Over at the Readex Report, historian Graham Hodges discusses the writing of his recent book, David Ruggles: A Radical Abolitionist and the Underground Railroad in New York City (North Carolina, 2010).Â
I love these kind of first-person narratives about the way individual historians work. In this case, Hodges writes about his approach to research in the Readex Early American Newspapers database. Here is a taste:
After Ruggles’ death in 1849, the famous abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison proclaimed, “his biography has yet to be written.” In 1998, I agreed to write a Ruggles’ biography for the University of North Carolina Press, and in 1999 I received a short-term fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts to research its massive newspaper, book and manuscript holdings. One of the joys of such fellowships is the camaraderie one finds with other scholars working on projects in early American history and literature. Together we labored over ancient newspapers, churned microfilm machines, and pored over tiny scratches of the handwriting of famous and obscure early Americans. At night we talked about our findings and forged lasting friendships. There was one computer in the house where we lived, but few of us truly understood how to use it.
I left Worchester laden with microfilm pages and piles of notes about Ruggles’ articles and letters. I had worked so fast that later I could not always read my own handwriting. Years passed and I became involved in other book projects. Ruggles still awaited his biographer.
Fast forward to 2007. My publisher was tiring of my excuses and openly wondering if they would ever get a manuscript from me. Life no longer allowed me to spend weeks in Worcester. My wife, for one, was pregnant with our twin boys and soon they would need most of my time. So travel for research was out. Fortunately I worked at a college that subscribed to the America’s Historical Newspapers database. I could go to the school library, log on to its computers, and punch out fresh copies of all the Ruggles articles that I had labored to uncover over eight years before at the American Antiquarian Society. They numbered over two hundred.
Searching under Ruggles’ name, initials, meetings of the New York Committee of Vigilance, and by looking at the careers of his associates, I was able to find far more about him than I had previously. Unforeseen networks emerged. By connecting names in newspaper articles around New York State and New England with lists of subscribers to his magazine, I discerned lengthy cords of conspirators willing to help fugitive slaves Ruggles sent along. As Readex added new titles and extended the dates of its coverage, I found items that were unimaginable to me. How else would I ever have located an obituary published right after Ruggles’ death in December 1849 in a Milwaukee newspaper? The writer lamented Ruggles’ passing, noting that “he was a warm-hearted, able man, and an untiring friend of his own (the colored) race.”
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