Help Me Research!

June 4, 2008 1:54 PM

I'm researching a very specific time period in American history for a paper and I need some help finding sources of information!

I am writing a paper in which I will discuss Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, and the actual state of the US meat/food industry during that time in history.

I could really use some help in finding sources for this paper. Websites are alright I suppose but books are what I'm really looking for.

Topics of interest:
Upton Sinclair biographical information
Information on the meat/food industry during the early 1900s
Reforms that happened as a result of Sinclair writing The Jungle

posted by Funky Claude to education (8 comments total)

Visit your local library and ask a reference librarian for help.
posted by Carol Anne at 2:05 PM on June 4, 2008

A quick search of my school's library gives us...


Upton Sinclair; a study in social protest.
Authors Dell, Floyd, 1887-1969.
Imprint: [Philadelphia] : Folcroft Press, [1969]
Description: 194 p. front., port. 23 cm.
Series: Murray Hill biographies
Topics: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968.


Upton Sinclair / Jon A. Yoder.
Authors Yoder, Jon A., 1943-
Imprint: New York : Ungar, [1975]
Description: ix, 134 p. ; 21 cm.
Topics: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968


Upton Sinclair / by William A. Bloodworth, Jr.
Authors Bloodworth, William A.
Imprint: Boston : Twayne Publishers, c1977.
Description: 178 p. : port. ; 21 cm.
Topics: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968 -- Criticism and interpretation.


Radical innocent : Upton Sinclair / Anthony Arthur.
Authors Arthur, Anthony.
Imprint: New York : Random House, c2006.
Edition: 1st ed.
Description: xiv, 380 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 25 cm.
Topics: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968.
Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Biography.
Social reformers -- United States -- Biography.


Upton Sinclair's. A monthly magazine: for social justice, by peaceful means if possible.
Imprint: Pasadena, California, 1918-1919.
Description: 10 nos. in 1 vol. 31 cm.
Topics: Socialism -- Periodicals.
Absorbed by: New appeal
Notes: Editor: Upton Sinclair.
Caption title; no index.
No. 1-8 subtitle reads: For a clean peace and the internation.
Ceased publication; in March 1919 merged into New appeal.


Upton Sinclair, the forgotten socialist / Ivan Scott.
Authors Scott, Ivan, 1928-
Imprint: Lewiston, N.Y. : Edwin Mellen Press, 1997.
Description: 400 p. ; 24 cm.
Series: Studies in American literature (Lewiston, N.Y.) ; v. 23.
Topics: Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968 -- Political and social views.
Socialism and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
Social problems in literature.
posted by phunniemee at 2:08 PM on June 4, 2008

Visit your local library or your local library's web site and type the words "Sinclair, Upton" into the subject field of the on-line catalog.
posted by dersins at 2:34 PM on June 4, 2008

Also, I don't know what grade you're in, but if you haven't yet been taught how to properly research a paper like this, you should ask your teacher the best way to get started. That's his or her job-- to teach you.
posted by dersins at 2:36 PM on June 4, 2008

Literature and Its Times on The Jungle is a 10 page overview of the historical context of the book. You have to pay for it here, but your library might carry the series.
posted by lubujackson at 3:00 PM on June 4, 2008

If you're in high school, try using your local community college/university library. They usually have more/better sources that are more scholarly in nature. Like, you might find books on that time period in your high school library, but for books specifically on reforms in industry and especially on Upton Sinclair, go to the nearest college.
posted by MadamM at 3:37 PM on June 4, 2008

Thanks for the list phunniemee, and I hadn't thought to visit my library's website.

I plan to head to my local library ASAP so I can talk to someone and hopefully find some more books, but does anyone have any recommendations regarding books that talk about the early meat packing industry?
posted by Funky Claude at 6:29 PM on June 4, 2008

Books about Sinclair will probably lead you to books more specifically about the meat industry. Their discussions of The Jungle will probably reference sources. Check the footnotes and bibliography in the Sinclair books you look at, get the titles and authors of books that look like they might be helpful, and then track those books down.

You might also look at books about Theodore Roosevelt. Check the indexes for "Meat Inspection Act" and "Pure Food and Drug Act." Read what they have to say, see what sources they cite, then follow up by finding those books and articles. I'm sure the librarian would love to help you.
posted by neroli at 9:09 PM on June 4, 2008