Visual Culture Sources
Many digital archive sites provide access to both print and visual sources, but the databases and collections listed here either contain only (or primarily) images or have large number of images in addition to other content.
- University of Southern California Digital Library This link opens in a new windowFind drawings, illuminated manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, prints, rare illustrated books, and audio and video recordings in applied sciences, fine and decorative arts, history, performing arts, and social sciences
- American Antiquarian Society Illustrated InventoriesIncludes: ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, tintypes, portraits, social and political caricatures, drawings, European political prints, engravings, and photographs
- American Civil War Research Database This link opens in a new windowThe American Civil War Research Databases is the definitive online resource for researching the individuals, regiments, and battles of the American Civil War.
- American Periodicals 1740-1940 This link opens in a new windowIncludes digitized images of over 1,800 American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the 20th century.
- AP Images This link opens in a new windowA primary source database from the Associated Press, one of the oldest news organizations in the world; includes 4.6 million photographs, audio sound bites, graphics and text spanning over 185 years. Images can be searched by color, concept, and category.
- ARTstor This link opens in a new windowNonprofit digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with a suite of software tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.
- Authentic History Center: Primary Sources from American Popular CultureA rich resource for digitized images, documents, videos, sound recordings and more. Currently covers American History topics from the American Revolution to 9/11/2001.
- The Association for Cultural Equity (ACE) ArchviesContains the Alan Lomax Archive, a collection of recorded music, dance, and the spoken word. Alan Lomax was an anthropologist of the performing arts.
- California Heritage CollectionThis University of California-Berkeley Bancroft Library site provides access to over 30,000 images illustrating California's history and culture
- Early Landscape Photography of the American WestEarly Landscape Photography of the American West This New York Public Library site provides access to over 200 prints from the 1860s and 1870s of American Western landscape, plus some text
- Harper's Weekly 1857-1912 This link opens in a new windowThe HarpWeek Database contains scanned images of Harper's Weekly, a prominent 19th- and 20th-century American magazine that began publication in 1857.
- History of the American West, 1860-1920(from the Library of Congress) Over 30,000 photographs, drawn from the holdings of the Western History and Genealogy Department at Denver Public Library.
- Images of the American Civil War This link opens in a new windowPhotographs, Posters, and Ephemera provides over 1400 images 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
- Library Company of Philadelphia African Americana CollectionsSpecializing in works by Philadelphia photographers and printmakers, and images that document the city of Philadelphia, the collection visually records the history of the Philadelphia area from the late 17th to the mid 20th century. In addition to Philadelphia area materials, the graphics collections include historical and commemorative prints, portraits, and political cartoons documenting American history at the national level from the 18th through the early 20th century.
- Life Photo ArchiveGoogle provides access to Life magazine's millions of photographs, from the 1750s on, most of which were never published.
- North Carolina Civil War Image PortfolioFrom the University of North Carolina, this collection presents images from woodcuts, engravings, lithographs, and photographs--most of these were made by people accompanying Union forces, or were made from sketches and other information they provided.
- NYPL Digital CollectionsProvides access to over 800,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
- Social Welfare History ArchivesThe University of Minnesota collects records of private-sector social service and social reform organizations and the personal papers of individual leaders in the field
- Umbra: Search African American History This link opens in a new windowUSC is beta test partner for Umbra, a freely available digital discovery tool designed for the research and study of African American history and culture. It includes a growing collection of digital materials—images, videos, books, and more—provided by libraries, museums, and other repositories around the country.
- U.S. History In Context This link opens in a new windowHistory 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.
- West Virginia History On ViewPhotographs from the West Virginia and Regional History Collection – Made available by West Virginia University, this site includes thousands of digitized photos.
- Western Americana CollectionFrom Princeton University. Includes of photographs of Indians of the Americas and views of the American West, including landscapes, cityscapes, and mining, railroad, and agricultural operations. The bulk of the photographs date from the 19th century.
- The Western History Collections, Photographic ArchivesDigitized by the University of Oklahoma Libraries. Includes over 250,000 prints and negatives with an emphasis on the periods of 1870-1940.
- Women’s Magazine Archive This link opens in a new windowProvides access to high-resolution color images of these publications: Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Better Homes and Garden, Parents, Chatelaine, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar.
- Open Access Maps at NYPLMore than 20,000 maps that can be viewed through the NYPL's Digital Collections page, and downloaded, through the Map Warper. You must first create an account, then click a map title and go
- American West This link opens in a new windowThe American West, produced by Adam Matthew Publications, is an extraordinary documentary compilation of original and unique source materials on the development of the American West.
- Cultural Maps in American Studiesfrom the University of Virginia
- David Rumsey Historical Map Collection This link opens in a new windowThe David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 20,000 maps and images online.
- Historical Map Web Sitesfrom the University of Texas at Austin
- American Cartoon PrintsThis Library of Congress collection contains close to 500 political cartoons and caricatures made in America during the 18th and 19th centuries.
