by JEFFREY W. BARBEAU This essay is part of a slow research series, What is Research? Sometimes the scrawled letters on a page slow reading to a halt. Unlike printed words in a bound volume or transcripts that risk sanitizing history, handwriting produces an entirely different reading experience. Words unfold, as… read more
Books + Manuscripts
Knopf archive reveals details about Lonely Crusade author Chester Himes
Many writers and artists through history have developed their craft, and even published, while they were imprisoned. Among them is Chester Himes, an African American author who wrote about racism, prison life, and who is best known for his Harlem Detective series. Records related to Himes are found in the… read more
‘It looks like a garter to me’: Students, slow research, and the long history of young couples’ intimacy
by JULIE HARDWICK This essay is part of a slow research series, What is Research? What can a pink silk ribbon with a beadwork message JE M’ELOIGNE SANS ME’EN SEPARER (translated, “I’m going away but not leaving you”) tell us about young people’s relationships in eighteenth-century French history? As an historian,… read more