HIST424: Sexuality, Culture, and the Law: Home
From the Syllabus
This course will examine sexuality in American history. We will pursue two interrelated themes. First, we will focus on how changes in the broader culture—such as new technology, the Cold War, consumer society, new medical knowledge—influenced sexual beliefs and practices, and conversely, how sexuality influenced these broader cultural developments. Second, the course will examine how broad developments in sexuality relate to the law, in letter and practice. How has the legal system attempted to regulate sexuality, while at the same time charting out the emerging notion of “sexual rights”—laws protecting the right to life, the right to choice, or gay rights, for example? Over the semester, we will examine both primary and secondary readings on topics like rape, eugenic sterilization, controversies over abortion, and the development of the pill. We will analyze the relationship between daily life and government regulation of sexuality through law, politics, and policing.
Primary Sources
In the study of history, primary sources are documents, photographs, recordings, and artifacts created by contemporary historical actors or witnesses to historical events. Primary sources necessarily form the foundation of historical research. In the resources below you can find rich and multidimensional collections of primary sources from every era and reflecting every facet of American history.
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Digital Public Library of AmericaA vast trove of primary source material from libraries, archives, and museums around the U.S. and related to every country and era.
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Gale Primary SourcesPrimary source material from five centuries of modern world history.
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HathiTrust Digital LibraryA vast digital repository of books derived from the collections of leading research libraries.
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JSTORAlongside contemporary scholarly books and journals, JSTOR's collections contain historical material appropriate for use as primary sources.
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ProQuest History VaultMillions of primary source, cross-searchable, full-text/full-image documents on the most widely studied topics in 19th and 20th-century American history.
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Digital Collections - University at Buffalo LibrariesPrimary sources, documents, and media relevant to historical research in multiple unique collections.
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History Matters: Making Sense of EvidenceAn excellent guide to how to interpret different types of primary-source evidence in advancing a historical argument.
Primary Sources: Newspapers & Magazines
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Gale OneFile NewsCollection of more than 1000 English language news sources. More InfoFull-TextUB ONLY
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ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender (1910-1975)Historical local, regional and national news. More InfoFull-TextUB ONLY
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ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2013) with Index (1851-1993)see New York Times (1851-2012) with Index (1851-1993). More InfoFull-TextUB ONLY
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Periodicals Archive OnlineArchive of hundreds of digitized journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences. More InfoFull-TextUB ONLY
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Periodicals Index OnlineCovers all subject areas; use for coverage as far back as 1770 and up to 1995. More InfoPartial Full-TextUB ONLY
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LGBTQ+ SourceLesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender information. More InfoFull-TextUB ONLY
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Newspaper Source PlusFull-text newspapers, newswires, TV/radio transcripts. More InfoFull-TextUB ONLY
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Readers Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982Detailed account of U.S. culture and history through the lens of middle America. More InfoPartial Full-TextUB ONLY
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UNZ.orgMillions of pages of 20th century, chiefly Anglo-American journals in current events, literature, and the arts, searchable by author, period, topic, or keyword. Full text or citations.
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The Magazine RackA huge and invaluable collection of digitized popular magazines and monthlies offered by the Internet Archive.
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Newspaper Research in the UB LibrariesA guide to performing historical research with newspapers as primary sources.
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Old Magazine ArticlesA goldmine for early-mid 20th century primary source material in popular magazines.
Primary & Secondary Sources: Top Focused Databases
These resources offer rich mixtures of primary and secondary sources focused on the central topics of this course: gender, sexuality, and the law in American history.
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Daily Life through HistoryArticles and overviews of every facet of daily life in civilizations of the past and present.
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GenderWatchPrimary and secondary full-text and archival material, from 1970 to the present, on all issues related to sexuality, religion, societal roles, feminism, masculinity, eating disorders, day care, and the workplace.
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LGBTQ+ SourceLeading full-text database for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature and research material including periodicals, books, journals, and publications.
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Women Working, 1800-1930Primary source material related to women's roles in the U.S. economy in the 19th and early 20th century.
Librarian
Secondary Sources: Top General History Databases
In these resources you can find abstracts, citations, or the full text of articles published in scholarly and popular journals on topics in history.
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Historical AbstractsResearch database for world history exclusive of U.S. and Canada, from the 15th century to the present, extending to related disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, and sociology.
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JSTORFull-text of the most important journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, as well as thousands of books and copious primary source material.
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Project MuseMajor full-text archive of journals in the humanities and social sciences.
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Periodicals Archive OnlineArchive of hundreds of journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, offering full-text access to more and more of the journals indexed in its sister database, Periodicals Index Online.
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Periodicals Index OnlineIndex of major journals in the humanities and social sciences, from as far back as 1660 up to the present.
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Humanities SourceProvides full text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world.
Secondary Sources: Topical Overviews
These resources offer compact, authoritative discussions of focused topics, individuals, or research areas in history, as well as bibliographies to begin your research.
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Blackwell Reference OnlineLarge collection of reference works including encyclopaedias, dictionaries, handbooks, guides.
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Cambridge Histories OnlineProvides online access to over 250 volumes in the Cambridge History series, each one offering a comprehensive selection of authoritative essays on individual topics in history.
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Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)Dozens of specialized encyclopedias and reference works across the disciplines, with contents available online in full-text.
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Oxford BibliographiesOxford Bibliographies offers authoritative research guidance through highly specific annotated bibliographic guides. The bibliographies identify the best work available on a topic, whether it is in the form of a chapter, a book, an article, a website, an archive, or a dataset.
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Oxford Dictionary of National BiographyProvides full, accurate and concise articles on noteworthy people.
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Opposing Viewpoints in ContextComplete one-stop source for information on social issues.
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Points of View Reference CenterEssays that present multiple perspectives on controversial current issues.
Oxford Bibliographies of Interest
Oxford Bibliographies offers authoritative research guidance through highly specific annotated bibliographic guides. The bibliographies identify the best work available on a topic, whether it is in the form of a chapter, a book, an article, a website, an archive, or a dataset.