Artifact Log
For your historical research paper, you will be required to construct an Artifact Log. You want to make sure that you are getting a very clear vision of the periodical’s perspective on your issue. That means analyzing everything that could reflect the periodical’s perspective. Essentially, the artifact log allows you to conduct your analysis of each artifact as you go. This means that you will have a record of how each artifact answers the question “How does the periodical feel about or treat issue X,” and you will not have to wade through a large amount of material after you have collected all of your artifacts to see what each one says. If you take your research seriously, you will have many more artifacts than you will need for this paper. (Remember that everything in the periodical is an artifact.) If you do this correctly, you will notice that each artifact brings you closer to the answer to your research question, and you will be able to transfer chunks of analysis from the artifact log to your paper. (Of course, you will expand on your analysis as you write.) Your artifact log should contain the following:
-A title. If the artifact is not titled, you should give it one.
-A paragraph (5+ sentences) that discusses your analysis of the artifact. You need to explain what it tells you about the newspaper and how it answers your research question.
Things you should consider:
-What do the size, shape, and font of the artifact tell you?
-What type of language is used in the artifact?
-What contextual connections are related to this artifact?
-What is explicitly stated in the artifact and what is implied in the artifact?
-What does the placement of the artifact tell you? What else is on the page and what does that tell you?
-In which issue did the artifact appear? (date)
-By the time that you turn in your artifact log, it should include at least fifteen different artifacts from at least six different issues of the newspaper.
-This log should be typed.
-The artifact log entries should be numbered.
-Though it is not mandatory, you may want to consider including the citation information with your analysis. This will cut down on the work that you will need to do when you write your paper.
-The Artifact Log is worth three participation grades
Example:
Artifact Log: How does the Pittsburg Courier feel about the African American poor and working class?
1. “Nadinola Bleach Cream”
This artifact is an advertisement for a product that promises to whiten the skin of consumers. This advertisement is significant because it quite clearly outlines what qualifies as beauty, according to the company that produced it. The implication here is that dark skin makes women less attractive to men and in general. The race of the woman pictured in the advertisement is clearly meant to be ambiguous. She is attractive, reflecting a movie star quality. She has very light skin with lipstick and straight hair. She is looking out, above the heads of the audience in a dreamy pose. While I recognize that newspapers depended on advertising for survival, the fact that this advertisement is rather larger and that there are numerous other advertisements for skin whiteners and hair straighteners in the newspaper reflect either that the newspaper agreed with the sentiment that light skin makes people more attractive or that they were oblivious to implications of such advertisements. This clearly relates to the newspaper’s ideas about class because both within and outside of the community skin color has been associated with socio-economic class, intelligence, and behavior. The stereotype suggests that the lighter the skin the more civilized the person. (October 15, 1927, Page 10)
2.“A Seasonable Prayer”
This artifact is a political cartoon that was published just before the 1928 Presidential election of Herbert Hoover. This artifact was found on the editorial page. It features an African American family of four in a simply furnished room, kneeling beside their bed in prayer. This artifact emphasizes the poverty of the family. The room is not decorated. The room only has one bed, which implies that either the children slept on the floor or they shared the bed with their parents. The father is praying for a president who recognizes the rights of African Americans. Most importantly, the text of the prayer contains an exaggerated example of African American dialect in the word “Lawd.” “Lawd” clearly contrast with the use of more complicated words such as “discrimination” and “disfranchisement,” which are both underlined and presented in all caps. This artifact suggests that the newspaper was concerned about the rights of poor African Americans. The prayer also includes a plea that the new president recognize the right of “ALL” people. “ALL” is capitalized and underlined as well. This suggests the newspaper’s recognition of the importance of the unity of all Americans. However the use of both standard and nonstandard English suggest the need to recognize socio-economic differences in the midst of a call for unity (September 22, 1928, Page 7)
3. “Smokey City Lights”
This artifact contains brief and witty descriptions of the weekly crime reports. While the first entry humorously explores race, the other three entries are clearly meant to shine a light on the lives of lower class African Americans. The first one is about a janitor who beats his wife. The second one is about a woman who reports her neighbor for having loud house parties, which the author implies annoy her because her husband is always in attendance. The last one discusses a man who violently breaks the window of a woman who owes him money. The humor that is present in these stories suggests a dismissive attitude toward lower class African Americans, as if such poor behavior is not only to be expected but worthy of derision. This point is further emphasized by the presence of the “Personals” column next to the “Smokey City Lights” column. This “Personals” column includes the names of members of the African American upper class who have been traveling. It details where they are from and where they have been or are going. The people mentioned in this section of the newspaper are addressed according to their title or status “Mr., Mrs., Rev. Dr., etc. This clearly contrasts with the “Smokey City Lights” column in which the people are identified by their first names. The newspaper’s treatment of these two columns reveal that they think one of these groups deserves more respect than the other. “Smokey City Lights” reoccurs each week in the newspaper; it can be assumed that it accurately reflects the newspaper’s view of lower class African Americans. (December 10, 1928, Page 7)
4.“ ‘Sunny Boy Sam’: Why Be Blue: There is Always Another Worse Off Than You”
This artifact is an installment of the “Sunny Boy” Sam series of cartoons. The main character in these cartoons is meant to represent the lower class. He is dressed as a buffoon, with large feet, outlandish pants, gloves, and a long coat. He has dark skin and white lips that are quite large, reminiscent of the painted lips of black and white minstrels. Sunny Boy’s appearance reflects clear stereotypes of lower class African Americans. His appearance would be considered to reflect a lack of culture and refinement. Also he speaks in a very exaggerated African American dialect, which is intended to signify his lack of intelligence. He has been arrested because he played “the numbers,” which was common among lower class African Americans during this time. He greets his sentence of ten years hard labor with laughter, noting that his small bet got him ten years, but the larger bet of one of his acquaintances will earn him a hundred year sentence. The fact that he finds his predicament humorous adds to the idea that in large part, the African American masses were ignorant and unable to truly comprehend their plight. Because this cartoon reoccurs in the newspaper during the 1920s and 1930s, it reflects the newspaper’s view of the African American lower class. They, like Sunny Boy, evoke pity and humor. (January 12, 1929, Page 1)
5. “The New Chauvinism”
This artifact is an unsigned editorial that appears on the editorial page. While most of this artifact makes very interesting points about the uselessness of racism, near the end, it seems to make an implicit classist argument. It states that “It would probably be more correct to say that civilization is the result of the efforts of courageous, cultured, and cunning individuals. Such individuals exist in every group irrespective of color or creed.” Though this is clearly a call to move beyond racial classification, there certainly seems to be an elitist sensibility present. This seems to suggest that there are people in each race that reflect civilization and others who do not. While this statement is small, it is clear that people who are represented by the “Sunny Boy” cartoons as well as the people who are discussed in Taylor’s “Smokey City Lights” do not represent civilization. The lower class does not deserve to be taken seriously. This editorial is unsigned and it is formatted like other entries by staff editorial writers. The newspaper does not mark this editorial as one sent in by one of its readers. This leads me to think that it is the work of the newspaper staff itself. (January 11, 1930)