Sources Annotation



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Thomas Chau- 11/12/2012

Block 3 Research Methods- Mr.Sheppe



Sources Annotation

Thesis Statement: Although cars were invented for purpose of travelling, their impacts on American life in the twentieth century were beyond the realm of transportation because they increased gender equality, changed lifestyle and boosted economic growth.

Detroit, MI “Motor City”, “Motown”

Source 1:



Citation: Nakaya, Andrea. Cars in America. 1st edition. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2006. 21-29. eBook

Quote: “Mobility is crucial to both affluence and prosperity. A person with a car can get to a job anywhere in a sprawling urban area. A person dependent on public transit can at best get to downtown or to within a fairly constrained area of the urban core. As for suburb-to-suburb commuting by transit, that takes time- and is often not even possible.”

The book is a collection of different essays regarding to different opinions on car culture in the US in early 20th century. Mobility is emphasized the most in the first few chapters of the book. There are many authors in this book, but the author for early urbanization topic was Sam Kazman, a famous writer of many different magazines such as Wall Street Journal. His perspective was pro-automobile by arguing that if people did not have cars, mobility would be hampered because they could not travel to exactly where they wanted to go. In other words, he thought that cars were important to modern American life. He therefore favored traffic jams at the first place because it was a good signal for personal mobility. Like other personal essays, this story is biased and so it requires more considerations from other sources to come up with a final conclusion. The intended audience of the book is public. This source is valuable due to different stories from a lot of different experts in the automobile industry and also it supports the idea that cars were not just a new invention for the human kind, they were part of a cultural change in which many cities were built and many people moved into city for work.

Source 2:



Citation: Rae, John. The American Automobile Industry. Boston, Massachusetts: G.K.Hall & Company, 1984. 59-69. eBook

Quote: “ The most obvious economic impact of the mass market for automobiles was a massive program of road construction and improvement. This relationship was very direct. As motor vehicles ownership and use became more general, pressure for better roads became stronger.”

The book is a collection of articles on different aspects of car culture in the US in early 20th century, but all of these articles were written by one author Dr John B.Rae, history professor of Harvey Mudd College in 1959. His perspective on car culture was that road construction was crucial in the period of 1920’s because by this time, many Americans had already had cars, which were bought at really cheap prices, so by constructing new roads, traffic in densely populated cities would be relieved and that accessibility would be improved. Since the statistical data and information matched with those of other historical sources, there is no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the source. The intended audience is public. It is also a valuable source because it supports the idea that right after cars were introduced, US government started thinking about building more roads and upgrading new cities, which would improve the mobility of people going into city for work.

Source 3:

Citation: Hetmann, John. The Automobile and American Life. 1st edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2009. 101-118. eBook

Quote: “ The improved highway provided the common person with unprecedented freedom to move beyond narrow bounds of life, particularly for those living in the country. The most discernible social impact of the automobile on American life took place along the highway, because it was there that gas stations, restaurants, auto camps, tourist cabins, and eventually motels were erected to serve ever-restless drivers and passengers.”

The article consists of the relationship between the American life and the effects that automobiles brought in 20th century. It was written by Dr John Hetman, professor at University of Dayton since 1984. His perspective was that cars brought a new economic pattern in which more small businesses were set up along highways. In other words, he thought that cars brought new economic impact due to urbanization or construction of new roads. Like most other reference books, the statistical data were taken from many different scholarly sources, so there is no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the source. The intended audience for this article is public. This book is a valuable source because it supports the idea that cars affected the economy in a way that people could have more chance to get employed and that America was shifting towards economic opportunity.

Source 4

Citation: McShane, Clay. Down the Asphalt Path. 2nd edition. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1994. 203-228. eBook

Quote: “Developing Traffic Control was not enough. Many urbanites also wanted to reconstruct their cities to encourage suburban automobility. Cities planned reconstruction in two ways. First, designers prepared fantasy plans, which in effect declared traditional cities obsolete by calling for rebuilding downtown around the car. Second, municipalities continued traditional organic, ad hoc city planning presided over by retrofitting downtown to the new technology through re-paving, street widening and bridge construction programs.”

The book consists of different anecdotes about urban planning due to automobile in the early 1900’s, all of which were written by Clay McShane, an associate professor at Northeastern University and the author of the book ‘Technology and Reform’. His perspective was favoring building high-tech, imaginary roads in order to accommodate higher traffic flow in the future. He thought that the automobile revolution in the US at the early 20th century was so dramatic that a lot of architects spewed out a lot of different ideas about how to cope with the traffic. Since the book was written by a professor who spent many years researching about automobiles and the data matched with those from other sources, the source is considered to be truthful in terms of content. The intended audience for the book is public. The book is a good source because it supports the idea that mobility was crucial in the early 20th century America and the only way to improve mobility was by adapting new technology.

Source 5:

Citation: W.McCalley, Bruce. " Ford Annual Production, 1903-1927”. Model T Ford: The Car the Changed the World." 1930.

Quote: N/A (Statistical data table)

The data table shows car sales in the US for a period of 24 years from 1903-1927. It was compiled by Bruce McCalley, a founding member of Model T Ford club. The table’s perspective was showing that by 1930’s, America was basically a country with full of cars because Americans could afford to buy Model T Ford cars with really cheap prices, which were caused by mass production method conceived by Henry Ford. It also showed a particular trend in car sales in which car sales went up the most dramatically from 419,517 cars in 1920 to 1,643,295 cars in 1925. Since the source was created by a founding member of an automobile club who had extensive knowledge about automobile culture, there is no reason to doubt the trustworthiness of the source. The intended audience for this data table is automobile researchers because the figures in the data table could be helpful for research. This data table is a valuable source because it does imply the economic impact that cars brought to America through statistical data.

