17th Century (and earlier) Primary Sources
For 17th Century Newspapers see Historical Newspapers tab above.
- American Journeys - Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and SettlementFrom the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day, this collection contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later.
- Colonial State Papers This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Proquest/Chadwyck-Healey) Includes thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries as found in the British National Archives. Also included is a digitized version of The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739, which contains bibliographic records and extracts for thousands of additional documents.
- Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (From Archive of Americana/Readex)
A resource for information about every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, this digital collection contains virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in America over a 160-year period. Based on Charles Evans’ renowned “American Bibliography” and Roger Bristol’s supplement, including more than 36,000 printed works and 2.3 million pages, Series I also offers new imprints not available in microform editions.
- Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA)Dates Covered: 1492-1820
Published and supported by the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH). Intended as a long-term and interdisciplinary project in progress committed to exploring the intersections between traditional humanities research and digital technologies, it invites scholars from all disciplines to submit their editions of early American texts for publication on this site.
- Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1600-1800
Login required This resource contains 1,482 authors and over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs, and accounts of early encounters. - Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1473-1700
Login required (From Proquest/Chadwyck Healey) A digital library of English books from 1473-1700 - Empire Online This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1492-1969
Login required (from Adam Matthew)
This project includes over 60,000 images of original documents linked to essays by leading scholars in the field. It is divided into five thematic categories:
Section I: Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969;
Section II: Empire Writing and the Literature of Empire;
Section III: The Visible Empire ;
Section IV: Religion and Empire; and
Section V: Race, Class and Colonialism, c1783-1969 - European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Ebscohost)
Contains over 32,000 citations and is a comprehensive guide to printed records produced in Europe before 1750 that make some mention of the discovery and emerging awareness of the Americas. Subject areas covered range from portrayals of Native American peoples to natural history to disease outbreaks to slavery. The database can be searched by every category of information found within the 6 printed volumes (also available in Doheny Special Collections, Call No. Z1203.E87). - Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1543-1945
Login required (from Proquest/Chadwyck-Healey) (1543-1945) Contains more than 4,700 publications from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. The anti-feminist case is presented as well as the pro-feminist. Titles are also available in the USC Libraries Catalog. - Indigenous Peoples: North America This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Includes collections from across Canadian and American institutions, from the 17th-20th century. Includes manuscripts; books; tribe and Indian-related newspapers; Bibles, dictionaries and primers in Indigenous languages. - Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
A digital archive of manuscript materials from the holdings of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) in New York. Includes organization and institutional records and papers, as well as autobiographies, letters, notebooks, and scrapbooks dating from the 17th to the mid-20th century. Also includes full-text searchable books and pamphlets from the Soble and Rosenbach collections at the AJHS and supplemental resources including biographies, a chronology, interactive maps, scholarly essays, a selection of American Jewish Year Book articles, links to related websites, and a visual resources gallery that draws from two collections of photographs: the Baron de Hirsch Fund Records collection and the Graduate School for Jewish Social Work (New York) Records. - Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Gale)
Comprised of thousands of books, pamphlets, unofficially published trial accounts, and official trial documents—briefs, arguments, administrative proceedings, and arbitrations. It covers adultery, commercial law, conspiracy, constitutional law, crimes against persons, domestic relations, dueling, elections, impeachment, international law, land, libel, military offenses, murder, slavery, theft, torts, treason and wills, among many other subjects. In addition to works pertaining to English-speaking jurisdictions such as the United States, Britain, Ireland and Canada, English-language titles about trials in other jurisdictions such as France are included. Materials in this collection are derived primarily from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, York University in Toronto, and the Library of the Bar of the City of New York. - North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowDates covered: colonial era - 1950
Login required (from Alexander Street)
This database includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. - Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. All of these titles are accessible through the USC Libraries Catalog.
- Salem Witch TrialsThis "documentary archive and transcription project" provides primary source material concerning the 1692 trials.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (From Adam Matthew)
A portal for slavery and abolition studies, bringing together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. - Virginia Company Archives This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1559-1769
Login required (From Adam Matthew)
Presents those Ferrar Papers which are in Magdalene College, Cambridge; transcripts of those documents that throw light on the Virginia Company of London; and the four volumes of The Records of the Virginia Company of London (published in 1906 and 1935), edited by Susan Myra Kingsbury. - Women and Social Movements Library This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Alexander Street)
Women and Social Movements in the United States brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of women's activism in public life.
