The following American Studies Seminar research papers were written by students in the 1985 seminar, "Antebellum and Civil War Biography," under the supervision of Betty Mitchell

• "The Eye of Argus: John Denison Baldwin in the Years of the Tempest," by Everett H. Bigwood, Jr.
• "Helen of a Thousand Dreams: a Short Biography of Sarah Helen Power Whitman, 1803-1878," by Jacqueline Blaine
• "Josiah Quincy, Jr.," by Scott A. Cronin
• "'Tis great joy to see the world grow better at anything": The Early Career of Abby Kelley Foster," by James A. Delle
• "The Guardian of the Premises: a Biographical Sketch of Ichabod Washburn," by Joyce Gerrard
• "View from the Castle: Eli Thayer," by Elinor U. Hutchinson
• "The Crusade for Battling the Indifference Towards the Indigent and Mentally Ill: A Short Biography of Dorothea Lynde Dix," by Marybeth Nadeau
• "Shattering Delusions: The Medical Reforms of Doctor Oliver Wendell Holmes," by Barbara C. O'Toole
• "Following the Cannon: The Early Life and Career of Clara Barton," by Donna Paradis
• "Beacon of Liberty: A Biography of William Lloyd Garrison," by Walter F. Precourt, III.