Cool Tidbits

Hola!


Lots going on as we swing into the beginning of the school year. Just a couple of quick thoughts as I head into class:


1) For those who might be embarking on research projects and thinking about primary sources for U.S. History, remember to use your local/school libraries' databases. For example, the St. Paul public library has access to New York Times' archives dating back to the 19th century. It dates back all the way to the 19th century and is a fantastic primary source for American history papers. I use it for my own personal research as well. Stay tuned for some other cool websites to consult for primary sources.


2) For those of you who may be interested in legal history/Constitutional Law/Supreme Court issues, feel free to check out another one of my blogs at: http://www.courtcommentary.blogspot.com/ I haven't posted as of late, but do hope to update it sometime soon.

3) More summer reading thoughts: In addition to finishing up the David McCullough biography of John Adams, I also did some reading in more recent history. I read Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's account of their investigative journalism during the Watergate scandal, entitled All the President's Men. I think that the reader's level of enjoyment will depend on their interest in journalism. There's a lot of cloak and dagger stuff as well as firsthand descriptions about how the reporters get the story and are able to flush much of the Watergate scandal out. There is not much from the perspective of those involved in the scandal or in government. (That was mostly covered in their second book about Nixon's last days entitled The Final Days) Still, the more I read, the more I got into it. Perhaps, if you're interested in political history (especially since that moment was such a definitive moment for the presidency) you'll find the book interesting. It's also interesting because it was the beginning of the Bob Woodward's career as perhaps the definitive chronicler of Washington politics.

P.S. Woodward closed the book on the entire Watergate story by writing a book about his famous source Deep Throat. It was revealed that the source was a high-ranking official in the FBI by the name of Mark Felt. He wrote about his relationship with Felt in a book entitled The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat. To be completely honest, I found the book to be so boring and overly introspective that I couldn't finish it. But perhaps you can!!