Collins Memorial Library: History 200: Home

Using Subject Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias and other reference resources are excellent places to start your research! You usually can expect to find the following important information in articles in subject encyclopedias:

An overview of the topic, with key individuals and events identified, and often some mention of how the topic has been studied (historiography)
Cross references to give you a sense of the boundaries of the topic and its relationship to other topics
- Look for "see also" at the beginning or end of the article
- Some encyclopedias highlight words in the text of the article to indicate that there is a separate entry on that topic
Identification of primary source materials
Bibliographies of key secondary literature (books and articles) on the topic
Scholarly editions of primary sources may be listed in the bibliography
- The main body of the article may mention key primary source writings and their author(s)
- Some encyclopedias include excerpts of primary source materials

Browse Subject Encyclopedias

Atlases

Broad Overviews

Specialized Encyclopedias

Biographical Resources

Guides to History Research and Writing

Broad Overviews: U.S. History

The following three subject encyclopedias are especially good places to start, then branch out to the more specialized encyclopedias.

Dictionary of American History, 3rd ed. by Stanley I. Kutler
Call Number: Click on title above for online access.
Publication Date: 2003
Standard reference work for U.S. history.
Encyclopedia of American History by Gary B. Nash (Editor)
Call Number: E174 .E53 2003, vols. 1-11, Reference (first floor of library)
Publication Date: 2003
Note that this encyclopedia is organized chronologically by volume. Each volume includes a selection of primary source materials at the back of the book.

Social History of the United States by Brian Greenberg; Troy D. Paino; Laurie Mercier; Peter C. Holloran; Andrew E. Hunt; Nancy Cohen; Gordon Reavley; Richard A. Greenwald; Linda S. Watts; Alice L. George; Scott M. Beekman; Cecelia Bucki; Mark Ciabattari; John Charles Stoner
Call Number: Click the title above for online access.
ISBN: 9781598841275
Publication Date: 2009
"Social History of the United States" is a cornerstone reference that tells the story of 20th-century America, examining the interplay of policies, events, and everyday life in each decade of the 1900s

Subject Encyclopedias: Focus on Aspects of 20th-century American History

American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Political, Social, Religious, and Artistic Movements by Gina Misiroglu (Editor)
Call Number: HM647 .A44 2009, vols. 1-3, Reference (first floor of the library)
ISBN: 9780765680600
Publication Date: 2008
A-Z entries provide a wealth of information on personalities, places, events, concepts, beliefs, groups, and practices. The set includes numerous illustrations, a topic finder, primary source documents, bibliographic citations, cross-references, and an index.

The following list is just a sampling of the specialized subject encyclopedias available to you. Ask Peggy Burge for recommendations if you can't find what you need.

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present by Paul Finkelman (Editor)
Call Number: Click the title above for online access.
ISBN: 9780195167795
Publication Date: 2009
Focusing on the making of African American society from the 1896 "separate but equal" ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson up to the contemporary period, this encyclopedia traces the transition from the Reconstruction Era to the age of Jim Crow, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Migration, the Brown ruling that overturned Plessy, the Civil Rights Movement, and the ascendant influence of African American culture on the American cultural landscape.
Encyclopedia of American Race Riots by Walter C. Rucker (Editor); James Nathaniel Upton (Editor)
Call Number: E184.A1 E573 2007, vols. 1-2, Print reference (first floor of the library)
ISBN: 9780313333002
Publication Date: 2006
Race riots are the most glaring and contemporary displays of the racial strife running through America's history. Mostly urban, mostly outside the South, and mostly white-instigated, the number and violence of race riots increased as blacks migrated out of the rural South and into the North and West's industrialized cities during the early part of the twentieth-century. While most riots have occurred within the past century, the encyclopedia reaches back to colonial history, giving the encyclopedia an unprecedented historical depth. Though white on black violence has been the most common form of racial violence, riots involving other racial and ethnic groups, such as Asians and Hispanics, are also included and examined.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures by Paul Piper (Editor); William Ferris (Foreword by); Rebecca Mark; Rob Vaughan
Call Number: E169.1 .G73 2004, vols. 1-8, Print Reference (first floor of library)
ISBN: 9780313332661
Publication Date: 2004
Each volume describes the art, architecture, ecology and environment, ethnicity, fashion, film and theater, folkore, food, language, literature, music, religion and sports and recreation of a region of the United States.
Native America in the Twentieth Century by Mary B. Davis (Editor); Joan Berman (Editor); Mary E. Graham (Editor); Lis A. Mitten (Editor)
Call Number: E76.2 .N36 1994 Print reference (first floor of the library)
ISBN: 9780824048464
Publication Date: 1994
Provides historical, economic, and sociological information, focusing on the contemporary Native American experience.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States by Suzanne Oboler (Editor); Deena J. González (Editor)
Call Number: Click the title above for online access.
ISBN: 9780195156003
Publication Date: 2005
The Encyclopedia draws together the diverse historical and contemporary experiences in the United States of Latinos and Latinas from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Over 900 A to Z articles ranging in length from 500 words to 7,500 words written by academics, scholars, writers, artists, and journalists, address such broad topics as identity, art, politics, religion, education, health, and history.
Postwar America by James Ciment (Editor)
Call Number: E169.12 .P654 2007 (vols. 1-4) Print reference (first floor of the library)
ISBN: 9780765680679
Publication Date: 2007
Covers the outbreak of the Cold War to the end of the 20th century.
Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia by Sharon M. Scott (Editor)
Call Number: Click the title above for online access.
ISBN: 9780313347986
Publication Date: 2009
Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia documents America's shifting cultural values as they are embedded within and transmitted by the nation's favorite playthings.

