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Perspectives – Woloson, Spring, 2014
History 509:299:01Prof. Wendy Woloson
Tuesday/Thursday 1:30-2:
Spring, 2014
Perspectives on History: The Murder of Helen Jewett
This class will use the case of Helen Jewett to explore perspectives on history, both as it was experienced, interpreted, and recorded by people at the time, and how historians have, much later, come to understand the crime itself and, importantly, its larger cultural and historical contexts. The goals of the class are several. You will learn how to read and interpret primary source documents including newspaper reports, trial transcripts, personal correspondence, graphic images, and maps. You will also become adept at evaluating and using secondary sources to help contextualize the primary sources. In addition, you will hone your writing skills.
Throughout the semester you will be expected to complete various research and writing assignments leading up to a final research paper in which you analyze a sensational nineteenth-century crime of your own choosing.
Required texts:
• Patricia Cline Cohen, The Murder of Helen Jewett (MoHJ) (Vintage Books, 1999).
• William Kelleher Story, Writing History: A Guide for Students, 4th ed. (WH) (Oxford University Press, 2013).
Other readings:
• Thomas McDade, The Annals of Murder: A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets on American Murders from Colonial Times to 1900 (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961). [RESERVE]
• "Trial Pamphlets Collection: Contemporary Accounts of Trials from the 1600s to 1800s," Cornell University Law Library (
• as assigned throughout the semester, available via Sakai or RUC databases
Grades:
• attendance: I expect you to attend every class and to be on time. You are allowed 2 absences without penalty; any excess absences or chronic tardiness will result in a lower grade.
• class participation: You are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings and writing assignments. Cell phones must be muted; texting and web surfing are not permitted in class. (20%)
• writing assignments: I will assign short writing pieces based on the readings throughout the semester. You are expected to turn these in on the day they are due. Late assignments will not be accepted. (20%)
• exercises in preparation for final paper: You will be required to complete more extensive writing assignments to help you prepare for your final paper, including preliminary drafts. Late assignments will not be accepted. (30%)
• final paper (see below): Due during finals week, this is your final research paper, the culmination of your work during the semester. No less than 10 pages, it will be graded on organization; writing clarity;ability to accurately summarize and critique primary and secondary sources; use of correct grammar, spelling, and citation format; and originality.(30%)
Final paper assignment:
Choose a true crime from the long 19th century (late 1700s-early 1900s) that garnered a lot of media attention (that is, it appeared in published form through ongoing newspaper articles, as a printed pamphlet or book, in magazine essays, and/or in other widely-circulated forms, such as songs, political cartoons, etc.). It can be any sort of crime, from kidnapping and robbery to embezzlement and murder: your choice, as long as you can gain access to enough contemporary accounts and can find enough background information about it. Using primary and secondary sources modeled on the in-class exercises and the readings, you will be expected to: describe the events of the crime and the circumstances surrounding it; analyze the credibility of the various accounts that appeared in the primary sources and present any conflicting perspectives; and put the crime into a larger cultural context using secondary sources, explaining why it so captured the public's attention at the time.
Class Schedule:
Week 1: What can we learn from the murder of Helen Jewett?
Jan. 21: Introduction
Jan. 23:
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 1, "Snow in April"
• Writing due: Briefly and clearly describe what happened.
Come to class prepared to talk about the main narrative of the event that took place in the early morning of April 10, 1836.
Class exercise: reading footnotes and following citations.
Week 2: Who Was Helen Jewett?
Jan. 28
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 3 "A Self-Made Woman"
• Writing due: Name three facts and three falsehoods about Helen Jewett. Which sources are credible and which are not? Why?
Come to class prepared to talk about the veracity of sources and how we should construct the identity of Helen Jewett.
Jan. 30
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 2 "Sensational News"
• Writing due: Why does Cline Cohen focus so much on newspapers? Why, according to her, are they important to the story of Helen Jewett?