18th Century Primary Sources
For 18th Century Newspapers see Historical Newspapers tab above.
- American Founding Era Collection This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Provides access to papers of some of the major figures of the early republic: John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Dolley and James Madison, Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Harriott Pinckney Horry, and George Washington. - America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1639-1819
Login required (from Readex/Archive of Americana)
Provides simultaneous access to multiple primary source collections: American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1; Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800; Early American Imprints, Series I: Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1670-1800; Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819; Early American Imprints, Series II: Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1801-1819 - American State Papers, 1789-1838 This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1789-1817
Login required (from Readex/Archive of Americana)
Contains over 6200 publications from Congress and Executive departments, many originating from the period between 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817.
Approximately 2/3 of the publications cover the first 14 Congresses (1789-1817), and the remaining 1/3 overlap with the Serial Set from 1817-1838 (Congresses 15-25).
- Archiving Early America: Historic Documents from 18th Century AmericaProvides numerous links to historic documents such as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence (Freedom Documents). Many original scanned images are also available
- Birth of the Nation: The First Federal Congress 1789-1791Part of George Washington University's Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791 project, this searchable online exhibit provides access to primary source materials and other resources.
- Colonial State Papers This link opens in a new windowLogin reqired (from Proquest/Chadwyck-Healey)
Provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the 16th and 18th centuries. Also included is a digitized version of The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739, which contains bibliographic records and extracts for thousands of additional documents.
- The Coming of the American Revolution: 1764-1776From the Massachusetts Historical Society, this site is organized into fifteen topics. Each Topic is introduced with a contextual essay and is supported by six to twelve significant documents (manuscript or printed). For every document there is a high-quality image of all pages, a searchable, printable transcription, and a bibliographic statement. Additional primary materials—e.g., maps, engravings, broadsides, portraits, and images of artifacts—illustrate events as appropriate.
- Discovering American Women's History OnlineCreated by Middle Tennessee State University, this site is a gateway to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States. Includes 35 collections from the 18th century.
- Discovering Lewis and ClarkDates covered: 1804-1806
A "hyperhistory in progress," this collection provides primary source and other materials concerning the Lewis and Clark Expedition. - Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789This collection, presented by American Memory, includes excerpts from Congressional journals, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
- Dolley Madison Digital Edition This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1788-1843
Login required - (from Rotunda/University of Virginia Press)
The complete collection of all of Dolly Madison's known correspondences. It is currently complete through 1843, with a total of 1581 documents, and is searchable by keyword, person or organization, time period, document type, topic, or place. Along with letters, this collection includes summaries and a glossary providing identifications of names, literary references, and places mentioned in the letters. - Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Gale)
This collection of over 180,000 titles including books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides and more, is an ongoing project based on The English Short Title Catalogue, a union list of the holdings of the British Library, as well as those from more than 1,500 university, private and public libraries around the world. - Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1685-1815
Login required (From Adam Matthew)
This collection makes available unique or extremely rare eighteenth century periodicals in digitized form. The primary aim of the portal is to promote a truly broad representation of the culture of print journalism in the eighteenth century, illuminating all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Many are ephemeral, lasting only for a handful of issues, others run for several years. Topics covered are extremely wide-ranging and include: colonial life; provincial and rural affairs; the French and American revolutions; reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe; political debates; and London coffee house gossip and discussion. - Empire Online This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1492-1962
Login required (from Adam Matthew)
Includes 70,000 images of original manuscript and printed documents to support study and research in the field of colonial and empire studies. Divided into 5 sections: 1) Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969; 2) Empire Writing and the Literature of Empire; 3) The Visible Empire; 4) Religion and Empire; 5) and Race, Class, Imperialism and Colonialism, c. 1607-1969. In addition to original documents, this database contains scholarly essays and analysis. - Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1543-1945
Login required (from Proquest/Chadwyck-Healey)
Contains more than 4,700 publications from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. The anti-feminist case is presented as well as the pro-feminist. Titles are also available in the USC Libraries Catalog. - Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
A digital archive of manuscript materials from the holdings of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) in New York.
