Theater Studies
Exploring historical context
Working on a period play? This page offers selected resources to help you learn about the historical context: the time in which the characters would have lived and what their experiences might have been. Note that many of the sources mentioned here are region-specific, but you can always use the Discover and library research guides to search for more reference works, books, newspapers, etc. that are appropriate for the geographic location of the play you're investigating.
Reference works
History
Dictionary of American History by Call Number: Mount Holyoke College Main Library Reference E174 .D52 2003ISBN: 0684805332Publication Date: 2002-12-11
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780195167795Publication Date: 2009-02-02
The Oxford Companion to United States History by Call Number: ebookISBN: 0195082095Publication Date: 2001-07-04
Culture and popular culture
American Popular Culture Through History seriesMultivolume set covering American popular culture from The Revolutionary War Era to The 2000s. Click on title link to see a full list of volumes and their call numbers.
Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History by Call Number: Mount Holyoke College Main Library Reference E169.1 .E624 2001ISBN: 0684805618Publication Date: 2001-03-26
Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America by Call Number: Mount Holyoke College Main Library Reference GV53 .E53 2004ISBN: 0684312654Publication Date: 2004-07-15
Work
Working Americans, 1880-1999 by Call Number: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=cat09205a&AN=mhf.oai.edge.fivecolleges.folio.ebsco.com.fs00001006.224997a3.3e10.5786.9901.618a4c197fa3&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s8884507ISBN: 1891482815Publication Date: 2000-03-01
If writing about a specific trade or profession, finding a handbook or guide about it is helpful. For example, a Discover search on the terms "physicians guide" returns books like The Yale Guide to Careers in Medicine & the Health Professions : Pathways to Medicine in the Twenty-first Century published in 2003 as well as A Guide to the Practical Physician published in 1684.
Names
- Popular Baby NamesProduced by the United States Social Security Administration. Information on popular baby names by state, top 5 names over the last 100 years, top 1,000 names by decade, etc.
Primary sources
Period newspaper and magazine articles
- Chicago Defender Historical This link opens in a new window
Full text of the back issues of the African American newspaper, Chicago Defender, from 1910 to 1975.
- Chicago Tribune Historical This link opens in a new window
Full text of the back issues of the Chicago Tribune from 1849 to 1970.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing to older popular magazines published in the United States and Canada.
TimePopular magazine. The library has print holdings for this title from 1925 - present. Back issues are located on level 2 1/2, current issues in the Reading Room on level 4. Pick a year and browse the issues not just for the stories, but also for the photographs and advertisements.
Find even more on our News Sources guide!
Personal narratives
For a more in-depth look into the mind and experience of a person from a particular time or place, try searching the Discover for biographies, memoirs, journals, diaries, correspondence, or narratives (narrow by time – e.g., 20th century – and/or place – e.g., United States). If you have the name of a specific person, do an author search on that person’s name.
History Books
Aside from being good sources for getting in-depth information about a time period or event, history books can also lead you to more primary sources. For a location-specific history, in Discover do a SU Subject Terms search on the name of the place and the word history (e.g., chicago history).