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.Originally created by Historical Data Systems, Inc., the database contains indexed, searchable information on over 4 million soldiers and thousands of battles, together with over 16,000 photographs. With thousands of regimental rosters and officer profiles, the database will continue to grow as new information is loaded semiannually.
- 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. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal;regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking publications like The Dial (publication of the Transcendentalists), Puck (first successful humor magazine), and McClure's (creator of muckraking journalism).
- 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. In addition to the importance of illustrations and cartoons by artists like Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast, the paper's editorials played a significant role in shaping and reflecting public opinion from the start of the Civil War to the end of the century. The database currently has all issues from 1857-1912, covering the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age periods
- 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 windowPresents the dramatic imagery of nineteenth-century Americana as experienced from the social, military, and political perspectives. To create this collection, Alexander Street partnered with the American Antiquarian Society, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the New York Historical Society, filming rare items from their extensive holdings.Thousands of dramatic images from the fields of battle, the home front, politics, and general society allow students and researchers to experience and bear witness to the events, both monumental and mundane, of the war. Provided by Alexander Street.
- 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 windowGale in Context: US History provides integrated access to historical (primary) documents, articles from reference titles, and 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 is a documentary compilation of original and unique source materials on the development of the American West. It is selected from the holdings of the Graff Collection on the American West from the Newberry Library in Chicago. The material is selected from a wide range of documents, ranging from manuscripts, rare books, pamphlets, periodicals, broadsides, ephemera to maps and illustrative material, for each of the following major themes: Native Americans; Pioneers, Hunters and Explorers; Mining and the Gold Rush; The Mormon Exodus; Homesteaders, Overland Travel and Early Settlements; Cattle Ranchers; The Railroads, Transportation and Urban History; Outlaws, Vigilantes and the Law; Agricultural Development and the Environment; The Imagined West: Wild West Shows and Fiction; Borderlands: Canada and the Pacific Northwest; and Borderlands: Texas, Mexico and the South. This resource is provided by Adam Matthew.
- Cultural Maps in American Studiesfrom the University of Virginia
- David Rumsey Historical Map Collection This link opens in a new windowWith more than 200,000 maps, this online collection focuses on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America, as well as maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. The collection includes atlases, globes, wall maps, school geographies, pocket maps, books of exploration, maritime charts, and a variety of cartographic materials including pocket, wall, children's, and manuscript maps. Items range in date from around 1550 to the present.
- 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 windowIn the late 1800's, Dutch physician and feminist Aletta Jacobs and her husband C.V. Gerritsen began collecting books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights. By the time their successors finished their work in 1945, the Gerritsen Collection was the greatest single source for the study of women's history in the world, with more than 4,700 books, pamphlets and journals spanning four centuries and 15 languages. Provided by ProQuest.
- 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 fully illustrated weekly newspaper, marking a revolution in journalism and news reporting. The publication presented a vivid picture of British and world events, including news of war, disaster, ceremonies, the arts, and science. The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 includes every published issue, from the first in 1842 to the last in 2003. Entirely full-text searchable with high-quality digital imaging from flat unbound print sets. Provided by Gale.
- Images of America: A History of American Life in Images and Texts This link opens in a new windowA unique new resource cultivated from Arcadia Publishing's award-winning series of local history books. At completion, it will include over 1 million historical images and texts, celebrating the places and faces that give America its spirit and life. All of the images and texts have been indexed to provide an unprecedented level of access into the contents, enabling users to explore the depth of a town's history or to compare the histories of various towns, cultures, ethnic groups, architectural features, and more. Provided by Alexander Street.
- Images of the American Civil War This link opens in a new windowPresents the dramatic imagery of nineteenth-century Americana as experienced from the social, military, and political perspectives. To create this collection, Alexander Street partnered with the American Antiquarian Society, the Virginia Historical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the New York Historical Society, filming rare items from their extensive holdings.Thousands of dramatic images from the fields of battle, the home front, politics, and general society allow students and researchers to experience and bear witness to the events, both monumental and mundane, of the war. Provided by Alexander Street.
- 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.These commercials were created or collected by the ad agency Benton & Bowles or its successor, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). Founded in 1929, Benton & Bowles was a New York advertising agency that merged with D'Arcy Masius McManus in 1985 to form DMB&B. Major clients included are Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Schick, Vicks, and Post, among others.
- 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.This online collection provides 350 hours of video from 17 years of broadcasts, including hundreds of segments not available anywhere else in the world. True to 60 MINUTES’ iconic style, each news segment within the collection serves as a standalone short documentary on a specific news topic. The broad range of content offers boundless applications for students and researchers.
- 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.These commercials were created or collected by the ad agency Benton & Bowles or its successor, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). Founded in 1929, Benton & Bowles was a New York advertising agency that merged with D'Arcy Masius McManus in 1985 to form DMB&B. Major clients included are Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Schick, Vicks, and Post, among others.
- 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. 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.
- 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. Now, for the first time, this groundbreaking series is available in online streaming video in a single, cross-searchable collection designed specifically to meet the needs of researchers, teaching faculty, and students. The newsreels have been restored to their original luster by HBO Archives, allowing viewers to experience these historic newsreels as audiences did in earlier decades. Provided by Alexander Street.
- 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.
- 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.