Atlases

Atlas of American History by Gary B. Nash (Editor); Carter Smith (Editor)
Call Number: E179.5 .N37 2007 Print reference atlas (first floor of library)
ISBN: 9780816059522
Publication Date: 2007
This full-color atlas spans the entire breadth of American history, from pre-colonial times to the present day.
Historical Atlas of the American West by Warren A. Beck; Ynez D. Haase
Call Number: G1381.S1 B4 1989 Print reference atlas (first floor of library)
ISBN: 9780806124568
Publication Date: 1989
The 78 maps in this atlas add significant information to the study of the development of the American West, defined for this resources as those 17 continental states west of the Missouri River. The maps range in chronology from explorations in the sixteenth century to the location of World War II prisoner of war and Japanese internment camps.

The African American Atlas by Mark T. Mattson; Molefi Kete Asante
Call Number: E185 .A79 1998 Print reference (first floor of the library)
ISBN: 9780028649849
Publication Date: 1998
Weaves the latest available data into a compelling visual and narrative portrait of the African-American population within regional, national and international frameworks.
Mapping America's Past by Mark C. Carnes; John A. Garraty; Patrick Williams
Call Number: G1201.S1 C3 1996 Print reference atlas (first floor of library)
ISBN: 9780805049275
Publication Date: 1996
Includes a broad range of historical themes covering the history of the United States, some of which include atmospheric changes over the last 18,000 years; the death of millions of Native Americans; getting the British out of Boston; the birth of a working class; the fall and rise of capital punishment; sexuality and architecture; the making of Black Harlem; and languages, dialects, immigration, emigration, expansion, secregation, and isolationism.

Biographical Resources

American National Biography by John A. Garraty (Editor); Mark C. Carnes (Editor)
Call Number: CT213 .A68 1999, v. 1-24, Print reference (first floor)
ISBN: 9780195206357
Publication Date: 1999
The ANB contains over 17,500 profiles on historical figures written by an expert in the field and completed with a bibliography. The scope of the work is enormous--from the earliest recorded European explorations to the very recent past.
Notable American Women by Susan Ware (Editor); Stacy Braukman (Editor)
Call Number: CT3260 .N5725 2004 Print reference (first floor of library)
ISBN: 9780674014886
Publication Date: 2005
For each subject, the volume offers a biographical essay by a distinguished authority that integrates the woman's personal life with her professional achievements set in the context of larger historical developments.

African American Lives by Henry Louis Gates (Editor); Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (Editor)
Call Number: E185.96 .A446 2004 Print reference (first floor of library)
ISBN: 9780195160246
Publication Date: 2004
African American Lives offers up-to-date, authoritative biographies of some 600 noteworthy African Americans.

Guides to History Research & Writing

The Information-Literate Historian by Jenny L. Presnell
Call Number: D16.2 .P715 2013 Print books
ISBN: 9780199926046
Publication Date: 2013
Updated guide to historical research.
Writing History: A Guide for Students by William Kelleher Storey
Call Number: D16 .S864 2013 Reserves (Ask for at Circulation Desk)
ISBN: 9780199830046
Publication Date: 2013
The book covers all aspects of writing about history, including finding and researching topics, interpreting source materials, drawing inferences from sources, and constructing arguments. It concludes with three chapters that discuss writing effective sentences, using precise wording, and revising.