primary sources

Gale Partners with Heroes’ Alliance to Empower Learning in Haiti

| By Anika Smith, director of programs, Heroes’ Alliance, Inc. |

Heroes’ Alliance is a non-profit organization headquartered in Detroit, MI with a focus on empowering residents of urban areas. We see education as the main driver of both individual and collective empowerment. In 2010, we launched our first educational initiative focused on literacy, recognizing that literacy is the lynchpin for understanding all disciplines. We have since that time expanded our educational platforms to include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) while continuing to value and promote literacy as a foundational aspect of all learning.

In 2010, Heroes’ Alliance partnered with Gale on our 5th Annual Parental Boot-Camp—a back to school rally that provides resources for both parent and child in preparation for the upcoming school year. Gale donated 500 backpacks to be stuffed with school supplies and given away to children in the community.  Since 2010, Gale has donated over 2,500 backpacks toward this endeavor. Gale has also supported Heroes’ Alliance with resource materials for our literacy initiative and laptops that we provided to recent high school graduates for upcoming college coursework. This partnership has been a foundational means to resource Detroit students with supplies and materials necessary for their continued educational success.

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Robert Hart and the Chinese Maritime Customs Service

| By Richard Horowitz, Professor of History |

Richard Horowitz is a Professor of History at California State University. Trained as a historian of modern China, he subsequently developed a second specialization in the emerging field of World History. His research explores the intersection of China and processes of global integration from the 1820s to the 1920s. He teaches courses on China, Japan, World History, and historical methods.

This is an excerpt from an essay by Professor Richard S. Horowitz entitled “The Chinese Maritime Customs Service, 1854–1949: An Introduction”.

For almost a century, the Chinese Maritime Customs Service played a central role in the relationship between China and the global economy. The Customs Service was part of the Chinese Government, but it was led by foreigners. Technically, its role was limited to ensuring the accurate assessment of Customs duties (taxes on imports and exports). However, over time, it became involved in many activities including the maintenance of harbors and lighthouses, the payment of foreign loans, the preparation of a very wide range of published reports, and the provision of technical assistance to the Chinese Government. Customs officials were often involved in diplomatic discussions and served as informal intermediaries between Chinese officials and foreign representatives.

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300 Years of Eclipse Intrigue: 8 Primary Sources

Across North America people are poking holes in shoe boxes and going store to store to scoop up the last pairs of specialty “eclipse glasses” off the shelves. All of this preparation is  for the solar eclipse that will cast the moons shadow on a path across the globe Monday, August 21st. While we have … Read more

Writers in the Shadow of the Eclipse

North America will experience a solar eclipse on August 21, and while the cosmic event will affect the entire continent, a small swath will fall in the ominously termed “path of totality,” where the moon will completely block the sun from view for some two minutes. After settling on a viewing location and securing specialty … Read more

Conquer Fake News!

  In a recent Toastmasters International article, speaking of fake news and how to conquer it, Gale is mentioned as a reliable source of authoritative information. Here is a small excerpt: “Knowing how they work can help you get more relevant results from your searches. Try to distill your search down to the most important words. … Read more

PARTNERING WITH YOU TO EMPOWER RESEARCH

| By Kristin Fust | As a product manager at Gale, I love connecting with customers and learning about how they utilize eBooks on the GVRL platform. During these conversations, one common thread is usually the merit of GVRL in providing students with the foundational materials needed to better understand core concepts in their areas … Read more

Unearth the Evacuation of Dunkirk with GVRL

| By Debra Kirby |

What does the release of the movie Dunkirk this weekend have to do with seeing my oldest daughter off to college? See below for the answer.

In the meantime, why not check out a few Gale eBooks on GVRL to bone up on this history changing event?

This brief overview is a good start:

Click to access the entire overview

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American Fiction, 1774-1920 is an Invaluable Resource

American Fiction, 1774-1920 encompasses more than 17,500 works of prose fiction written by Americans from the political beginnings of the United States through World War I, including thousands never before available online.This landmark digital collection is based on authoritative bibliographies including Lyle H. Wright’s American Fiction: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography, widely considered the most comprehensive bibliography of American adult prose fiction of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and Geoffrey D. Smith’s American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography, comprising nearly three-quarters of all adult fiction published in the United States during this time period.

Explore the development of American literature in a changing culture through novels, short stories, romances, fictitious biographies, travel accounts, and sketches. These texts reveal much about the socioeconomic, political, and religious tenor of America through centuries of radical change, enabling students and researchers to answer key questions about history, society, identity, psychology, race, gender, and culture. The ability to cross-search American Fiction, 1774-1920 with Gale’s other digital primary source collectAmions places thousands of authors and titles in context with historical newspapers, monographs, ephemera, and other sources to bring to light never-before-discovered collections.

Learn more with a review:

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American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912–1990, from the Mind of an Archivist

Enable your users to immerse in civil rights history like never before with our new archive American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912–1990, part of the Making of Modern Law collection. Drawing from the records of the ACLU, it focuses on civil rights, race, gender, and issues relating to the U.S. Supreme Court—topics highly relevant to … Read more

U.S. Declassified Documents Online Appeals to Scholars

U.S. Declassified Documents Online‘s greatest value lies in the wealth of facts and insights that it provides in connection with the political, economic, and social conditions of the United States and other countries. A significant resource for researchers in almost every discipline, this collection makes it possible for researchers to easily and quickly access and review … Read more