Research Guides: HIST 100: Databases

Primary Sources in USC Libraries

Here is a selection of primary source databases that you have access to as a USC student.

Newspapers

ProQuest Historical Newspapers and Magazines This link opens in a new window
This database provides access to 45 major national and international newspapers (1812-2012) including 9 African American Newspapers and 4 Jewish American newspapers. ProQuest's American Periodicals database is also included, providing access to 1,800+ popular magazines published between 1740-1940.
African American Newspapers (1827-1998) This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to 316 U.S. newspapers from 38 states and the District of Columbia chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience.
Access World News (NewsBank) This link opens in a new window
The electronic editions of record for valuable local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as full-text content of key international sources, all in one easy-to-search database with a world map.
Over 4,500 news sources are included. Each provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community, as well as a distinctive focus offering a variety of viewpoints on local and world issues. Paid ads are excluded.
19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Provides access to primary source newspaper content from the 19th century, featuring full-text content and images from 500 newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S.
The collection encompasses the entire 19th century, with an emphasis on such topics as the American Civil War, African-American culture and history, Western migration and Antebellum-era life, among other subjects.
America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1998 This link opens in a new window
Part of Readex's Archive of Americana. Provides access to over 3,200 newspapers.
Collections include: Early American Newspapers Series 1-13 (1690-1922),; African American Newspapers, Series 1 & 2 1827-1998; and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.

Thematic Databases

Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Provides centralized access to 48 Gale Primary source collections
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
We have access to Part II-IV: (2) Slave Trade in the Atlantic World, (3)The Institution of Slavery (1492-1888), (4) The Age of Emancipation. Provided by Gale-Cengage.
These collections cover the transatlantic slave trade, the legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and the dynamics of emancipation in the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions.It includes digital access to a variety of primary sources: legaldocuments, court records, plantation records, company records,first-person accounts, newspaper articles, government documents and much more. Also includes reference articles and links to websites, biographies, chronologies, bibliographies to give background and context for further research.
Women and Social Movements Library This link opens in a new window
Organized around the history of women in social movements between 1600 and the present,
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
This is a primary full-text digital collection of over 150,000 pages of diaries and letters related to the experiences of 1,325 women.
It covers women in North America from Colonial times to around 1950.
Everyday Life and Women in America Online, c.1820-1920 This link opens in a new window
This collection documents 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. This resource is provided by Adam Matthew.
U.S. History In Context This link opens in a new window
History Resource Center: U.S. provides integrated access to over 4,000 historical (primary) documents, articles from more than 30 reference titles, and over 110 full-text journals covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present.
The material also includes citations from over 180 additional history journals from the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Citation Index, as well as the entire "American Journey Online" series.

Congressional Hearings and Government Information

Proquest Congressional This link opens in a new window
This database indexes and abstracts a broad spectrum of Congressional publications, including hearings (testimony), committee prints, reports, documents, and full text of bills and public laws, and the U.S. Statutes at Large from 1789 to the present.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new window
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. It contains, for example, reports on education, public health, and agriculture, as well as maps and color plates. The database consists of approximately 369,000 publications published in 14,500 volumes and over 11 million pages.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Historical Statistics of the United States has long been the standard source for quantitative indicators of American history.
This is the fourth edition of Historical Statistics of the United States. The U.S. Bureau of the Census published the prior editions in 1949, 1960, and 1975, the last known as the Bicentennial Edition. Cambridge University Press publishes this, the Millennial Edition, with the permission of the Census Bureau. Some of the data and table documentation presented here are used without explicit quotation, but with permission, from the earlier editions. The Census Bureau takes no responsibility for the design of this edition or the accuracy of its content, which rests solely with the contributors, the editors, and Cambridge University Press.

Videos

American History in Video This link opens in a new window
Includes the complete series of United Newsreel and Universal Newsreel, available in their entirety capturing history as it was made and reported to viewers of the time. Also includes documentaries from PBS, California Newsreel, A&E, Bullfrog Films, Documentary Educational Resources, The History Channel, and others.
The collection allows students and researchers to analyze historical events, and their presentation over time, through commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries. This release now provides 4,848 titles, equaling approximately 1,215 hours.