The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993 Page: 548

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

degree in history at the University of Texas. Ramsdell subsequently re-
vised and incorporated his monograph into a larger published book,1
but other authors have usually not printed their dissertations or theses
for wider audiences. Perhaps a limited interest in African American
studies during the first half of the twentieth century influenced this state
of affairs; during the 196os, however, an increasing number of writers
successfully converted their academic productions into published books
and articles. Prepared during the era of racial segregation, many of the
unpublished studies portray their white authors' attitudes toward
African Americans; similarly, projects completed at segregated black in-
stitutions offer observations concerning racism and the white majority
from the perspective of black graduate students. In some cases both
white and black authors conceivably utilized printed materials that con-
temporary scholars have overlooked; in other cases, earlier writers may
have used personal papers that no longer exist. Statistical surveys, empir-
ical investigations, interviews, and correspondence between the re-
searchers and their subjects contained in dissertations and theses from
past years can serve as invaluable primary sources today.
While conducting my search for dissertations, I benefited greatly from
such well-known reference works as University Microfilms' cumulative
Comprehensive Dissertation Index and Dissertation Abstracts International. Also
useful were continuing issues of America, History and Life and the Journal
of American History, which list recent dissertations. Especially helpful for
African American history were Earle H. West's Bibliography of Doctoral Re-
search on the Negro (1935), James Abajian's Blacks and Their Contributions
to the American West (1974), and University Microfilms' Black Studies: A
Dissertation Bibliography (1977) *.
The Southwestern Historical Quarterly in various issues in Vols. LXIX,
LXX, and LXXI reported a number of dissertations and theses complet-
ed between 1952 and May, 1964. Vols. LXXVIII, LXXIX, LXXXX,
LXXXI, and LXXXII of the Quarterly covered the period from May,
1964 to May, 1974. H. Bailey Carroll and Milton R. Gutsch's Texas Histo-
ry Theses (1955) and Claude Elliott's Theses on Texas History (1955) great-
ly assisted my search for theses that antedated 1952. Locating master's
theses completed after 1974 proved somewhat more challenging. Good
Charles William Ramsdell, Reconstruction in Texas (New York: Columbia University Press,
1910).
2 University Microfilms, Dissertation Abstracts Internatzonal (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Micro-
films International, 1969-); ibid., Comprehensive Dissertation Index (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University
Microfilms International, 1975); ibid., Black Studies- A Dissertation Bzblzography (Ann Arbor, Mich.:
University Microfilms International, 1977), James de T. Abajian, Blacks and Thezr Contnbutions to
the Amercan West- A Bzbliography and Union Ltst of Library Holdings through 1970 (Boston: G. K.
Hall, 1974).

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