Then What? Part Eight Historical Context

Experts usually write articles about various subjects and publish them in magazines, journals, quarterlies, etc. These all fall under the category of periodicals. There are national periodicals, regional, state, county, family/surname, ethnic, historical, and many others.

Where to find them? Major repositories of periodicals can be found at a local university. Online JSTOR has a major holding of titles. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has a tremendous collection. Other libraries throughout the U.S. also have holdings. University libraries are exceptionally diverse in their holdings - and what they don't have can be inter-library loaned to them. For a short 11 minute video on finding periodicals click here.

Here is the website for the Western Historical Quarterly. This is an example of a regional periodical. To view the website click here

Universities publish periodicals. This one has an online index beginning in 1959. Often historical articles can be found helpful to research. If one has a subscription or is at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library they can see the original articles online, not to mention the actual collection in the Periodicals section of the library. Click here for the website.

Ethnic groups, religious groups, family groups, surname groups, and many others have periodicals. Journal of Mormon History is a great site because it's entire index is online click here.

Every state has a quarterly of some time, sometimes more than one. Utah Historical Quarterly and other publications are available in full text for free online. Check out the list below of content. In addition to the quarterly they have the Utah Centennial County History Series - full book - online, etc. Click here to go to the website.

Every state has periodicals. Utah, for instance, has The Utah Historical Quarterly. It is online for free. There are articles about land records, court records, tax laws, prison experience, occupations, locations, mining and many other topics. Click here to go to the website.

 

Case Study Historical Context

Joseph Howell Evans went  to prison for polygamy. There are several articles in the Quarterly about the prison, photos, every day life, and details. One detail is that Rudger Clawson was the first prisoner for polygamy. Joseph H. Evans the second. They were bunk mates. Rudger kept a journal, so looking for his journals would also prove fruitful in obtaining further information on the details of Joseph H. Evans' life.