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Shields Library is closed through January 1. Requests for books, digitization services, and interlibrary loan will be fulfilled after the new year.

Brian Wright

1st Place

Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, 2017

You can almost never do enough research – there is always more to find and more to read.

Brian Wright

Southern Whigs, a “British Conspiracy,” and the Annexation of Texas

Term paper written for History 171B: Civil War Era

Read Brian’s Paper (pdf)

Project Description

Wright’s paper focuses on the competing political forces over the annexation of Texas. Wright did extensive research on the Whig party using library search engines, online scholarly journals and the interlibrary loan system. Through interlibrary loan, Wright found articles that offered detailed context and deep analysis of annexation. As he sought out the necessary books and journals, Wright was impressed with the level of access that even undergraduates at the university have to the library’s resources. He also dug into primary sources — the speeches and debates of the 28th Congress — from the Library of Congress’ website on American memory.

In Their Own Words

Read Brian’s reflective essay from their Lang Prize application.