Tag Archives: US politics

Book display: American Sports

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The book display in the Vere Harmsworth Library has been updated, this time with the theme of sports in the United States. Sports are a huge part of cultural life and a major industry in the U.S., and this display explores the history of American sporting activity and how this has related to political, religious and economic issues.

Books and information posters displayed on shelving.

Library staff have selected books from our collection which explore various aspects of this topic. Amongst others, we have titles delving into the history of specific sports, such as Baseball as America : seeing ourselves through our national game, Football nation : four hundred years of America’s game : from the Library of Congress and Roller derby : the history of an American sport; titles which examine how sports reflect and influence political issues, such as Democracy at the ballpark : sport, spectatorship, and politics, The Black athlete revolt : the sport justice movement in the age of #BlackLivesMatter and The athletic crusade : sport and American cultural imperialism; and titles exploring issues of identity and equality in sport, such as Mexican American fastpitch : identity at play in vernacular sport, Equality unfulfilled : how Title IX’s policy design undermines change to college sports, The native American identity in sports : creating and preserving a culture and A spectacular leap : black women athletes in twentieth-century America. To discover the full range of titles selected, why not come in and browse?

Alongside these books, we are sharing links to a number of online resources which may be of interest. From the Library of Congress website we have highlighted research guides on various sports and recreation topics, a collection of motion pictures from 1894 to 1915 depicting American work and leisure activities including sports, and a research guide to the sports industry. We have also suggested the Society for American Soccer History’s online resources, and the SPORTDiscus database (this last one will require a single sign on or for users to be connected to the Bodleian Libraries WiFi).

The book display can be found on the ground floor of the Vere Harmsworth Library by the comfy chairs towards the back of the room. Books are labelled as loanable or for library use only, and links to ebooks are given where the Bodleian has ebook access.

If you have any questions about working in the Vere Harmsworth Library, please email vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Book Display: RAI Events

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This month, we have chosen a slightly different theme for our book display. Library staff have selected a range of titles from our collection which tie in to some of the events being held at the Rothermere American Institute (RAI) this month.

Photo of the book display.

Firstly, Peter Feaver, who was a member of the National Security Council during the Clinton and Bush administrations and is now a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University, will be giving a talk on Trump 2.0 and America’s Role in the World on 15th October. In it he will discuss how the new policy directions of Trump’s grand strategy have changed the domestic politics of national security and assess how the second Trump administration has remade America’s role in the world.

Picking up themes of this talk, we have chosen two titles looking at American grand strategy during the first Trump administration – Make America first again : grand strategy analysis and the Trump administration and American grand strategy in the age of Trump – to display alongside White House warriors : how the National Security Council transformed the American way of war and Trump’s own Save America.

Next, the RAI will be hosting a book event on 17th October with Andrew O’Shaughnessy, one of the authors of Republic and empire: crisis, revolution, and America’s early independence. In this new book, by looking beyond the familiar borders of the Revolution and considering colonies that did not rebel—Quebec, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, India, the British Caribbean, Senegal, and Ireland—O’Shaughnessy and his co-author Trevor Burnard go beyond the republican, liberal, and democratic aspects of the emerging American nation, providing a broader history that transcends what we think we know about the Revolution.

The VHL will shortly be adding this book itself to our collection. We are also displaying titles relating to the theme of the American Revolution in the broader context of the British Empire, such as The British Atlantic empire before the American Revolution and The Gaelic and Indian Origins of the American Revolution: diversity and empire in the British Atlantic, 1688-1783, including two by the authors in question, Writing early America : from British America to the American Revolution and An empire divided : the American Revolution and the British Caribbean.

The final event highlighted here is another book event, this one with Tom Arnold-Forster, to discuss his book Walter Lippmann : an intellectual biography. Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) was among the most influential and wide-ranging political writers in modern America. As both a journalist and political theorist, he shaped ideas about liberalism and democracy, the nature of public opinion, US power and empire, and the roles of journalists, experts, and citizens. Tom Arnold-Forster provides a bold historical reassessment of Lippmann’s intellectual life, offering fresh perspectives on a career at the intersection of daily news and democratic theory.

