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    "label": "Letter to Izola Shaw From Dr. Dr. Robert J. Kapsch Research Advice, May 5, 2003",
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    "title": "Letter to Izola Shaw From Dr. Dr. Robert J. Kapsch Research Advice, May 5, 2003",
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    "ocrText": "May 5, 2003\nMs. Izola Shaw\n(b) (6)\nWashington, D.C. 20011\nDear Ms. Shaw,\nI was very pleased to meet you at Great Falls on April 29th. I was particularly pleased\nthat you were interested in pursing African American History/Women's History/Social\nHistory during your internship at Great Falls Park. These histories are hard to do as there\nare few comprehensive repositories of written information that an historian may readily\ntap. On the other hand, these areas have been greatly neglected and I believe that they\nrepresent an excellent area to make a substantial contribution to our understanding and\nknowledge of the Potomac Company and Great Falls.\nI wanted to make a few suggestions for your study. As always, you need to check these\nwith your supervisor so as to make sure that I am recommending avenues of research that\nhe/she does not approve.\nNewspaper Research The problem with doing historical research on an eighteenth\ncentury subject such as the Potomac Company at Great Falls is that the participants that\nyou are most interested in (slaves, women, children) have left very few written records.\nTherefore you must historically approach these subjects through other means.\nNewspapers is one possible means. As we saw when I was at Great Falls, the park has a\nfew examples of advertisements for runaway slaves. These articles are interesting as they\nlocate the slave's owner (in the one example we saw, from Dumfries, Virginia, over 60\nmiles south of Great Falls), the slave's dress, the slave's name and other aspects. The\nAlexandria Public Library may be very helpful in locating additional such\nadvertisements. In addition, newspapers can also assist in identifying other industries at\nGreat Falls, such as the brickmaking advertisement which I included in my article which\nI sent you, \"The Untold Story of Blacks in the White House,\" (American Visions,\n1\nFebruary/March 1995, pp. 8-15). I did most of my newspaper research in the Library of\nCongress Newspaper Reading Room.\nManumission The issue of manumission is crucial to ante-bellum African American\nstudies. For example, it is very possible that Captain Pointer had to buy his wife's\nfreedom, perhaps his children's too. The center for African American studies in\nAlexandria, which you mentioned, may have records of manumission at Great Falls.\nWhite-Black Relationships at Great Falls The Ramsey letter which I sent you indicates\nthat there were severe problems in the small Great Falls village. The Sheriff had to arrest\nsixteen (16) people. Unfortunately Ramsey's letter doesn't tell us the nature of those\nproblems. You might be able to approach this from the Fairfax County Records -\nalthough you might want to check first with the Fairfax County Historical Society. There\nare other suggestions that there were black-white problems at Great Falls. Take, for\nexample, the following instructions issued by the Board of Directors:\nResolved that Mr. Harbaugh (Leonard Harbaugh, the Superintendent at Great\nFalls at that time) be instructed to pay particular attention to the conduct of the\nBlack people on the works and prevent as far as possible any disturbance from\ntaking place between them and the people in the Neighborhood and see that there\nbe no obstruction to a proper execution of the civil law among them if found\nnecessary for such to be exercised, & that no white people be permitted to\nassociate with the Blacks on the work or in their quarters. (Proceedings, 4 October\n1797, Record Group 79, Entry 160).\nWhat is this all about? There is little or no other mention of this situation in the\nProceedings. Both this entry and the Ramsey letter suggest that there was a problem\nbetween the local landowners and the workers at Great Falls. Perhaps your research at\nFairfax County Library or Fairfax County Historical Society can shed some light on this\nentry.\nI'll be back to you with some additional suggestions. Probably we should meet again in\nthe next several weeks to see how you are doing.\nIn the meantime, please don't hesitate to call me (202-619-6370) if you have a question.\nWith best wishes,\nRobert J. Kapsch\n2"
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