#31 - Annotated Bibliography Part 1
Alright, buckle up kids, its research strategy time. I’ve written my fair share of papers and I always find myself, at the last minute, frantically hunting down quotes and information in sources I read months ago. I always blame Past-Me for forgetting to write important things down, like page numbers or article titles so I can find them again. So, before my research into the Ryves Holt House and Lewes gets much messier, I plan to help out Future-Me by constructing an annotated bibliography now. Any of you who have written a high-level undergraduate or any graduate paper should be familiar with annotated bibliographies. If you have written a summary of a book for a high school English class, you already know the general idea. An annotated bibliography is a way to keep track of sources and citations with a short synopsis for future reference. I like to also include an evaluation of potential usability as well, just in case. I find it really useful to have a quick reference guide, like a Spark Notes (are those still a thing?), so I can go back to older research and quickly refresh my mind.
So, first things first. Because I want this blog to help me organize my research, both practically and conceptually, I want to make this annotated bibliography a living document. It is going to have its own page, like the projects themselves, which I will update periodically as I read new things. You can find it here. And yes, I do know the citations aren’t correct, this is for quick reference afterall. What follows will be Part One of two, next week I will add more sources to the Annotated Bibliography Page.
Second, because I hope that someone, somewhere, will find this useful, I am also going to separate the sources into three categories: For Academic Use, For General Use, and For Leisure Use. For Academic Use will be sources that I can quote in professional writings and for things that if you are writing a high-level class like AP History, Undergrad or Graduate, you should also be able to use. For General Use will be for sources that give me general context for things, but may be outdated or too general to be worth actually quoting in a paper. These should be useful sources for those who want some in depth reading that doesn’t need too much prep, students in high school, and those who want a place to start a deep dive into a topic. And finally, For Leisure Use will be for those sources no one should be quoting in papers, but may be fun relaxing reads. These will probably include a lot of sources that I deem ‘for tourists’ or that lack formal citations. The sources I vehemently disagree with may also end up in this category as useless…
For Academic Use
None Yet.
For General Use
Brown, Thomas E. “Something Fishy in Lewes: Menhaden, Politics, and the 1939 Municipal Election,” Lewes History, Vol. 20, 2017.
- About the tension between the fish factories and environmental/recreational supporters, between jobs and the environment. I wish it also made the connection to current times.
- This is the odd and confusing of story of George C. Morris, a soldier who died in 1876 alongside Custer at his Last Stand. Morris was apparently the alias for Eugene L. Cooper, which itself was an alias for William M. Cooper. Still, an interesting story tracing a Delaware boy to Montana.
- Overview of the now named Maritime Exchange which aims to promote domestic and international exchange. Originally meant to help track and trace ships as they sailed up and down the Delaware Bay. Could be useful if /when research extends into the 19th century or to research the connections between Lewes and Philadelphia.
- A survey of some 260 letters in the Lewes Historical Society’s Collections between Sallie and Willard Short, following their early courtship through marriage and their first child. They cover the period between 1886-1891.
- A short article describing the likely fate of the SS Poet, which was last seen from Cape Henlopen as she sailed out to seen on October 25, 1980. She likely sank in a storm, but conspiracy theorists have it that she was taken by pirates.
Henn, Katherine. “Heirs, Heiresses, and Heirlooms: The Burton-Ingram House of the 19th Century,” Lewes History, Vol. 20, 2017.
- Genealogy of the Burton-Ingram families in Lewes using the Burton-Ingram House as a lens. However, it spends little time analyzing the house, instead the article speaks mainly about the people who lived in it. It is extremely detailed and may be helpful when/if I work on tracing property ownership in early Lewes.
Kotowski, Bob. “All the News That Fits,” Lewes History, Vol. 19, 2016.
- History of local newspapers, including the still extant Cape Gazette. Will be helpful tracking down now defunct newspaper articles from the mid-1800s on.
Kotowski, Bob. “A City of Two Tales: The Unsolved Mystery of the Swanendael
Massacre,” Lewes History, Vol. 21, 2018.
