Week 1: New York Public Library Archives: Knowledge is power!
March 20, 2026
Welcome back to my blog!
During my first week of outside research, my focus has been on gathering the sources and materials that will be crucial to the success of my project.This week I had the opportunity to talk to a general research librarian to discuss how to get access to the sources I will need for my future research as well as what those potential sources could look like, and discussing specific research methods and techniques that I can use to aid me in selecting the materials that are the best fit for my research question Sadly, I cannot ready every publication written about resistance movements and World War II, so one of my biggest tasks will be learning how to use various archives to my advantage.
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has an extensive World War II archival and primary source collection which I am certain will be useful for my project, and can’t wait to delve deeper into the NYPL’s archival material on World War II.
I have decided to focus on Operation Anthropoid as one of the missions that I will be studying for my Czechoslovakian research. What happened in this operation was that while Czechoslovakia was under German occupation, Czech intelligence worked with Britain’s MI6 to carry out the assasination of Reinhard Heydrich, which was successfully carried out.
As well as preparing library research, I am also preparing for a trip to Vienna and Prague in about two weeks. While I’m there, I will be visiting the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror and the Military History Institute in Prague: The Army Museum Žižkov to get some insight into the history of those resistance movements as they unfolded and were documented in their country of origin. Šťastné bádání!( That’s Czech for happy researching)
Stay tuned for next week’s blog!
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Great blog, Dana! Your project is so exciting and unique, and I cannot wait to learn more over the next few months. I am especially interested in the Czech side of this topic, as I have not engaged in much discussion about their involvement in World War II despite their prevalence in the conflict. I am excited to learn a lot from your project.
Also, your placement at the New York Public Library is so exciting, and I want to hear more about the sources you find there (especially if they are unique to the library)! Šťastné bádání!