Come to class prepared to talk about the importance of popular narrative in shaping the understanding of events.
library talk with Julie Still; meet at Robeson Library, basement seminar room
Week 3: Considering Sources and Historical Context
Feb. 4
• Reading: 1.) MoHJ, Chapter 5 "Acclaim for a Woman of Spunk"; 2.) WH (Chapters 1-3)
• Writing due: Give three examples from the reading of how the telling of a story can change its meaning.
Come to class prepared to talk about establishing credibility when faced with sources that say conflicting things.
Feb. 6
• Reading: 1.) Rebecca Yamin, "Wealthy, Free, and Female: Prostitution in Nineteenth-Century New York," Historical Archaeology 39.1 (2005); 2.) Timothy Gilfoyle, "Prostitutes in the Archives: Problems and Possibilities in Documenting the History of Sexuality," American Archivist 57.3 (Summer, 1994).
Come to class prepared to talk about various kinds of historical sources, their strengths and limitations.
Week 4: Considering Sources and Historical Context (cont.)
Feb. 11
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 4 "New York's Sex Trade"; "The Making of Five Points," in Tyler Anbinder, Five Points (2001).
• Writing due: In one paragraph, describe why, for Cline Cohen and Anbinder, understanding the place of the Five Points was so important?
Come to class prepared to talk about commercial geographies.
Class exercise: mapping the brothels of New York City.
Feb. 13
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 6 "Brothel Business"
Come to class prepared to talk about the many sources used in this chapter.
Class exercise: break into teams and compete to identify the greatest number of pieces of evidence Cline Cohen uses both to establish a timeline of Helen Jewett's arrival in and movements throughout New York City, and also to prove other important details.
Week 5: Considering Sources and Selecting a Topic
Feb. 18
• Reading: 1.) MoHJ, Chapter 7 "Epistolary Enticement"; 2.) Chapter 11 "Adolescent Clerks"; 3.) WH Chapter 4.
• Writing due: Choose a published account of a true crime in America from the 19th century that you can get access to. This will be the focus of the longer writing assignments and your final paper. Use the McDade bibliography; WorldCAT; the Cornell website; Google Books; or the collections at the Library Company of Philadelphia (1314 Locust St., Philadelphia). Provide a full citation of the work and how you are accessing it, and in one paragraph summarize the events that took place.
Come to class prepared to present a brief oral synopsis (ca. 5 minutes) of your true crime for the class.
Feb. 20
• Reading: 1.) MoHJ, Chapter 12 "Love Letters and Lies"; 2.) "The Swedish Nightingale and the Peeping Tom," in Brian Luskey, On the Make: Clerks and the Quest for Capital (2010).
• Writing due: Explain the role that gender played a role in determining how male clerks interacted with working women during this era.
Come to class prepared to talk about how to interpret the correspondence between Helen Jewett and Edward Robinson, especially in light of Helen's correspondence with other customers as described in Chapter 7.
Class exercise: a close reading of the letters between Helen and Edward; cont. oral synopses; cont. of brief presentations if necessary.
Week 6: Research and Evidence
Feb. 25
• Reading: Continue reading your true crime.
• Writing due: Use JSTOR to find at least 2 book reviews of Patricia Cline Cohen'sThe Murder of Helen Jewett. In at least 2 paragraphs, summarize what reviewers saw as the strengths and weaknesses of the book.
Come to class prepared to summarize reviews of the bookThe Murder of Helen Jewett.
Feb. 27
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 13 "Blowing Up"
Class exercise: Name as many pieces of evidence used to convince us that Robinsons was Jewett's killer.
Come to class prepared to talk about this chapter.
Week 7: Research – Primary Sources
March 4
• Reading: MoHJ, Chapter 14 "Overconfident Youth"
• Writing due: Use the historical newspapers databases (America's Historical Newspapers, Nineteenth-Century U.S. Newspapers, Chronicling America) and/or other databasesto find at least 3 contemporary sources reporting on the trial of Richard Robinson. In at least 2 paragraphs, summarize their perspectives: did they think Robinson innocent or guilty, and why?
Class exercise: online searches for images, trial accounts, and other primary source documentation.
