The benefits of using primary documents in classroom 

Summary

Alice Paul was an American suffragist born in 1885 to a Quaker family based in New Jersey. Her journey as a suffragist began after she attended a training school in England. She co-founded the Congressional Union and forming the National Woman’s party in 1916 after a two-year stint at the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Paul led numerous demonstrations urging for the amendment of voting rights, which led to her incarceration. The passage of the 19th amendment of 1920 marked an achievement for her efforts, which only made her push harder for equal rights.

Alice Paul grew up in a very religious and intellectual household. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1905, a school in which her maternal grandmother co-founded[1].She further went on to study at the New York School of Philanthropy and University of Pennsylvania before attending a Quaker training school in Woodbridge, England. After completing her training, she remained in England for three years, where she studied and worked as a London settlement house caseworker[2]. It was during her apprenticeship that she realized that her vocation was fighting for the rights of women.

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She was recruited into the militant suffragist movement by Emmeline and Christobel Pankhurst. Alice Paul gained her knowledge in activism from her numerous arrests and imprisonments, which made her adopt drastic actions like hunger strikes, which resulted in forced feedings by the authorities[3].She was aware of the power of publicity, and she knew how to generate the publicity she needed to further her cause. When she returned to America in 1910, she immediately enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology[4]. After that, she immersed herself fully in the suffrage movement in America by joining NAWSA. Many of the young women Paul gathered departed from the Pankhurst association in England, which many viewed as highly conservative.

When Alice Paul exited NAWSA in 1914, she co-founded the Congressional Union. It was an organization formulated solely to seek the federal constitutional amendment of women suffrage[5]. She took an active political stance when she established the National Woman’s Party in 1916 and led demonstrations at the White House and Congress. When she and her fellow activists were captured and imprisoned, they went on prolonged hunger strikes in protest. In retaliation, the authorities force-fed them to ensure they did not succumb to hunger[6]. Through her efforts and the persuasive charms of Carrie Chapman Catt, President Woodrow Wilson reversed his stance on the amendment of federal suffrage, thereby making it his priority[7]. Therefore, Alice Paul played acrucial part in the passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Alice Paul overcame the widespread opposition of her proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution in 1923. Many women’s organizations feared that they would lose the little legislative protections afforded to them[8].Paul continued working out of the National Woman’s Party headquarters until 1972 when she relocated to Connecticut due to health complications[9]. She was staunchly conservative throughout her life and strictly stuck to the tactics she learned from the Pankhursts. She had an ideal vision of women gaining their freedom, which continues to inspire future generations of women’s rights activists.

The use of primary documents in the classroom

Using primary documents in the classroom is highly encouraged by teachers and is especially effective at passing along historical information. Studies reveal that teaching using primary documents is more beneficial than the mere use of textbooks[10]. First-hand historical documents like diaries and letters contain personalized pieces of historical accounts. Critical analysis of these accounts can yield imperative historical perspectives to the learner[11].Consequently, students who feel like history has no importance in their current lives can relate to the events that transpire.Of great importance to capturing the attention of students is appealing to their sense of urgency[12].Information gathered on inquiries and criminal trials offer a sense of urgency that is unavailable in textbooks.

However, the ability of a primary document to entertain students is not the only criteria to determine how useful it is. Due to their alluring quality, teachers use primary documents to build interest in the learner[13]. The student develops critical thinking by interrogating primary sources and gaining a more in-depth insight into the contents of the historical event in question.Another advantage is that students get to experience the process of collecting and gathering information like the historians they read about, which helps them interrogate the evidence and formulate their ideas[14]. Despite all the benefits of using primary documents,  the difficulty in finding relevant historical information hampers their utilization.

First-hand accounts of events in the form of diaries, letters, and memoirs portray a vivid picture of historical events as they occurred. Therefore, students must use primary resources in their research to grasp historical concepts[15]. Primary sources have the impact of personalizing the ordeal the author goes through, thereby encouraging the learner to place themselves in their shoes.  The connection forged between the learner and the author helps students get a feel for how life was in the past due to the subjective view, they get to experience[16]. Also, using primary sources stimulates the development of analytical skills in students.

Many students view history as a collection of dates, facts, and events within the form of a textbook, which creates a monotony among students and depletes their interest in learning history. The situation is easy to remedy through the use of primary sources, which provides alternative and additional information on women’s suffrage[17]. Using primary sources provides the student with alternatives for historical interpretation and eliminates their reliance on the textbook for all their historical information.Therefore, students can understand that textbooks represent an interpretation of the past, which is probably not the only possible interpretation[18]. students quickly develop analytical skills and realize that the textbook’s point of view is not wrong, but is merely subjective.