Alongside Walter Lippmann : an intellectual biography, we are displaying an earlier biography, Walter Lippmann and the American century, and some of Lippmann’s own writings in Public opinion and Public philosopher : selected letters of Walter Lippmann.

Details of all RAI events, including the ones discussed here, can be found at https://www.rai.ox.ac.uk/events.

The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Many of these books can be loaned out, and some are also available as ebooks via SOLO.

To find out more about using the Vere Harmsworth Library collections please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

Trials: Planning for the Post-World War II World & Revolutionary War and Early America (ended 7th June 2025)

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[UPDATE: This trial has now ended]

I am pleased to report that the Vere Harmsworth Library has organised trial access to two ProQuest History Vault databases for Bodleian Readers: Planning for the Post-World War II World, State Department Records of Harley A. Notter and Revolutionary War and Early America: Collections from the Massachusetts Historical Society. The trial for both databases runs from the 8th May-7th June, 2025.

Find out more about both databases below:

Planning for the Post-World War II World

Planning for the Post World War II World: State Department Records of Harley A. Notter, 1939-1945 chronicles U.S. planning for postwar peace and spans nearly 300,000 pages. Declassified in 1974, the Notter File contains virtually all extant records of the State Department’s intensive wartime planning, as well as those of several bodies (notably the Policy Committee and the Committee on Postwar Programs) where actual policies were developed and implemented.

Many scholars regard the State Department files assembled by Dr. Harley A. Notter-a key State Department official during the war years-as one of the most important primary sources on postwar planning. The documents in the Notter records detail the foundations on which much of post-1945 U.S. foreign policy was built. The Notter collection includes research reports, official policy papers, memoranda, meeting minutes, State Department organization charts, and many other internal documents.

You can access Planning for the Post World War II World: State Department Records of Harley A. Notter, 1939-1945 using your Single Sign On here.

Revolutionary War and Early America

This module on one of the most-studied periods in American history consists of 26 collections from the holdings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first North American historical society and the first library to devote its primary attention to collecting Americana. The collections digitized by ProQuest from the holdings of the Massachusetts Historical Society focus on the Colonial Era, the Revolutionary War and the Early National Period, with some collections extending into the Civil War era.

The collections include:

  • Papers of key individuals such as Benjamin Lincoln, Artemas Ward and Samuel Cabot.
  • Papers of key families spanning generations, such as the Revere and Hancock Family Papers.
  • Military records such as Orderly Books for French & Indian War and Revolutionary War, recording day to day activities of specific units.
  • 275 individual Pre-Revolutionary Era Diaries (1635-1774), written by more than 109 individuals from a range of working backgrounds and professions.
  • Organisation papers of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society Papers, one of the earliest American philanthropic organisations of it’s type. This includes petitions from those who had lost property from fire, and sometimes included detailed inventories of property and furniture.

You can access Revolutionary War and Early America: Collections from the Massachusetts Historical Society using your Single Sign On here.

You may also be interested in our currently ongoing trial of American History: 1493-1945. Find out more via our blogpost.

Please send any feedback you have regarding this resource to bethan.davies@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Book display: Angela Davis

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Our new book display explores the life and work of scholar, writer and political activist Angela Davis.

Book display featuring several of the titles mentioned in this blog post, an A4 poster about Angela Davis and another poster with QR codes to ebooks and online resources. Several book covers depict Davis as a young Black woman with an Afro.

Davis has worked and campaigned over several decades for racial and gender equality, and wider social justice. She was a co-founder of Critical Resistance, an organisation working to dismantle the prison industrial complex, and was a longstanding member of the Communist Party USA, even running twice as their vice-presidential candidate in the 1980s. She was also a member of the Black Panther Party. Her academic work focuses on feminist and Marxist philosophy, critical theory, punishment and imprisonment, and African American studies. She is perhaps best known for her incarceration in 1970 and the “Free Angela Davis” movement that campaigned for her release until her acquittal in 1972.

