History Carnival #80

To begin, we have two new tools or sources that will be useful for historians:

Marcin Wilkowski on Friendsourcing on Twitter (for academic purposes)
http://historiaimedia.org/2009/09/30/friendsourcing-on-twitter-for-academic-purposes/

At War and Health, a new database of mediæval soldiers’ records
http://conflicthealth.com/data-on-250000-medieval-soldiers-is-online/

And two pieces on the new uses of digital archives:

Trevor Owens on Mining Old News for Fresh Historical Insight
http://www.trevorowens.org/2009/09/mining-old-news-for-fresh-historical-insight/

Indicommons Cold Case Unit:  Dorcas Snodgrass – how the mystery of a nurse’s disappearance in 1912 is getting attention via flickr.
http://www.indicommons.org/2009/08/03/the-indicommons-cold-case-unit-dorcas-snodgrass/

Curious historical people:

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon at Scandalous Women blog discusses The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and how her real life differed from the fictional depictions (don’t they always?). I was interested in what I read about her at the Colorado History Museum recently, which was very different from the ‘Calamity Jane in a Hoop Skirt’ image of the various Titanic films.
http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/2009/08/unsinkable-molly-brown.html

From Soldier's Mail: Letters Home 1916-1919, Sgt. Avery’s letter from the base hospital in Bordeaux
http://worldwar1letters.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/base-hospital-no-6-at-bordeaux-8191918/

Judith Weingarten on fancy dress parties, fashion design, and a Victorian fascination with Queen Zenobia
http://judithweingarten.blogspot.com/2009/08/double-duchess-and-zenobia.html

Lidian at The Virtual Dime Museum on a famed fortune-teller in 1850s New York
http://thevirtualdimemuseum.blogspot.com/2009/09/magic-and-matrimony-dark-doings-of.html

Reassessments and discussions:

From Philip Blue, Gaziantep and a thought on ‘Orientalism’
http://philipblue.blogspot.com/2009/09/gaziantep-and-thought-on-orientalism.html

Jonathan Dresner at Frog in a Well on Hirohito's last birthday  
http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2009/09/hirohitos-last-birthday/

Discoveries:

Alan Baumler has been writing about his visits to the Shaanxi Provincial Archives, and this post looks at the work the archivists are doing
http://www.froginawell.net/china/2009/09/looking-behind-the-curtain/

At the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog, a piece on touselle – Louis XI’s “miraculous wheat”
http://agro.biodiver.se/2009/08/selling-touselle/

Thanks to Sharon Howard, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon, Penny Richards, Philip Blue, Jonathan Dresner, Richard Landers,  and Jeremy Cherfas for nominations.

http://www.historycarnival.org