- Journals of the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionProvides searchable full text of the Nebraska edition of the Lewis and Clark journals (Gary E. Moulton, ed.), as well as images, audio files, Native American perspectives, and other texts.
- Letters of Delegates to Congress 1774-1779posted by the University of Virginia E-Text Center.
- Liberty Fund Online Library - The American Revolution and ConstitutionA large collection of electronic books from thinkers and politicians, including Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others.
- Making of Modern Law: Trials, 1600-1926 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Gale)
Comprised of thousands of books, pamphlets, unofficially published trial accounts, and official trial documents—briefs, arguments, administrative proceedings, and arbitrations. It covers adultery, commercial law, conspiracy, constitutional law, crimes against persons, domestic relations, dueling, elections, impeachment, international law, land, libel, military offenses, murder, slavery, theft, torts, treason and wills, among many other subjects. In addition to works pertaining to English-speaking jurisdictions such as the United States, Britain, Ireland and Canada, English-language titles about trials in other jurisdictions such as France are included. Materials in this collection are derived primarily from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, York University in Toronto, and the Library of the Bar of the City of New York.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowDates covered: colonial era - 1950
Login required (from Alexander Street)
This database includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters.
- The Papers of Benjamin FranklinThis digital edition includes texts of the published papers and unverified, rough transcriptions of the as-yet-unpublished material. The rough transcriptions will be replaced with verified texts as future volumes of the Franklin Papers are published. The texts are fully searchable and they are indexed by volume, name of correspondent, and date. The digital edition does not include our editorial headnotes and footnotes. It does, however, contain biographical sketches of all Franklin's correspondents, written exclusively for this database, and it provides translations of some of the French documents.
- Papers of George Washington This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1748-1799
Login required (from Rotunda/University of Virginia Press)
This collection encompasses five separate series and the complete diaries, providing access to the complete Papers released through 2009 in one online publication. You may search on full text and by date, author, or recipient across all volumes and series. The indexing of the individual print volumes is combined here into a single master index, and all internal document cross-references are linked. - Prize Papers Online 1: American Revolutionary War and Fourth Anglo-Dutch War This link opens in a new windowContains approximately 7,000 interrogations of members of the crew of ships taken during the American Revolutionary War and Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (ca. 1775-1784). It shows images of each interrogation (of two, three, sometimes even six or more pages). Answers to the fourteen most researched questions are transcribed and stored in a searchable database.
- Papers of John JayDates covered: 1745-1829
An online index and database of correspondence, memos, diaries, etc. written by or to the American statesman. - Papers of the War Department 1784-1800A project of the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
- Primary Documents in American History - The American Revolution and The New Nation, 1763-1815A Web guide developed by the Library of Congress listing and linking to various documents related to the American Revolution.
- Revolutionary War Era Orderly Books This link opens in a new windowOrderly Books were the controlling document of day-to-day life in the military, most notably during the Revolutionary War.
- Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Gale)
This collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. All of these titles are accessible through the USC Libraries Catalog.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Adam Matthew)
This resource is an important portal for slavery and abolition studies, bringing together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. Close attention is being given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today. - Virginia Company Archives This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1590-1790
Login required (from Adam Matthew) -This collection of the Ferrar Papers is from Magdalene College, Cambridge. It documents the founding and economic development of Virginia as seen through the papers of the Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624; the continuing interest of the Ferrar family in the settlement of North America from Jamestown to the Bermudas; trade between Britain and America; the ethnic and gender composition of early Virginia; and tensions among the colonists and of early relations with Native Americans. It is also a crucial source for London's economic history in the Early Modern era. - Women and Social Movements Library This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Alexander Street)
Includes 4050 publications pertaining to Women and Social Movements in the United States. These materials have been selected by the Editors for their relevance to the focus of the website.
- The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799Posted by the University of Virginia E-Text Center
19th Century Primary Sources
For 19th Century Newspapers see Historical Newspapers tab above.