Some of the books on our display were written or edited by Davis herself, such as Women, race and class and If they come in the morning: voices of resistance; other feature interviews with her or contributions from her, such as The Black Power mixtape: 1967-1975 and Angela Davis: seize the time.

We have also selected some titles which explore broader themes linked to Davis’ activism, experiences and areas of academic research. For example, Prison power: how prison influenced the movement for Black liberation and Captive nation: Black prison organizing in the civil rights era examine the relationship between incarceration and Black activism, while Davis’ Marxism and involvement in the Communist Party are reflected in the inclusion of We shall be free!: Black communist protests in seven voices and Organize, fight, win: black communist women’s political writing.

The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Many of these books can be loaned out, and some are also available as ebooks via SOLO.

Readers may be interested in the following ebooks:

To find out more about using the Vere Harmsworth Library collections please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

New Alain Locke Collection Titles – Winter 2024-5 intake!

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The new selection of titles for the Alain Locke Collection are now available and on display in the Vere Harmsworth Library!

Alain Locke Display, taken January 2025

Readers will be able to see the new selections on the Ground Floor of the Library. This area, as part of our agreement with the Association of American Rhodes Scholars (AARS), will be dedicated to displaying and promoting the Collection.

With the kind agreement of the AARS, two collection intakes will be taken each year, totalling $10,000 worth of books per year.

You can see above a selection of the new titles now available. You can view the full list here and you can view all selected Alain Locke Collection titles here.

About the collection

In spring 2021, the VHL and RAI agreed to create the Alain Locke Collection with support from the AARS. Named after the first African American Rhodes Scholar, the collection aims to focus on research monographs in the areas of African American history, politics, biography and culture, alongside notable gaps in material not produced by commercial publishers.

The Bodleian is committed to providing students and researchers with world class access to resources to enable them to fulfil their scholarly ambitions. We are therefore hugely grateful to the AARS for pledging a gift of $25,000 over five years supporting the Alain Locke Collection. This supports our intention for the VHL to become a leading centre for the study of African American history, politics, and culture.

The establishment of the Alain Locke Collection will allow the VHL to expand the purchase of African American focused research monographs, without affecting expenditure on other research areas. It will build on the VHL’s current holdings and run alongside the continued intake of research monographs via the legal deposit agreements and e-book packages. It will allow the VHL to identify and address potential gaps in some of the older materials. Most significantly, it will demonstrate our commitment to representing African American history and culture within our collections.

Current students and researchers can recommend titles to be purchased for the Alain Locke Collection by contacting the Vere Harmsworth Librarian (bethan.davies@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

If you have any further questions about the Alain Locke Collection, or the display, please contact Bethan Davies. To find out more about supporting the Vere Harmsworth Library and the Alain Locke collection please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

US Elections Campaign Archive Exhibition

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With the US presidential election fast approaching, we are exhibiting a selection of materials from the Philip and Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaign Archive.

On display are an exciting range of election ephemera from the past two hundred years. Alongside badges produced by the Trump and Harris campaigns, readers can view Rock the Vote’s leaflet encouraging young people to vote in the 1990s, election guides produced by the League of Women Voters in the 1920s and 1960s, the Illustrated London News’ outraged sketch of fraudulent voters in the 1870s, and a book about the importance of voting written for the American Sunday School Union from the 1820s.

A bird's eye view of items in a display cabinet. On the left are two pamphlets and a small open book; the text is too small to read. In the centre is a copy of the Illustrated London News with a large black and white picture. Below it are two badges, one with a picture of Trump in a red cap and one that reads "Harris Walz obviously" on a blue background. On the right are two pamplets entitled I rocked the vote, and Choosing the president. Below them is a colourful cartoon of a woman filling in a ballot from inside a crocodile's mouth in a jungle, with text "Broom-Hilda: you're never too far away to vote absentee!!"

Readers can view the exhibited materials in the display cabinet on the ground floor, next to our current book display on US presidential elections.