Exposing students to eyewitness accounts of letters to congress concerning women suffrage strengthens students’ perceptibility to the subjective nature of the conclusions arrived at in texts.Studying history through primary sources exposes the student to the fact that historical events are affected by the personal, social, and political biases of the author or participant[19]. Another fact of studying history through primary sources is that students get to understand the influence of their own biases based on their personal social and political environments[20]. Therefore, they get a grasp of the fact that history is dependent on subjective interpretation.

Primary resources appeal more to students due to their personal touch.They humanize the situations the author goes through, and students get a feel for how the lives of the people depicted in history transpired[21]. Primary sources capture the emotions of the author, which the students can relate to. Take, for instance, a situation where public opinion is given on women’s suffrage from public opinion surveys. The students can deduce from the language used what the effect of denying women equal rights meant for them and empathize with their cause. As a result of these human expressions in the text, students get to experience the excitement of historical events.

Students get to develop their analytical skills by evaluating contemporary sources of information like newspaper reports and television programs. They are, therefore, able to identify instances where the reporting of historical events was affected by points of view and biases[22]. They are also able to recognize what limitations and contradictions exist within a particular sourceand to what extent to determine its reliability[23]. The primary importance of developing these skills is that students can utilize the numerous sources of information to further historical knowledge. Students are therefore capable of debating with their teachers as they interpret these sources and challenge the conclusions arrived at, thereby making the active students participants in the historical process.

Conclusion

In conclusion,teachers should promote the use of primary sources in the research process in classrooms.There are numerous primary sources available, both governmental and private. In most cities, museums and archives serve as repositories for first-hand documentary information. Some even provide for education programs to high school students as the importance of primary documentation in research is recognized. The advantage of increased student participation as a result of the participation of students in historical discourse is directly related to the use of primary resources in schools.

References

Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. 2010. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press.

Carini, Peter. 2009. “Archivists as educators: Integrating primary sources into the curriculum.” .” Journal of Archival Organization 7, no. 1-2 41-50.

Eamon, Michael. 2006. “A” Genuine Relationship with the Actual”: New Perspectives on Primary Sources, History and the Internet in the Classroom.” .” The History Teacher 39, no. 3 297-314.

Potter, Lee Ann. 2003. “Connecting with the Past: Uncovering clues in primary source documents.” .” Social Education, 67, no. 7 372-378.

[1]Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press, 2010. P. 5.

[2] Ibid.

[3]Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press, 2010. P. 15

[4]Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press, 2010. P. 17

[5]Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press, 2010. P. 141

[6] Ibid.

[7]Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press, 2010. P.xi

[8] Ibid.

[9][9] Adams, Katherine H., and Michael L. Keene. Alice Paul and the American suffrage campaign. University of Illinois Press, 2010. P. 120.

[10]Potter, Lee Ann. “Connecting with the Past: Uncovering clues in primary source documents.” Social Education, 67, no. 7 (2003): P. 376.

[11]Carini, Peter. “Archivists as educators: Integrating primary sources into the curriculum.” Journal of Archival Organization 7, no. 1-2 (2009): P. 47.

[12] Ibid.

[13]Carini, Peter. “Archivists as educators: Integrating primary sources into the curriculum.” Journal of Archival Organization 7, no. 1-2 (2009): P. 49.

[14]. Potter, Lee Ann. “Connecting with the Past: Uncovering clues in primary source documents.” Social Education, 67, no. 7 (2003): P. 373.

[15]Potter, Lee Ann. “Connecting with the Past: Uncovering clues in primary source documents.” Social Education, 67, no. 7 (2003): P. 372.

[16] Ibid.

[17]Potter, Lee Ann. “Connecting with the Past: Uncovering clues in primary source documents.” Social Education, 67, no. 7 (2003): P. 374.

[18]. Ibid.

[19]Potter, Lee Ann. “Connecting with the Past: Uncovering clues in primary source documents.” Social Education, 67, no. 7 (2003): P. 378.

[20] Ibid.

[21]. Carini, Peter. “Archivists as educators: Integrating primary sources into the curriculum.” Journal of Archival Organization 7, no. 1-2 (2009): P. 41.

[22]. Ibid.

[23]. Eamon, Michael. “A” Genuine Relationship with the Actual”: New Perspectives on Primary Sources, History, and the Internet in the Classroom.” The History Teacher 39, no. 3 (2006): P. 297.

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