- Eight Centuries (formerly 19th Century Masterfile) This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Contains over 6 million citation for books, periodicals and government publications from over 70 print indexes to material published in the 19th Century.
- African American PamphletsDates covered: 1818-1907 (majority were published between 1875-1900)
The Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection presents a panoramic and eclectic review of African-American history and culture, spanning almost one hundred years from the early nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, with the bulk of the material published between 1875 and 1900. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Benjamin W. Arnett, Alexander Crummel, and Emanuel Love.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection, Series 1-5 This link opens in a new windowSeries 1 includes over 500 titles from 1691 through 1820
Series 2 includes over 1000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837
Series 3 includes over 1,800 titles dating from 1838 through 1852
Series 4 includes over 1,100 titles dating from 1853 through 1865
Series 5 includes over 2,500 titles dating from 1866 through 1877 - American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowContains content written by over 2,000 authors and includes approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs as well as biographies.
- American Civil War Research Database This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Alexander Street)
Contains indexed, searchable information on over 4 million soldiers and thousands of battles, as well as regimental rosters, officer profiles and military records. Also includes over 15,000 photographs. - American Pamphlets Series I 1820-1922: From the New York Historical Society This link opens in a new windowLogin Required
Includes over 25,000 pamphlets covering 100 years of American life, from the Jacksonian Era up to the beginning of the Jazz Age. The publication of pamphlets exploded in the 19th century, creating a forum to express views and perspectives not seen in other print genres. The pamphlets in this digitized collection address a wide range of topics including slavery, suffrage, religious movements, the Civil War, and dozens of other divisive issues. These pamphlets contain speeches, orations, debates, sermons, treatises, tracts, narratives, poems, songs, memoirs, announcements, and legal notices. - American Periodicals 1740-1940 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Includes digitized images of over 1,800 American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the 20th century.
- Black Abolitionist Archive1820-1865
Contrary to the popular belief that the abolitionist crusade was driven by wealthy whites, from the 1820s to the Civil War, some 300 black abolitionists were regularly involved in the antislavery movement. This University of Detroit Mercy collection provides access to over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period.
- C19: Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Draws on indexes such as the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, The Wellesley Index, Poole's Index and Periodicals Index Online to create integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.4 million books and official publications, 64,891 archival collections and 15.6 million articles from over 2,500 journals, magazines and newspapers.
- Civil War 150: National Portrait GalleryThe Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is taking part in the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the presidency of Abraham Lincoln with a series of seven related exhibitions. Accompanying these exhibitions are weekly blog entries, podcasts and videos written and produced by experts on Civil War topics.
- Civil War Medical CareDates covered: 1861-1872
This New York Public Library collection contains photographs from the United States Sanitary Commission Collection, 1861-1872
- Civil War Primary Source Documents This link opens in a new windowComprised of over 110,000 pages, this database focuses on the Civil War as it was fought from 1861 to 1865 and represents both Northern and Southern perspectives. It Includes a variety of primary source documents, such as, letters, diaries, administrative records, photographs, illustrations, artifacts, scrapbook journals, family portraits, and maps featuring hand-colored details of troop movements and local landmarks. Provided by EBSCO.
- Civil War WomenThis Duke University Library site features primary source documents and links to other resources concerning women in the Civil War.
- Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Archive Direct/Adam Matthew)
This series, issued from the National Archives (London), provides access to confidential papers issued by the British Foreign and Colonial Offices concerning North America, with a focus on Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. - Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 This link opens in a new windowIncludes a wide range of primary source material related to the international history of law and society, including: trial transcripts, case notes, police and forensic reports, detective novels, newspaper accounts, broadsides, photographs true crime literature, and related ephemera.
- Crisis at Fort SumterThis site, developed by Tulane University, uses text, images, and sound to reconstruct policy decision-making during from the time of Lincoln's election to the battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861.
- Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920Duke University Libraries' site presents over 9,000 images, with database information, relating to the early history of advertising in the United States.