The items chosen for the current display constitute a small part of the Philip and Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaign Archive, an actively growing collection of campaign ephemera from American elections at all levels (National, State, Local). The Archive covers the 19th Century up to and including our current period, but the majority dates from the late 20th Century onwards. Materials include buttons, posters, leaflets, stickers, t-shirts & hats, as well as more unique items such as dolls, jewellery, shoes, bars of soap, playing cards, artwork & commemorative plates! Readers wishing to view items from the archive should contact the Vere Harmsworth Library at vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

Full details of items on display:

Election Day, written for the American Sunday School Union, and Revised by the Committee of Publication (1820s)

Uncatalogued (post-2020 intake)

The American Sunday School Union was an inter-denominational organisation, originally founded in 1817, to establish Sunday schools of any denominational faith. It commissioned authors, often anonymous, to create stories on American subjects and settings, with the stated goal of creating literature of good “moral character” for children, at low cost. This book shows the process of three young men voting in an election, and discusses the civic importance of taking part in the election. The image in the front of the book shows local people waiting to vote. (An ebook version of this book is available online here through HathiTrust).

The Illustrated London News, 9 Dec 1876, sketch depicting fraudulent voters in the Presidential election in custody, New York

MS. 21407/188

This front image is taken of inside the Post Office Building, one of the polling centres in New York for the 1876 election between Tilden and Hayes. The Chief Supervisor of Elections, John Davenport, reportedly held those suspected of fraudulent voting within the above “cage”. Davenport’s methods were criticised and he was accused of committing election fraud for the Republican Party. The London News had a scathing comment on the proceedings: “it will scarcely tempt the subjects of our gracious Queen to envy the political liberties of the American Republic” (p.6). (An online version of this issue is available here, requiring a single sign on login).

Registration Information and a Guide to the Presidential elections, Massachusetts League of Women Voters (1920)

MS. 21407/191

The League of Women Voters was organised in 1920, a few months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The League was originally formed within the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and many local suffrage groups were the basis for local Leagues of Women Voters. This was also the case for the Massachusetts League, which became particularly strong in Boston. The League produced non-partisan guidance for women on the election process, candidates and how to vote, even staging mock voting polls to guide women. (see Woods, “Women Take the Ballot Seriously”: Boston Women in the 1920 Election, National Park Service Blogpost).

Choosing the President, League of Women Voters, 1968

MS. 21407/191

This guide follows a similar template to the 1920 guide, but was produced on a national scale. The League created guides for each election to support its members. Viewing each guide shows how the electoral process has changed (or stayed the same), as well as the concerns of female voters. (An online version of this guide is available here.)

“Broom-Hilda says you’re never too far away to vote absentee” by Russell Myers, printed by the United States Department of Defence (1979)

MSS. Amer. s. 33 / 43 / 3

Broom-Hilda is a popular comic strip witch, created by Russel Myers, and distributed by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. The character first appeared in April 1970. This poster was printed by the Department of Defence to encourage absentee voting among the military forces. Collecting votes from soldiers on active duty had always been difficult, and legislation to improve this began in the mid-20th Century, partly in reaction to issues encountered in WW2.

“You don’t let other people choose your music. Why let them choose your future?” Rock the Vote leaflet and sticker (1997)

MSS. Amer. s. 33 / 43 / 1

Rock the Vote is a nonpartisan organisation aiming to encourage young people (18-24) to vote and actively participate in the election process. It was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between music artists, executives and political activists, and co-founded by Jeff Ayeroff (former Virgin Records US co-chair). Its first campaign was against censorship, in response to movements to add warning labels to music with explicit content. Rock the Vote continues to be active to this today.

Badges

Donald Trump, Republican Candidate, 2016

MS 21404/5

Kamala Harris, Democrat Candidate, 2024

Uncatalogued (post-2020 intake)

 

Book Display: US Presidential Elections

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The Vere Harmsworth Library has set up a book display highlighting titles in our collection which relate to US presidential elections.

