Primary sources are the basis of most historical scholarship, and one of the goals in this class is to get you comfortable analyzing primary sources as historians do. My challenge to you is to analyze a primary source related to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, and our discussion of women in the labor force. You may choose either “Days and Dreams” by Sadie Frown or “My First Job” by Rose Cohen, which both describe life working in a sweatshop. You can find the sources here:

https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/primary/

1. you’re sources are these three things, 1) https://albany.kanopy.com/product/triangle-fire , 2) Peiss, Charity etc article and 3) you have to pick one of the sources listed in the instructions “days and dreams” OR “my first job”. pick one that relates to the video and article. 

2. NO OUTSIDE SOURCES

3. Citation has to be Chicago Style

4. More rules listed in pdf

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HIS 318 Paper #1

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hallenge

Primary sources are the basis of most historical scholarship, and one of the goals in this class is to get you comfortable analyzing primary sources as historians do. My challenge to you is to analyze a primary source related to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, and our discussion of women in the labor force. You may choose either “Days and Dreams” by Sadie Frown or “My First Job” by Rose Cohen, which both describe life working in a sweatshop. You can find the sources here:

https://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/primary/

Imagine that you are explaining your primary source to someone who has not read it, and you want them to understand why the source is historically significant. You want to provide them with a basic summary of the source (what type of source it is, who wrote it, what it says, when and why they wrote it), and explain why this source is important for understanding city life in the early twentieth century. Your analysis will be 3 – 4 pages. Your analysis
must
contain the following parts:

1. An introduction with a crystal-clear argument about why this source is important for understanding the historical time period it is covering. How does the source deepen our understanding of cities in the early twentieth century? In particular, what does it tell us about what labor and/or leisure was like in cities of early twentieth century, especially for women?

2. In your introduction or the following paragraph, you need to make sure you explain the basics of the source to the reader. Include as much as you know about who wrote it, when and how it was written, why it was written, and (in brief) what the source says. Refer to the primary source sheet on Blackboard if you are unsure what you should include. Be sure also to explain if there is significant information you are missing that would be important to know to understand the source better. For example, if you don’t know when the source was written, this is important for the reader to know. Sources written further away from the time of the events being discussed have more risk of being inaccurate due to faulty memory, for instance.

3. Once you have introduced the source, provide an explanation of the historical context, using both lecture and relevant class readings. In this case, you will especially want to be sure to include information from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory documentary and Kathy Peiss’s Charity Girls, City Pleasures, along with your textbook. You should also be drawing from lecture.

4. In concluding, give the reader a sense of the potential bias of the source. Think about not only the bias the author might have had, but the bias the particular source would have. What is the author’s purpose in creating the source? Does that purpose give them any reason for relaying the facts in a particular way? Do you have reason to believe the author’s account is reliable? Why or why not? Then, explain why is it an important source despite its biases.

Formatting Guidelines

· Papers are to be 3-4 pages double spaced

· Papers should be in 12-point Times New Roman font with standard one-inch margins and DOUBL

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SPACED.

· Please include an original title for the paper (not just Paper 1) – try to pick a title that reflects what you are saying in the paper!

· Please include a heading with your name, my name, and the date.

· I prefer for the paper to be uploaded as Word Documents so that I can easily comment on your paper. I will accept PDFs if you are unable to upload a word Document, but I am unable to read Pages documents.

· Citations should be Chicago style footnotes for your sources, including lectures. To cite a lecture simply: Tina Peabody, “Title of lecture” is sufficient.

How to Ace this Assignment

· Take a look at both sources, and pick the source that you find the most interesting! I know you may not find these sources as interesting as I do, but try your best. Pick the source you feel you have the most to say about, and the source you think you can connect to class material.

· The best papers will not just summarize the source, but will analyze it. Though you start with a summary, this assignment is asking you to go beyond this and analyze the broader meaning of the primary source. The best papers will demonstrate that connections between the sources and the historical context and class materials. A papers will also show creative and original thinking, finding connections between the document and class material that are unexpected and well thought out.

· Use the primary source document we looked at on the first day to help guide you in reading the source and think through its potential biases

· Read the assignment directions and rubric below – ask yourself if you are doing what you need to do for the grade you want!

Assignment Rubric