- Describes the general tale of Swanendael, although it describes with certainty the location of Swanendael at the DeVries monument and continues the story of a ‘misunderstanding’ with the natives. It does dispute tales of survivors of the massacre, though.
Kotowski, Bob. “Hook, Line and Basket,” Lews History, Vol. 19, 2016.
- Recounts the stories of two epic fishing days in Lewes, one in 1874 and the other in 1936, when fish basically caught themselves. This is a cute story emphasizing the importance of the fishing industry to the area’s history.
Kotowski, Bob. “Slavery, Politics, and Delaware’s Split Personality,” Lewes History, Vol. 21, 2018.
- A look at how Delaware, while a Union State was still entrenched in and supportive of slavery, including not ratifying the 15th Amendment in 1870. They did this with the 13th and 14th as well, not technically ratifying them until 1901.
Kotowski, Bob. “The Spy Who Came In From the Bay,” Lewes History, Vol. 19, 2016.
- The story of Clarence R. Hodson, AKA Ernest Schiller a World War II American Nazi sympathizer and pirate. He was captured off Cape Henlopen.
Kotowski, Bob. “Toward Freedom and Deportation,” Lewes History, Vol. 21, 2018.
- Discusses the American Colonization Society, a group in the early 1800s that sought to end slavery by gradual emancipation and deportation of African Americans.
Kotowski, Bob. “A Town by Any Other Name,” Lewes History, Vol. 19, 2016
- Walkthrough of various names for Lewes and the surrounding areas. But does perpetuate parts of the Zwannendael and Indian massacre stories. Use to help develop keyword searches.
- Photos from the LHS Collections showing the US Naval Base at Cape Henlopen which was previously the site of the 19th century quarantine hospital.
- Fictional narrative of Jacobs Jones, who grew up in the Ryves Holt House and later served in the War of 1812. The Author recreates a cute narrative about how witnessing the Revolutionary War at Lewes, a naval station, helped fuel his later desire to go to sea. I am not a fan of most narrative histories, but this creates a good window into the past for local and general readers.
- Features prominent Black Lewes residences other than those holding official offices like Mayor and the Chief of Police. Recent, 20th century history.
- Good introduction to New Netherland, but the focus is on New Amsterdam and Manhattan more than on the South River. Also, Zwaanendael.
- The story behind twenty objects in the Lewes Historical Collection which also tells the story of Lewes. Includes a dugout canoe from the Nanticoke, a Dutch brick found during the 1950s excavations out Pilottown Road (need to go see it!), and an early map of Delaware from 1715.
- Surveys the Zwaanendael Museum’s collection of artifacts recovered from the De Braak wreck which it uses to discuss the material culture of the Atlantic World at the turn of the 19th century.
- Recounts the story of Lydia Drew, the widow of the Captain of the ship De Braak which sunk off Cape Henlopen with prizes taken from another ship. She was trying to recover her husband’s portion of the loot after it was lost in 1798. The article also tells the story how the ship came to be off the Cape and why in sunk and ends with its salvage in the 1980s.
For Leisure Use
Diehl, James. Remembering Sussex County: From Zwaanendael to King Chicken, 2009.
- Entertaining read, but not a good history book, popular or otherwise. May be helpful when tracing folklore (Z’s, etc), but do not recommend.
- Popular history book going over the history of Lewes and the surrounding areas. Great place to start to learn or to recap Lewes history, but more of a recounting of events, not analysis. Does a decent job to debunk some myths or tell other theories about unconfirmed historical events.
- https://www.nps.gov/frst/learn/historyculture/ryves-holt-history.htm
- Decent brief history of the Ryves Holt House, aligns well with my understandings. Swanendael, 1665 build date, 1659 fort, Lord Baltimore raids, etc.
- https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/DE-01-ES18
- Decent brief analysis of the structure of the house and why it is important, being potentially one of the oldest wooden houses. Still, describes the house as unlikely to pre-date 1685.
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