Books displayed on three shelves. An A4 poster on the top shelf says US Presidential Elections with a picture of a ballot box. An A4 poster on the second shelf has information about events and online resources.

The US presidential election book display at the VHL.

The book display can be found on the ground floor on the left hand side, near the armchairs and low table. Readers are able, and indeed encouraged, to read and borrow these books as normal, and several of the selected titles are also available electronically through SOLO.

The books chosen for the display cover a range of subjects including voting rights, presidential campaigning, polling, and the workings of the electoral process.

The display also points readers towards online archives of documents relating to historical presidential elections, an election special of the Rothermere American Institute’s podcast, and an upcoming event at the Rothermere American Institute for expert discussion of what happened in the US 2024 elections.

The book display will be changed over in November to a new theme.

To find out more about using the Vere Harmsworth Library collections please contact the Vere Harmsworth Library (vhl@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

New: Women’s Studies Archive: Issues and Identities

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[Partially re-blogged from the History Faculty Library blog]

As we continue to grow our eresources collections on women’s history, we are pleased to announce that Oxford researchers now have access to Women’s Studies Archive: Issues and Identities.

Home page of the resource showing a search box and an image of a line of suffragettes holding a poster which reads "Mr Presidents, how long must women wait for liberty".

National Woman’s Party members picket outside the White House in 1917 with the message, “Mr. President, How long must women wait for Liberty” Source: Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 12 © Gale Cengage

This collection traces the path of women’s issues in the 19th and 20th centuries, drawing on primary sources from manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, and more. It captures the foundation of women’s movements, struggles and triumphs, and provides researchers with valuable insights. It focusses on the social, political, and professional achievements of women, the pioneers of women’s movements, and is useful to understand the issues that have affected women and the many contributions they have made to society.

It is, however, more generally also a useful resource to research WWI, WWII, social and economic conditions, and world events in the 20th century, as described and seen from women’s perspectives and revealed in periodicals, correspondence and papers.

Individual source collections of particular interest to US historians are:

  • Periodicals and newsletters from the Herstory Collection, tracing the women’s rights movement in the US and abroad; alongside primary source collections focused on women’s health/mental health and the law.
  • Manuscript records of key women involved in political movements, missionary work or American pioneer activities.
  • Records of the Committee of Fifteen (1900-1901), a private group based in New York who collected evidence of “vice” – prostitution and gambling- to spur local authorities into action and promote anti-vice legislation.
  • Records of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) and its founders.
  • Records of political anti-war movements, such as the Woman’s Peace Party (1914-1920), the Women’s Peace Union (1921-1940) and the United States section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) (1919-1959).
  • Files from two key grassroots feminist organisations based in Boston and San Francisco, which were part of the second-wave feminist movement.
  • Records from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, including records from it’s predecessors (American Birth Control League and the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau). Documents include minutes of meetings, conferences, subject files, correspondence and personal papers of key founders.

You can search across the above collections and other Gale databases via Gale Primary Sources. Please note that you will need to use your Single Sign On to access these resources.

New Databases from Archives Unbound!

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I am pleased to report that the VHL has committed funding towards four new databases from the Archives Unbound collections from Gale.

These four collections are now available for all Bodleian readers to use, and can be found in SOLO or our Database A-Z. You can find out more about each collection below. Their topics range from the American Confederacy, religion, politics and African American movements in 1930s/40s America.

You can search across all the above databases via Gale Primary Sources. Please note that you will need to use your Single Sign On to access these resources.

Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama

This collection is a mixture of issues and papers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama ranging from 1861-1865. These newspapers “recorded the real and true history of public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the only really correct and indicative ‘map of busy life, its fluctuations and its vast concerns’ in the South, during her days of darkness and of trial.” The newspapers are text-searchable, and include advertisements. Topics include everyday life in the Confederacy, as well as discussions of the Civil War and Slavery.

You can access this database directly here.

