Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Favorite links for writers - historical research

I love research, possibly too much because I'll immerse myself in details and sometimes delay writing the book. With Whisper Falls (which is half-set in 18th century North Carolina), I researched the colonial and post-revolutionary periods in America for six years before I started writing the book.

Along the way, I've collected many websites and blogs that have helped me get the details right. It's important to trust your sources, and I feel like authors can trust these. (Some have been contributed by author friends. Thank you!)

Warning: This post will be heavy on references to USA history and, in particular, North Carolina history.


Daily Life


Website
Type of content
Metropolitan Museum of Art art work for fashions, furnishings, locations/landscapes
Colonial Williamsburg wonderful place to visit for living history; it also has amazing
content on its website on fashion, medicine,
furnishings, jobs, etc.
Mount Vernon educational resources about George Washington
Colonial Quills blog for writers passionate about Colonial America
Costume Gallery fashion through the ages
Historic food photos and recipes for historic foods in Britain and
Europe
British Museum everything
Bloomsbury Heritage reprints of historical books, maps, etc
Costume Gallery fashion through the ages


People and Events


Website
Type of Content
North Carolina History Project lists people, events, and regions from 1585-present
for the state of North Carolina
Archives:
US
UK
Scotland
North Carolina
historical documents and records, such as newspapers,
wills, court proceedings
Etymology Online A site for discovering a word's origins; it's great for
making sure that the vocabulary you want to use was in
existence in your period of history
Old Bailey Online Court proceedings from London 1674-1913
People History Type in a date in history and learn what happened that day
Library of Congress
Digital Public Library of America
everything and more


About Wikipedia--
I am cautious about using Wikipedia, but I still think it's a great resource. It can give you a good, basic overview of events or people in history. Even better, though, are the resources and references listed at the bottom of the page.

Do you have any links to add?  I'd love to include more links to great historical information--so leave them in the comments!


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