March 6
• Reading: 1.) MoHJ, Chapter 15 "Trial in June"; 2.) cont. with your true crime
• Writing due: Find 4 primary sources related to your crime and bring them to class, and be prepared to talk about them. In writing, answer the questions: Who is the author? Who is the intended audience? Where did it appear? (Is this a diary entry, a trial transcript, a newspaper editorial, a political cartoon?) What might be the author's intention and how might the context of publication affect how this piece of evidence was received? Is it truthful?
Come to class prepared to defend or prosecute Richard Robinson.
Week 8: Research – Secondary Sources
March 11
• Reading: 1.) MoHJ, Chapter 16 "The Great Unhung"; cont. with your true crime; 2.) WH Chapter 5; 3.) secondary sources related to your crime
Class exercise: Break into groups to discuss projects, use of primary documents and to get feedback about how to proceed with your own research and writing. (Bring laptops, if you have them, in order to do online searching in databases if necessary.)
March 13
• Reading: Use JSTOR and the online library catalog to find at least 3 secondary sources related to your crime and be prepared to discuss them. In writing, answer the questions: How do they help you better understand people's reactions to this crime, and why this particular crime became important in the popular imagination? What are the limitations of these sources? (In other words, what don't they tell you that you still need to know?)
Class exercise: Break into groups to discuss projects, use of secondary sources and to get feedback about how to proceed with research and writing. (Bring laptops, if you have them, in order to do online searching in databases if necessary.)
Week 9:Spring Break. No class.
Week 10: Additional Source Material, Developing a Framework for Writing
March 25
• Reading: 1.) MoHJ, Chapter 17 "Texas" 2.) MoHJ, Chapter 18 "Epilogue"; 3.) WH, Chapters 7, 8; 3.) cont. reading primary and secondary sources related to your crime
• Writing due: Seek out at least one additional secondary source that helps you flesh out some aspect of your research, helping you answer a particular question that your other sources do not. In writing, summarize the source and explain how it enhances your research.
March 27
• Reading: 1.) WH, Chapter 6; 2.) additional secondary source related to your crime
• Writing due: Bring to class a working roadmap of your paper: write out a draft of the introduction that describes your crime narrative and why it was considered noteworthy at the time. Include an annotated bibliography of your primary and secondary source materials (this includes properly-formatted citations and a brief summary of each source). Finally, provide a general outline of the overall organization of the paper.
Class exercise: break into groups to read and discuss each others' work and provide feedback.
Week 11: Presentations
April 1
Class exercise: 10-minute presentations of your working papers.
April 3
Class exercise: 10-minute presentations of your working papers.
Week 12:Beginning to Write
April 8
• Reading: 1.) WH, Chapter 9; 3.) additional secondary source related to your crime
• Writing due: In one or two paragraphs, summarize this additional secondary source and describe how it helps to answer some remaining questions about your crime.
April 10
• Writing due: Begin to construct your research paper based on the research and writing you have done so far on your true crime and bring this to class. By now you should have an introduction, a firm accounting of the event based on primary sources, interpretation of that event based on evaluating the veracity of the primary sources, and an idea of why it held such popular fascination.
Class exercise: Working in small groups, identify for your peers the part or parts of your paper you feel need the most work (because of the broad concepts or the difficulty expressing certain ideas on paper), and get feedback about how to improve these areas.
Week 13: Drafting
April 15
Writing day, no class. I will be available for consultation.
April 17
Writing day, no class.I will be available for consultation. The first draft of your paper is due in my box by 5:00 today. No exceptions. (I will return them on 4/22.)
Week 14: Revising
April 22
In class – tackling revisions.
April 24
In class – tackling revisions, cont.
Week 15: Revising (cont.) and Conclusions
April 29
Come to class prepared to talk about what we can learn more broadly from the case of Helen Jewett.
May 1
Come to class prepared to talk about what we can learn more broadly from the your cases of true crimes, and what we still have to learn.
REVISED PAPERS DUE FINALS WEEK