Election of 1948

This collection provides documents and the perspectives of the four base camps from the 1948 United States presidential election: Democrat incumbent President and eventual victor Harry S. Truman (1884–1972; U.S. President, 1945–1953), Republican and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey (1902–1971), Progressive and former Vice President Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965) and Dixiecrat and South Carolina Governor J. Strom Thurmond (1902–2003). Sources include Papers of Harry S Truman, Thomas E. Dewey Papers, Papers of Americans for Democratic Action as well as selections from several southern newspapers. These sources show the political landscape of the United States post-WWII, and the growing tensions within the country.

You can access this database directly here.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945

This new series contains a collection of essential materials for the study of the early development of the Civil Rights Movement-concerned with the issues of Lynching, Segregation, Race riots, and Employment discrimination. FDR’s record on civil rights has been the subject of much controversy. This new collection from FDR’s Official File provides insight into his political style and presents an instructive example of how he balanced moral preference with political realities. Topics also include the migration of African Americans to northern states, the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in championing equal rights and racial justice, and reports on key individuals and organisations, such as the NAACP.

You can access this database directly here.

Global Missions and Theology

This collection documents the broad range of Nineteenth Century religious missionary activities, practices and thought in the United States by reproducing pivotal personal narratives, organizational records, and biographies of the essential leaders, simple missionaries, and churches. This collection includes materials on missionary activities among Native Americans and African Americans, both slaves and freedmen. In addition, it highlights activities in far-flung regions and countries, such as Africa, Fiji and Sandwich Islands, India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Hawaii.

You can access this database directly here.

 

Celebrating Alain Locke: A new collection for the VHL

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In spring 2021, the VHL and RAI agreed to create the Alain Locke Collection with support from the Association of American Rhodes Scholars (AARS). Named after the first African American Rhodes Scholar, the collection aims to focus on research monographs in the areas of African American history, politics, biography and culture, alongside notable gaps in material not produced by commercial publishers.

The Bodleian is committed to providing students and researchers with world class access to resources to enable them to fulfil their scholarly ambitions. We are therefore hugely grateful to the AARS for pledging a gift of $25,000 over five years supporting the Alain Locke Collection. This supports our intention for the VHL to become a leading centre for the study of African American history, politics, and culture.

This ambitious vision the VHL will be achieved by enhancing our current collections through the focused and strategic purchase of African American research material, including valuable electronic database collections which will support students and researchers in their studies. Reflecting our commitment to maintain and promote our African American-based collection, this vision sits within the current strategic aims of the Bodleian Libraries and alongside the work of the RAI, whose mission is to promote ‘greater public and academic understanding of the history, culture and politics of the United States’.

About the Collection

The collection will be created through consulting bibliographies recommended by the Frederick Douglass Book Prize Board (Gilder Lehrman and Yale); recommendations by Professors Eddie Glaude at Princeton and Henry Louis Gates at Harvard; and gaps identified by the VHL Librarian.

The establishment of the Alain Locke Collection will allow the VHL to expand the purchase of African American focused research monographs, without affecting expenditure on other research areas. It will build on the VHL’s current holdings and run alongside the continued intake of research monographs via the legal deposit agreements and e-book packages. It will allow the VHL to identify and address potential gaps in some of the older materials. Most significantly, it will demonstrate our commitment to representing African American history and culture within our collections.

Front covers of 40 books from the Alain Locke Collection. A link is provided below with a full list of the titles.

You can see above a selection of some of the titles that have been selected for our first intake for the Alain Locke Collection. You can view the full list here. 

About the display area

Readers will be able to see the first selection for the Alain Locke Collection on the Ground Floor of the Library. This area, as part of our agreement with the AARS, will be dedicated to displaying and promoting the Collection. Alongside works by Locke, on display are items related to African American political history from our Philip and Rosamund Davies U.S. Elections Campaigns Archive. These items show the breadth of the Archive.

A photograph of the display area with Alain Locke Collection in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any further questions about the Alain Locke Collection, or the display below, please contact Bethan Davies. To find out more about supporting the Vere Harmsworth Library and the Alain Locke collection please contact Jenny Haimes