Week 2: Collections

For the purposes of this second writing assignment I will lay out some of my initial interests and thoughts about arriving at an individual topic of study. I will introduce my area of research interest, and then I will lay out a proposed plan for research in Philadelphia. 

My main area of interest in my doctoral studies focuses on land back and Indigenous sovereignty. Within Indigenous Studies, the study of land back is emergent and evolving. Now more than ever, Indigenous communities and nations have witnessed the return of Indigenous lands. We see this through examples such as Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and various Indigenous nations who may have received land back in trust or through land easements. 

I am interested in the ways that Indigenous peoples can imagine or actualize land back. Because of this, I am interested as well in the context of this historical project and emphasis on early American history, how historically and in the past that Indigenous peoples and groups have resisted the occupation of land in early American history. After some writing and brain dumping of ideas, a question or topic area that I have decided on, is what are the historical examples of Indigenous resistance to land theft? 

After poking around the Electronic Technical Information Center (ETIC) Pubs and learning from my fellow interns about search terms. Some of the key phrases and search terms I plan to work with are: 

“Land” 

“Indian(s)” 

“Lenape”

“Iroquois” 

“Destroyed” 

“Land use” 

“Land treatment” 

I have included here a screenshot from Document Title: A Background Study Of Historic Land Use in ETIC after searching ‘land back’ and this was how I became inspired and interested to consider early resistance. 

For this reason, and after consideration of which special collection library repositories to work with, I have decided to focus with the Haverford Collection Libraries. 

The Haverford College Libraries is located at 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041, which is roughly a 39 minute drive from our hotel, or closer to 1 hour via transit. In terms of visiting the library and viewing the different collections it is recommended on their website that “Appointments are not required to use materials in Quaker & Special Collections. Visitors traveling from out of town are encouraged to contact staff at hc-special@haverford.edu prior to their visit, as this allows us to make sure materials of interest will be available during your visit.” My plan is to send a detailed email to the staff indicating which days would be good for me to visit and view specific materials of interest. I will need to use my laptop inside the collection and plan to mostly write and take photos if necessary. 

Under the Research Responsibilities tab of the website, it states that researchers are welcome to bring in their own laptop and tablets. Any personal items including water bottles and bags, lockers will be made available to researchers which I plan to access while there. 

There are various finding aids available for this collection, including staff support and other online resources available. I plan to make use of these during our time in Philadelphia. 

As a result, Haverford College Libraries is a good starting place to research Indigenous resistance to land theft and occupation. The Quaker & Special Collections hold rare documents such as letters, journals, and meeting records that show how Indigenous communities pushed back against colonization, especially in relation to discussions of land. My understanding is that the Quakers often involved meeting with Indigenous groups and nations, and these archives offer firsthand perspectives. Haverford also provides access to digital collections, research guides, and expert support to help visitors like us explore these archives.