Amy Murrell Taylor is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Kentucky, and author of the award-winning Embattled Freedom: Journeys Through the Civil War’s Refugee Camps (2018). In this brief interview, she discusses the use of primary sources in her history classes, and she shares techniques for inspiring undergraduates to become investigators of the past.

Joanne B. Freeman, Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University, is a leading expert on early American politics and culture. In this interview she describes the essential role that primary source materials have played in her own research. She also discusses the lasting benefits of studying the humanities.

Amy E. Hughes is Associate Professor of Theater History & Criticism at Brooklyn College (CUNY). In this interview, she discusses how the study of theater deepens our understanding of history and society; what happens in the classroom when students use these kinds of primary sources; and what the digitization of collections like Nineteenth-Century America Dramahas meant to her.

A leading authority on the American frontier, Stephen Aron is professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles. In this brief video, Aron tells why primary sources resonate with college students today. Allowing them to make their own discoveries and learn the craft of history, he says, is critical to training students to be educated human beings.

American historian Daniel Feller, Distinguished Professor at the University of Tennessee, is Director of “The Papers of Andrew Jackson.” In this short video, he discusses how digitized primary sources have helped to unlock new discoveries about the seventh U.S. president. He explains how using keyword search has been critical to his project’s continued success.

Paul Finkelman, a leading authority on American legal history, race relations and religious freedom, discusses the importance of primary documents in his work as a scholar and professor. He explains how digital resources like the U.S. Congressional Serial Set and American Pamphlets can help students discover historical connections and energize their research. 

In this short discussion, David Goldfield, the Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, describes what sparked his interest in the American Civil War, explains how his use of primary source materials in the classroom has changed, and describes how digital collections of primary sources have impacted his research and his teaching.

Readex recently sat down with Manisha Sinha, Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The discussion covered her highly praised new book, The Slave’s Cause (Yale, 2016), the research value of such digital resources as The American Slavery Collection, Early American Newspapers and African American Newspapers, and her own advice to students.