Doing research on South American "Dirty Wars" and US Involvement
HIST 67 / Armus
Simon Elichko (they/he)
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
Final Paper
This paper should focus your attention on a topic based on an intense discussion of properly contextualized primary sources -from the NSA and elsewhere- in conversation with more specific secondary bibliography.
In the preparation of this paper, you will have to turn in on due dates an extended outline for discussion and you will also have to present your work in progress to the rest of the class.
Research Toolkit
Primary sources
- Digital National Security Archive
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service
Secondary sources
- Useful databases for finding history research:
- Historical Abstracts (non-US)
- America History and Life
- Tripod
Research Toolkit
Primary sources
- Digital National Security Archive
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service
Secondary sources
- Useful databases for finding history research:
- Historical Abstracts (non-US)
- America History and Life
- Tripod
created by the
Digital National Security Archive
Digital National Security Archive
About the collection: Argentina, 1975-1980
Search within the Argentina DNSA collection for Coup in Argentina
How can you change your search to only show documents with only the exact phrase Coup in Argentina?
Making sense of a document in DNSA
Metadata for DNSA documents can help
you start to figure out:
- What type of document is it?
- What was its purpose?
- When was it created?
- Who was the author? What do you know about them?
- Who was the intended audience?
Coup in Argentina: SITREP No. 9
Go to tab: Abstract/Details
(This is on Moodle)
Try it out: can you find this document in the Digital National Security Archive?
- Group 1: The proposal in mid 1977 by Assistant Secretary of State Terrence Todman recommending support for General Jorge Videla’s government.
- Group 2: The warning in late 1977 to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance that the Videla government was adhering to illegal measures and a clandestine war doctrine.
- Group 3: The assessment in mid 1978 by Argentine military intelligence unit Batallón 601 that security forces had killed or disappeared more than 22,000 people between 1975-1978.
- Group 4: 1976 US State Department cable containing an estimate that in the past three years, left- and right-wing political violence has claimed the lives of over 2,000 Argentines.
You can't always search inside the full-text of DNSA documents.
- Use Advanced Search
- Set the Date
- If there's a named individual, try using "Look Up People"
- These results can help:
- Glossary
- Chronology
Making sense of a document:
How to Read a Diplomatic Cable
Research Toolkit
Primary sources
- Digital National Security Archive
-
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
- Database of international news broadcasts translated by US intelligence staff
Secondary sources
- Useful databases for finding history research:
- Historical Abstracts (non-US)
- America History and Life
- Tripod
Find these links on the History 67 Research Guide
Research Toolkit
Primary sources
- Digital National Security Archive
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service
- Database of international news broadcasts translated by US intelligence staff
Secondary sources
- Useful databases for finding history research:
- Historical Abstracts (non-US)
- America History and Life
- Tripod
Find these links on the History 67 Research Guide
Research advice & help
Meet with Simon
Sign up here: bit.ly/selichk1
Email selichk1@swarthmore.edu
Research guide:
guides.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/history067
investigative journalism center, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents, leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, and public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information.
What kind of work is involved?
Staff at the Archive...
- Place FOIA requests for US government documents
- Organize and describe documents
- Curate collections
- Promote resources to researchers, activists, and journalists