries and Other Primary Sources in the UW Libraries Catalog

Using the catalog to find primary sources Author searches Date of publication Special subheadings added to a keywords search

Authors Search for works written by key people or key organizations related to your topic. Works best if you have a research topic identified with particular people or organizations. Author search in UW Libraries Catalog United States War Relocation Authority roosevelt franklin

Dates Search for works published during the time period you are researching. The UW Libraries has a strong collection of books published during the 20th century. Use the Keywords search and limit by publication year. Limit your search to books published between 1941 and 1945

Subheadings Search for works designated as primary sources by catalogers. diaries, correspondence, personal narratives, sources, interviews Use the Keywords search and add these special headings to your search. Japanese americans and (diaries or correspondence)