Research project: Henry Ford, the Dearborn Independent, and Antisemitism in the 1920s
In 1920, Henry Ford published a stream of vicious attacks on Jews in his widely read newspaper, the Dearborn Independent. The assignment is to write about his actions and to assess the opinions expressed in newspapers that covered the issue. You will read articles and editorials from a number of newspapers and explore their reasoning and arguments. (1) read primary sources (historic newspapers) and record information in an excel database. (2) read a recommended secondary source below; (3) write a 8-10 page paper about your subject using information from both the secondary and primary sources
Research questions: How did the newspapers available to you report about Ford and his anti-Semitic campaign? Which newspapers were sympathetic? Which were hostile? Did perspectives change over time?
Primary source research (newspapers):
1) Begin by downloading this research database-excel-1.xlsx Download research database-excel-1.xlsx
2) We are using ProQuest Historical Newspapers for newspaper searches. Below is the link to the pre-arranged databases of newspaper articles that you should use. It delivers articles from newspapers and magazines related to this topic.
a) you should see a page like this. If not, you may need to click the Library's login button top right and enter your UW-net ID
b) scroll the titles of articles, clicking on those that seem most relevant. Some will be mistaken entries triggered by the search terms. Others will be too short to be useful. Download copies of all articles that might be useful or interesting. It is more efficient to download them than to read them in ProQuest.
c) use "back to results" to return to the search results.
d) you can filter results using the menus on left side. Sorted by "oldest first" means the entries are in chronological order. "Relevance" is the other option. You can also open the Publication title menu and select articles from particular newspapers.
3) After downloading many articles, add at least 20 to your research database-excel-1.xlsx Download research database-excel-1.xlsx and write a short description of the event or issue described in each article. Feel free to add additional information in other columns. Your spreadsheet needs to include no less than 20 articles. You will submit the research database along with your paper.
4) Please DO NOT save or delete the ProQuest search. Others will not be able to use it.
Secondary source research (books):
5) Obtain and read one or more books. Several are listed below. Others can be identified in UW Library catalog http://www.lib.washington.edu/
E Book:
Henry Ford and the Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech (Links to an external site.)
by Victoria Saker Woeste
E book (Hathi Trust):
Henry Ford and the Jews : the mass production of hate
Links to an external site.
by Neil Baldwin
Print:
Henry Ford and the Jews
by Albert Lee