Source 6:

Citation: Ruth Schwartz Cowan. Gypsy women and children and a man with automobile. 1925. Library of CongressPrint

Quote: N/A (a photograph)

The photograph was taken in 1925, but it was compiled by the author of the book “The Automobile and American Life” John Hetmann. It showed a gypsy American family with an automobile travelling around in a big, vibrant city. The perspective of this photo was to show that the automobile trend in early 20th century was taking place so fast that even poor people such as the gypsies could be able to travel around with their vehicles and that cars became a common method of transportation in modern America. This was a new lifestyle that cars brought to Americans because they gradually quitted using horses or carriages to travel around. The intended audience for the source is public. The photo is a valuable source of research because it encompasses many effects that cars brought to the Americans in the early 1900’s such as new lifestyle and huge economic growth due to the fact that more people bought cars every year.

Source 7:

Citation: James J. Flink. A young woman at the steering wheel of an automobile. 1921. Library of CongressPrint



Quote: N/A (a photograph)

The photograph was taken in 1921, but it was compiled by John Heitmann, the author of the book “The Automobile and American Life.” It showed a woman holding a steering wheel of a car and driving around. The perspective of this photo was to show that cars had a huge impact on sexual equality because women could now buy cars to go to work and travel around just like men could, thereby enhancing freedom and opportunity for many American women. Cars were considered to liberate women during the 1920’s. The intended audience for the source is public. This is a valuable source because it supports the idea that automobile was crucial because without it, women would still be confined in a world where the males were considered more dominant.

Source 8:

Citation: Heitmann, John. The Automobile and American Life. 1st edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2009. 93-94. eBook

Quote: “The automobile appeared at the same time that women were striving for freedom in the home and in politics. It was the electric automobile that gave the upper middle class women the freedom to leave the home and break free of control of their husbands. They provided many opportunities for women to demonstrate their abilities to organize and manage different affairs”.

The article is about the impacts of cars on American women during 1900-1920’s, composed by John Hetmann. The perspective is that women benefitted greatly from the automobile age, especially during the World War I period, because they could be able to manage and organize a lot of different things at the same time while men were away to Europe. For instance, women could perform civil services with their automobiles like driving a taxi and replace men in other aspects like repairing vehicles. The intended audience of the book is public. Like most other reference books, the data were taken from many different scholarly sources, so there is no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the source. This section of the book “The automobile and American Life” is a valuable source for research because it supports the idea that women became more equal to men during the 1920’s and the automobile played the pivotal role in this issue.

Source 9:

Citation: McShane, Clay. Down the Asphalt Path. 2nd edition. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1994. 132-133. eBook.

Quote: “The iconography of the popular family snapshot imitated the early twentieth-century published images. Some family photos emphasized wealth, often by posing members next to new cars. These symbolized freedom and mobility. Americans marked changes in economic status by buying a new car, or by going some places in one”.

The article is about the change in American lifestyle during 1900-1920’s period, composed by Clay McShane. The perspective is that Americans felt like they had more freedom and were more proud after having a car since they achieved something meaningful in their life. In other words, cars were thought to bring dramatic changes to American lifestyle because they brought freedom and mobility, which were not available before cars were invented. The intended audience is public. Like most other reference books, the data were taken from many different scholarly sources so there is no reason to doubt the reliability of the source. The article is a good source for research because it supports the idea that cars brought mobility to the Americans and that destinations were more accessible.

Source 10:

Citation: Greene, Francis. "Down the Asphalt Path." Weekly Traffic Volumes, 1915 (1920): 123-38. Web. 28 Nov 2012

Quote: N/A (Statistics Data table)

The data table shows the traffic volume from different areas of the US in 1915. It was compiled by Francis V.Greene, an employee of Barber Asphalt Company who made primary observations from the second floor of a building. The perspective of the data table was to show that urban lifestyle got a lot busier since the invention of cars, especially in bigger cities where there was higher traffic flow. This had never happened before in US because people were still using trains or carriages as the major forms of transportation. Since the primary source was carried out by primary observations, the figures in the statistical data table might not be totally accurate and so the reliability of the source was not certain. The intended audience for the source is automobile researchers because the figures in the data table might be useful for research. The article is a relatively good source for research because it supports the idea that the lifestyle pattern changed from rural to urban since more people were going into city for work.

Source 11:

Citation: McShane, Clay. Automobile Registration Applications. New Hampshire Secretary of State. Women Car Owners. Maryland: , 1912. Print.



Quote: N/A (Statistical Data Table)

The data table shows the number of women car owners in the state of New Hampshire from 1905-1915, and it was created by the state government authority. The table’s perspective was to show that the number of women car owners was increasing dramatically over the course of ten years; for instance, there were only 3 women who owned a car in 1905 but there were 215 women who owned a car in 1915. In other words, cars were bringing dramatic changes to women’s life since they increased sexual equality between two genders in the country. The intended audience is automobile researchers because the figures in the data table may be useful for research. Since the source was created by the government authority who did careful collection and organization of data, there should be no reason to doubt the reliability of the source. The data table is a valuable source for the project because it supports the idea that the automobile industry was crucial in enhancing sexual equality that women had been striving for.

Source 12:



Citation: Museum of Automobile History. "Women and the Auto." Chicago: 2008. .

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