- Everyday Life and Women in America Online, c.1820-1920 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
This collection documents in compelling detail the social and cultural forces that shaped the everyday lives of men and women in America from 1800 to 1920, addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home life, health and popular pastimes. Provides access to 75 rare periodicals ranging from Echoes of the South (Florida) the Household Magazine (North Carolina) Lucifer the Lightbearer (Chicago), The Heathen Woman's Friend (Boston) and Women's Work (Georgia); full run of Town Topics from the New York Public Library, 1887-1923, Pamphlets and monographs illuminating all aspects of family life all of which have been screened against Gerritsen, Shaw-Shoemaker, and other relevant projects to avoid needless duplication; contextual essays by scholars. - Gateway to North America: The People, Places, and Organizations of 19th-Century New York This link opens in a new windowA collection over 800,000 pages of from 1,500 historical directories, member lists, travel guides, and other name-sources from the New-York Historical Society. These primary sources chronicle the people and organizations as they developed over time and place.
- Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1543-1945
Login required (from Proquest/Chadwyck-Healey)
Contains more than 4,700 publications from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand. The anti-feminist case is presented as well as the pro-feminist. Titles are also available in the USC Libraries Catalog. - Gilded Age This link opens in a new windowProvides access to an extensive collection of primary source documents--including songs, letters, photographs, cartoons, government documents, and ephemera--that reflect the social and cultural politics of the late 19th century. In addition there are video interviews with scholars and topical critical essays covering such themes as race, labor, immigration, commerce, western expansion, and women’s suffrage.
- Hearth Home Economics ArchiveDates covered: 1850-1950
This Cornell University site is a core collection of books and journals in Home Economics and related disciplines, published between 1850 and 1950 and selected by scholars for their historical importance.
- Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines This link opens in a new windowIncludes 65,000 pages from 49 confederate, union, abolitionist, and British presses periodicals, including 15 campaign newspapers, most of which are illustrated.
- Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new windowThis resource presents a multi-national journey through well-known, little-known and far-flung destinations unlocked for the average traveler between 1850 and the 1980s. Guidebooks and brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs and personal travel journals provide unique insight into the expansion, accessibility and affordability of tourism for the masses and the evolution of some of the most successful travel agencies in the world. Primary sources include: brochures, guidebooks, photo albums, tourist ephemera, printed books, travel agency records, handwritten journals, government correspondence promoting tourism after the Second World War and periodicals such as Cook’s Excursionist (1851-1902). In addition there are numerous audiovisual materials including promotional films. Provided by Adam Matthew.
- Images of the American Civil War This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Alexander Street)
Contains over 10,000 images (photographs, posters, cartoon, maps, advertisements, ephemera, etc.) from the fields of battle, politics, and general society, enabling researchers to experience the events, both monumental and mundane, of the war that tested and defined the core meaning of America
- Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930Developed by Harvard University's Open Collections Program, this site provides resources on immigration and topics such as the Gold Rush, railroads, immigrant press, and attempts to restrict immigration, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act
- Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
A digital archive of manuscript materials from the holdings of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) in New York.
- Lincoln/NetDates covered: 1830-1861
This Northern Illinois University site presents primary source materials from Lincoln's Illinois years (1830-1861) and other resources for study of antebellum Illinois. - Making of AmericaDates covered: 1840-1900
A collaborative effort between Cornell and the University of Michigan makes available primary sources in American social history from each university's library.
- Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Combines 19th- and 20th-century legal collections from America and Britain to form a comprehensive full-text collection of Anglo-American legal treatises. It contains more than 21,000 works from casebooks, local practice manuals, form books, works for lay readers, pamphlets, letters, speeches and more. - Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. All of these titles are accessible through the USC Libraries Catalog.
- Secession Era Editorials ProjectA project of the Furman University Department of History, this site provides editorials of the partisan press in antebellum America, currently including those concerning the Nebraska bill debates, Dred Scott, John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry, and the attack on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner by South Carolina representative Preston Brooks.
- Transportation History Collection: RailroadsThis site, produced by the University of Michigan Special Collections Library, contains a wealth of primary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries, including railroad company annual reports; the monthly periodical Locomotive World; pamphlets; and more.
- Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new windowLogin required
This resource brings together hundreds of accounts by women of their travels across the globe from the early 19th century to the late 20th century
- United States and its Territories: The Age of ImperialismDates covered: 1870-1925
This University of Michigan Library site provides the full text of monographs and government documents concerning the Spanish-American war published in the United States, Spain, and the Philippines between 1870 and 1925.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Archive of Americana/Readex)
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980 is a full-text database of key publications of the United States Congress. It documents the official activities of the committees of the House and the Senate, including the journals, reports, and documents. In addition, through the nineteenth century the Serial Set also included publications of the executive departments relating to important public issues, including reports on education, public health, and agriculture, as well as maps and color plates - U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs 1832-1978 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Gale)
Approximately 11 million pages and more than 350,000 separate documents related to the Supreme Court from 1832-1978. - ProQuest History Vault: Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records, Parts 1 & 2 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Primary sources included are from the papers (business and financial records, diaries, letterbooks, correspondence, etc.) of dozens (both prominent and average) slaveholding families from plantations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia.
- Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil WarThis site, developed by Edward L. Ayres at the University of Virginia, provides a wealth of primary sources, including letters, diaries, church and census records, newspapers, and speeches, to document one Northern and one Southern community during the Civil War era.
- World’s Fairs: A Global History of Expositions This link opens in a new windowIncludes a diverse range of primary source material that documents the planning of fairs, the experience of visiting them and the physical, cultural and political legacies they leave behind. The resource is provided by Adam Matthew.
20th Century Primary Sources
For 20th Century Newspapers see Historical Newspapers tab above.
- 60 Minutes: 1997-2014 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
This collection from Alexander Street grants access to the CBS News archives from the period 1997-2014, including many episodes not widely seen since their original broadcast.
- Alcohol, Temperance & ProhibitionThis Brown University collection presents broadsides, sheet music, pamphlets, and government publications gathered over three centuries to researchers interested in the history of alcoholism and how the media and arts spread ideas and information.
- Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Contains thousands of market research reports by analyst Ernest Dichter and his Institute for Motivational Research, commissioned by advertising agencies and businesses such as Philip Morris, Chrysler, and CBS on products ranging from tobacco and broadcasting to cars and hotels.
- Anti-Saloon League1893-1933
This site, developed by the Westerville, Ohio Public Library, presents primary materials donated to the library by the League, which played a key role in American politics from 1893-1933.
- ProQuest History Vault: Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Includes 4 modules include primary source materials from the late the 19th century to the late 20th century - Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1824-1961
Login required (from Archive Direct/Adam Matthew)
This series, issued from the National Archives (London), provides access to confidential papers issued by the British Foreign and Colonial Offices concerning North America, with a focus on Canada, the Caribbean, and the United States. - CQ Press Electronic Library This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1972-2010
Login required
Published annually since 1972, this collection contains 39 volumes of primary sources. Each volume includes approximately one hundred documents covering the most significant events of the year. These documents range from presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions to U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions.
- Famous Trials of the 20th CenturyCompiled by Douglas O. Linder of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, this resource provides primary source and other materials concerning some of the 20th Century's key trials.
- Farmworker Movement Documentation Project This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive multimedia digital collection and primary source project created to ensure that historical materials related to the United Farmworkers of America (UFW) and the life of Cesar Chavez would be preserved. Photographs, videos, documentaries, oral histories and fulltext of selected books. Searchable and browsable by topics.
- First World War Portal This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Contains digital images of a wide range of original documents, including diaries, letters, personal narratives, trench journals, scrapbooks, objects, and a wealth of visual sources, this resource provides a rich seam of information on personal experiences of war. Supplementing the primary sources is a wealth of secondary resources including interactive maps, 360° panoramas and walk-throughs of the Sanctuary Wood Trench System, the Memory Wall, In Their Own Words feature, scholarly essays, a slideshow gallery, chronology and glossaries. - Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports This link opens in a new windowLogin required (FBIS) (from Readex)
Created by Presidential directive during World War II, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service’s mission was to monitor, record, transcribe and translate intercepted radio broadcasts from foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories. Millions of translations, or transcriptions in the case of English language materials, make up the daily reports collected in this database - Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new windowThis resource presents a multi-national journey through well-known, little-known and far-flung destinations unlocked for the average traveler between 1850 and the 1980s. Guidebooks and brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs and personal travel journals provide unique insight into the expansion, accessibility and affordability of tourism for the masses and the evolution of some of the most successful travel agencies in the world. Primary sources include: brochures, guidebooks, photo albums, tourist ephemera, printed books, travel agency records, handwritten journals, government correspondence promoting tourism after the Second World War and periodicals such as Cook’s Excursionist (1851-1902). In addition there are numerous audiovisual materials including promotional films. Provided by Adam Matthew.