- American Periodicals 1740-1940 This link opens in a new windowIncludes digitized images of over 1,800 American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the 20th century.
- Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & MuseumThis Ohio State University Libraries site aims to develop a comprehensive research collection documenting American printed cartoon art. The scope of the collection includes editorial and magazine cartoons, including those by Thomas Nast.
- Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and CartoonNew York advertising executive Erwin Swann (1906-1973) established the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon in 1967. He was an avid collector, assembling a large group of original drawings by four hundred artists, spanning two centuries. This collection is preserved by the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.
- Clifford H. (Baldy) Baldowski Editorial Cartoon CollectionClifford H. Baldowski, known by the pen-name "Baldy," depicted the local, national, and international news in the editorial pages of the Augusta Chronicle, Miami Herald, and Atlanta Constitution. His work covers the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, the Vietnam conflict, Middle East tensions, and Watergate. This collection contains approximately 2,600 cartoons.
- Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new windowContains more than 4,700 publications from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, dating from 1543-1945. The anti-feminist case is presented as well as the pro-feminist; the broad scope of the collection allows scholars to trace the evolution of feminism within a single country, as well as the impact of one country's movement on those of the others.
- Illustrated London News Historical Archive (1842-2003) This link opens in a new windowWith its debut in 1842 the Illustrated London News became the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper, sparking a revolution in journalism and news reporting.
- Images of America: A History of American Life in Images and Texts This link opens in a new windowImages from Arcadia Publishing's award-winning series of local history books
- Images of the American Civil War This link opens in a new windowPhotographs, Posters, and Ephemera provides over 1400 images 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
- Labor History Cartoons(From the University of Pittsburgh) Fred Wright was an American labor cartoonist and activist. From 1939 until his death in 1984, Wright created thousands of cartoons reflecting the politics and labor issues, which were featured in newspapers, union publications, and overseas union activism. This Web site focuses specifically on the series of 177 "Labor History" cartoons created by Wright.
- Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns and Cartoons of Clifford BerrymanBerryman was a political cartoonist for the Washington Post and the Washington Evening Star for the first half of the 20th century. This online exhibit features cartoons that appeared on the front page of Washington papers from 1898 through 1948, and gives a picture of the entire election process.
List of Online Editorial Cartoon Resources (Compiled by the University of Southern Mississippi)
- Women’s Magazine Archive This link opens in a new windowProvides access to high-resolution color images of these publications: Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Better Homes and Garden, Parents, Chatelaine, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar.
- Ad*Access Project (1911-1955)This project, from Duke University, presents over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines covering 5 product categories: Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation and WWII propaganda.
- AdViews: A Digital Archive of Vintage Television Commercials This link opens in a new windowAdViews is a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s.
- The Advertising ArchivesThis digital collection spans the mid-19th Century to the present day. Includes: British & American Press Advertisements, British & American Magazine Covers and Artwork including story Illustrations, Rare French & Spanish Magazine Art, British TV Advertising Stills, Mail Order Catalogs, Posters, Postcards, Menus, Theater Programs and a selection of Vintage Magazines.
- Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 This link opens in a new windowContains 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. This resource is provided by Adam Matthew.
- 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.
- Life Magazine (1935-1972)The entire run of the preeminent U.S. photojournal, Life Magazine, has now been digitized and indexed.
- 60 Minutes: 1997-2014 This link opens in a new windowThis 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.
- AdViews: A Digital Archive of Vintage Television Commercials This link opens in a new windowAdViews is a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s.
- American History in Video This link opens in a new windowIncludes 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.
- C-SPAN ArchivesDates covered 1987-present
Records, indexes, and archives all C-SPAN programming for historical, educational, research, and archival uses. Every C-SPAN program aired since 1987, totaling over 194,000 hours, is contained in the C-SPAN Archives. - The Living Room Candidate(from the Museum of the Moving Image) A collection of Presidential Election television campaign commercials from 1952-to 2008.
- March of Time This link opens in a new windowFrom 1935-1967, American theatergoers and television watchers were witness to Time Inc.'s unique and controversial newsreel series, The March of Time.
- Prelinger Archives (Internet Archive)Includes “ephemeral” (advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur) films, many produced by or for U.S. corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, community and interest groups, and educational institutions.
- The Public Health Film Goes to War(From the U.S. National Library of Medicine) A collection of 18 public health films from the WWII period, including searchable transcripts of the films.
- Vanderbilt Television News Archive This link opens in a new windowThis TV news archive provides access to broadcasts of the national networks since August 5, 1968.
- Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory ProjectDesigned to promote the study of great speeches and public debates. The emphasis of the project is on the actual words of those who, throughout American history, have defined the country’s guiding principles, debated the great social and political controversies of the nation’s history, and shaped the identity and character of the American people.