Catalog Record for the manuscript item: https://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=614169
This diary was kept by 10 year old Hattie from March 5 to April 24, 1865. Hattie writes about the weather, visitations from family and friends, deaths and sicknesses in her community, and attending dancing school and other social events. Hattie comments on the Civil War, including the fall of Richmond, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of William H. Seward and his son Augustus Henry Seward.
How this could be used as a primary resource: This resource provides a direct description of how the Civil War affected everyday life--in the case of these two pages in the diary--the news of Lincoln's assassination shook even in the lives of children. The diary goes on to further detail the turmoil caused by the Civil War in regular society.
Full diary available through the American Antiquarian Society collections.
Unpublished Manuscript citation format: Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Material. Manuscript Collection Name. Name of Institution Where Manuscript is Located, Name of City, State Initials. URL.
Hawes, Harriet Foster. Diary, 1865. Mss Octavo Volumes H. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester MA. https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/614169.
Catalog Record: https://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=514882
1862 map of the battle fields and military positions in the Virginian peninsula, from surveys supplied by officers of the army. Presented by the Home Insurance Company of New York. Shows the roads and railroad tracks, with places of battle marked by crossed swords.
How this could be used as a primary resource: If you were doing research on Civil War battles in the state of Virginia, this map would be a great resource for tracking the shifting grounds of the war, with a focus on how troop movements possibly interacted with roads and railways. You could compare this map to one published in 1865 to see how the landscape changed.
Full, scalable version available through the American Antiquarian Society collections.
Published map citation format: Cartographer's Last Name, First Name. Title of Map or description if no title. Date of Map's Creation or Completion. Map Medium, Size of map, scale of map. In Webpage Author's First Name Last Name, "Title of Webpage On Which Map is Displayed." Title of Website. Name of Owner or Sponsor of Website [if different from Title of Website]. Date When Webpage was Published or Modified or Accessed. URL.
The battle fields and military positions in the Virginian peninsula, from surveys supplied by officers of the army. 1862. Hand colored lithograph, 41 x 54 cm, 1:380,160 scale. GIGI: AAS Digital Image Archive. American Antiquarian Society. https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/514882.
Catalog Record: https://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=152858
The Hercules of the Union, slaying the great dragon of secession. This illustration is a caricature featuring General Winfield Scott clubbing a "seven-headed secessionist dragon." The club is labelled "liberty and Union"; dragon heads depict Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens, and other Confederate military figures.
How this could be used as a primary resource: Political cartoons/caricature have been a consistent tool used throughout American history to represent cultural/political attitudes. This illustration, published in 1861 during the war itself, can be used to highlight the figures and concepts important during the period. You could potentially provide examples from both the Union and Confederacy and pick images published throughout the 4 direct years of the war and track any changes attitudes. You could also search for cartoons published before and after the war to reflect the journey to the war itself, as well as effects of Union victory.
Full, scalable version available through the American Antiquarian Society collections
Image/Artwork citation format: Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Artwork or description if no title. Date of Creation or Completion. Medium of artwork, size of artwork. Name of Institution Where Artwork is Located, Name of City [if not already stated in Name of Institution]. Title of Website/Database. URL.
Currier & Ives. The Hercules of the Union, slaying the great dragon of secession. 1861. Black and white lithograph, 34 x 23 cm. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester. GIGI: AAS Digital Image Archive. https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/152858