- Homophile Movement: Papers of Donald Stewart Lucas, 1941-1976 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
"Homophile Movement" refers to organizations and political strategies employed by the GLBT community prior to the era of confrontational activism of the 1970s. - Japanese-American Relocation Camp Newspapers: Perspectives on Day-to-Day Life This link opens in a new windowLogin required
Over 24,000 pages from twenty-five titles of relocation camp newspapers, from 1942-1945. - Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
A digital archive of manuscript materials from the holdings of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) in New York. - March of Time This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1935-1967
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American theater goers and television watchers were witness to Time Inc.'s newsreel series. This series is now available online in streaming video format which includes over 400 titles. The newsreels have been restored by HBO Archives, allowing viewers to experience these historic newsreels as audiences did in earlier decades. - Nixon Years, 1969-1974 This link opens in a new windowLogin required These papers from the National Archives, Kew (London) allow scholars and researchers the opportunity to assess the Nixon administration from a British, European and Commonwealth perspective.
- Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights ProjectsThese 12 projects bring together nearly one hundred video oral history interviews and several thousand photographs, documents, and digitized newspaper articles. Included are films, slide shows, and lesson plans for teachers. The projects also feature dozens of historical essays about important issues, events, and people.
• Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project
• Great Depression in Washington State Project
• Strikes! Labor History Encyclopedia for the Pacific Northwest
• Seattle General Strike Project
• Communism in Washington State - History and Memory Project
• Waterfront Workers History Project
• Antiwar and Radical History Project--Pacific Northwest
• Seattle Black Panther Party - History and Memory Project
• Chicano/a Movement in Washington State Project
• Labor Press Project
• Workers and Unions of UW Project
• Farm Workers in Washington State History Project
- Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 This link opens in a new windowIncludes a wide range of primary source material related to the international history of law and society, including: trial transcripts, case notes, police and forensic reports, detective novels, newspaper accounts, broadsides, photographs true crime literature, and related ephemera.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1950-1975
Login required - ProQuest History Vault: Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975 This link opens in a new windowLogin required
This ProQuest History Vault module covers U.S. involvement in the region from the early days of the Kennedy administration, through the escalation of the war during the Johnson administration, to the final resolution of the war at the Paris Peace Talks and the evacuation of U.S. troops in 1973. - Twentieth Century Advice Literature This link opens in a new windowLogin required
The collection includes 150,000 digitized pages of handbooks, manuals, textbooks, etiquette guides, self-help books, instructional pamphlets, and how-to books describing American attitudes towards family dynamics, gender roles, sexual relationships, and race relations. Much of the content includes images. - U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (Archive of Americana/Readex)
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980 is a full-text database of key publications of the United States Congress. It documents the official activities of the committees of the House and the Senate, including the journals, reports, and documents. In addition, through the nineteenth century the Serial Set also included publications of the executive departments relating to important public issues, including reports on education, public health, and agriculture, as well as maps and color plates - U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs 1832-1978 This link opens in a new windowLogin required (from Gale)
U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs 1832-1978 is a fully searchable database of approximately 11 million pages and more than 350,000 separate documents related to the Supreme Court from 1832-1978. - Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels This link opens in a new windowDates covered: 1960-
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Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels is the first ever scholarly, primary source database focusing on adult comic books and graphic novels. Beginning with the first underground comix from the 1960’s to the works of modern sequential artists, this collection will contain more than 75,000 pages of comics and graphic novels, along with 25,000 pages of interviews, criticism, and journal articles that document the continual growth and evolution of this art form - World’s Fairs: A Global History of Expositions This link opens in a new windowIncludes a diverse range of primary source material that documents the planning of fairs, the experience of visiting them and the physical, cultural and political legacies they leave behind. The resource is provided by Adam Matthew.