Issues in American Economic History Since 1900
Prof. Ranjit S. Dighe
Spring 2009
Mahar 217
Eco 327-800: MW 3:00-4:20

Required texts for Spring 2009:

• Studs Terkel.  My American Century.  (Any edition.  Original edition is New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1995.)
• Diana Hacker. Rules for Writers.  6th edition.  New York: Bedford / St. Martin’s Books, 2008.  (You might own this already.  The 5th edition is also permissible.)
• Course reading packet.  (Available at the College Store and Kraftees.)

Final exam date and time:  Wed., May 13, 2:00-4:00

Some potential sources for research papers

Related web sites:

• How to do really well in college (some great advice from Prof. Norm Weiner)
• Search Penfield Library for articles, books, etc. on your short-reserarch-paper topic (the "Econlit" link is especially recommended)
• You be ILLin':  Penfield's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service can get you articles and books that the library itself doesn't have.  (Note:  You will need to sign up for this service first, though that's free.)
• Economic History Services (EH.NET)
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
• Economic Report of the President (including historical statistics)
• U.S. Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions, 1854-Present
• Conversations with History -- video interviews and transcripts with over 400 historians, analysts, and newsmakers
• History News Network -- historians at their most opinionated
• Interesting interview with Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Richard Anderson, who likes well-read applicants who can write (NY Times, 2009)
• Jeffrey A. Miron & Elina Tetelbaum's provocative article, "The Dangers of the Drinking Age" (Forbes, 2009)

• Map of manufacturing areas, 1900
• The Panic of 1907
• Panic on Wall Street, 1929
• Coffee-and-donuts lines of the unemployed during the Great Depression
• The great H.L. Mencken celebrates the return of legal beer in March 1933
• Churchill, FDR, and Stalin at Yalta, 1945
• Pres. Eisenhower's Farewell Address, 1961, in which he warns of the "military-industrial complex" (YouTube video)
• Map of the Great Migration of African Americans, 1916-1930
• The Great Migration of African Americans -- at a train station
• Student Elizabeth Eckford desegregates Arkansas Central High School, 1957; story
• Civil rights marchers in Seattle
• Word cloud of Pres. Bush's speech on the financial crisis, 2008
• Barnard College History Department E-Resources
• Teaching American History: includes a host of images, audio clips, and video clips
• The Authentic History Center: more images, audio, and artifacts