Librarian
Alison Wessel
she/her
Contact:
Social Sciences Librarian
Research and Engagement Department
Request a consult: https://calendar.app.google/ZGdznSTQPVoGdHqS6
Research and Engagement Department
Request a consult: https://calendar.app.google/ZGdznSTQPVoGdHqS6
(302) 831-1730
This guide is for students researching the Brandywine Valley. Explore this page to discover secondary sources about the area and then explore the tabs on the left to find archives that hold copies of primary sources like maps, photographs, and letters.
Databases
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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Articles from encyclopedias, dictionaries, & other reference books. Covers all major academic areas. An excellent place to start when learning the basics of any topic. Will help focus your topic, find keywords & people, & discover more in-depth books & articles. Images, audio & video files are included. - Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new window
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Compilation of the Anthropological Index Online & Anthropological Literature databases. An extensive index of bibliographic materials covering the fields of anthropology, archaeology, & related interdisciplinary research. (Coverage: late 19th c. --) - America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
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Definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. - Indigenous Peoples of North America This link opens in a new window
Explore the history of native peoples from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Covers American Indian tribes & supporting organizations. (Coverage: 1500-present) Additional information available. This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Books
Suggested Searches in DELCAT
Lenape Country by
In 1631, when the Dutch tried to develop plantation agriculture in the Delaware Valley, the Lenape Indians destroyed the colony of Swanendael and killed its residents. The Natives and Dutch quickly negotiated peace, avoiding an extended war through diplomacy and trade. The Lenapes preserved their political sovereignty for the next fifty years as Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, and English colonists settled the Delaware Valley. The European outposts did not approach the size and strength of those in Virginia, New England, and New Netherland. Even after thousands of Quakers arrived in West New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the late 1670s and '80s, the region successfully avoided war for another seventy-five years. Lenape Country is a sweeping narrative history of the multiethnic society of the Delaware Valley in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. After Swanendael, the Natives, Swedes, and Finns avoided war by focusing on trade and forging strategic alliances in such events as the Dutch conquest, the Mercurius affair, the Long Swede conspiracy, and English attempts to seize land. Drawing on a wide range of sources, author Jean R. Soderlund demonstrates that the hallmarks of Delaware Valley society--commitment to personal freedom, religious liberty, peaceful resolution of conflict, and opposition to hierarchical government--began in the Delaware Valley not with Quaker ideals or the leadership of William Penn but with the Lenape Indians, whose culture played a key role in shaping Delaware Valley society. The first comprehensive account of the Lenape Indians and their encounters with European settlers before Pennsylvania's founding, Lenape Country places Native culture at the center of this part of North America.
ISBN: 9780812290196Publication Date: 2014-10-21
Before Penn: Swedish Colonist in the Land of the Lenape by Call Number: F167 .S56 1988Publication Date: 1988- Brandywine Valley Cultural Treasures by
Hundreds of photographs highlight a tour of the historic Brandywine Valley region of Pennsylvania and Delaware, featuring journeys to the famed Brandywine River Museum, the Longwood Gardens, and other notable museums, estates, and garden landmarks.
Call Number: F161.5 .W35x 1992ISBN: 9780810936287Publication Date: 1992-01-01
Roadside geology of Maryland, Delaware, and Washington Dc by Call Number: QE121 .M43 2010ISBN: 9780878425709Publication Date: 2010From the sandstone ridges and shale valleys of western Maryland to the sand dunes and tidal estuaries on Delaware's coast, the geologic features of the Mid-Atlantic region include a diverse array of rocks and landforms assembled during more than 1 billion years of geologic history. The book's introduction presents an overview of the geologic history of Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., and 35 road guides discuss the landforms and rocks visible from a car window, along bike paths, and at nearby waysides and parks.
Websites
- National Register of Historic PlacesPart of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources. SEARCH the National Register Database for research and documentation.
- Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. CHRIS National Register-listed PropertiesMaintained by the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, this site provides non-confidential locations and information on Delaware's historic properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places and as National Historic Landmarks, both programs of the National Park Service.