Primary Sources
These databases contain primary source materials:
- AM ExplorerAM Explorer provides a single point of access to search across all of Adam Matthew's archival collections. For more information on doing research with AM Explorer, check out Adam Matthew's Research Methods Primary Sources.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collections, Series 1-5More than 6,500 historical periodical titles from the Colonial Era through the early 20th Century (1684-1912), ranging from early works imported by the colonists to later titles published on American soil.
- American Broadsides and Ephemera, 1760-1900Fully searchable full-text of 30,000 posters, playbills, proclamations, menus, advertisements, invitations, fliers, certificates, billheads, ship cards, deathbed confessions, pop songs, etc. Some facsimilies in color. The broadsides illustrate a fascinating range of life in 18th- and 19th-century America.
- American Civil War: Letters and DiariesContains over 2,000 authors and approximately 100,000 pages from over 1,000 letters, diaries and memoirs. Includes some previously unpublished manuscripts, biographies, a bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day, by E. B. Long.
- Archive of AmericanaCross-search Readex databases: Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800; Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819; American Broadsides and Ephemera, 1760-1900; and Early American Newspapers.
- Black Short Fiction and Folklore from Africa and the African DiasporaFull-text of stories, fables and folktales, including previously uncollected works and unpublished manuscripts by a wide variety of authors. Also includes complete runs of selected literary magazines that feature short stories, such as Kyk-Over-Al and The Beacon, as well as many early North American black-owned and edited journals and newspapers
- Black Thought and Culture: African Americans from Colonial Times to the PresentSpeeches, essays, articles, letters, leaflets, trials, interviews, monographs and periodicals written by leaders within the black community from 1700 to 2005. Over 100,000 pages illustrate the evolution of what it means to "be black." Authors include teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, and entertainers. Find influences and read history in their words.
- Colonial AmericaSourced from The National Archives UK, the first two modules of Colonial America document the early history of the colonies, from frontier life, early expansion and rivalries to the journey toward revolution.
- Defining Gender, 1450-1910"Advice Literature for men and women." Access to approximately 50,000 images of original manuscript and printed material, including a strong core of documents from the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Ephemeral material such as ballads, cartoons and pamphlets are featured alongside diaries, advice literature, medical journals, conduct books and periodicals.
- Early American FictionFulltext resource available from Literature Online under "Individual Collections."
- Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800Over 36,000 texts covering life in 17th- and 18th-century America, e.g., agriculture and auctions, foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, and witchcraft. Based on the American Bibliography by Charles Evans, enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement
- Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819Over 36,000 texts, completing the Early American Imprints set. Series II is based on the noted “American Bibliography, 1801-1819” by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) w/Text Creation Partnership (TCP) transcriptionsDigital facsimile page images of books, pamphlets, newspapers, and manuscripts of works printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America as well as works in English printed elsewhere.
- Eighteenth Century JournalsBringing together rare journals printed between c1685 and 1835, this resource covers social, political and literary life, providing an opportunity to examine a variety of topical issues, and to compare a range of perspectives on the debates of the day.
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)Most every 18th century book printed in England, over 125,000 titles, over 25 million pages. Full-text, fully searchable. This "Long Century" gave birth to several major revolutions: the intellectual, industrial, French and American revolutions. During this Age of Enlightenment publishers issued books on an endless variety of subjects.
- Empire OnlineOver 60,000 manuscripts and documents covering the reach of the British Empire, all the way to Australasia, South Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Also includes references to biographies and chronologies.
- Everyday Life and Women in America, c. 1800-1920This digital collection explores American social, cultural, and popular history, providing access to primary source material from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History, Duke University and The New York Public Library. It is made up of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues.
- Latin American Women WritersFull-text of prose, poetry and drama by women writers from Mexico, Central, and South America.
- Literature OnlineSearchable full-text of over 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama, prose together with full-text journals, author biographies and other critical and reference resources.
- Making of America (MoA) - Cornell UniversityDigital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
- Making of America (MoA) - University of MichiganDigital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial to 1950Includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women as revealed in approximately 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. Also includes biographies and an annotated bibliography of the sources in the database. Full-text searchable.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000Brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies to document the multiplicity of women's reform movements.
Journalism Resources
- 19th Century British Library NewspapersConsists of 19th century newspapers specially selected by the British Library to best represent 19th century Britain. Includes national and regional newspapers (e.g., those from both established country or university towns and the new industrial areas of the manufacturing Midlands) as well as publications from Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
- 19th Century U.S. NewspapersDigital facsimile images of both full pages and clipped articles from hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers. For each issue, the newspaper is captured from cover-to-cover, providing access to every article, advertisement and illustration
- Accessible Archives (now part of History Commons)Includes full-text access to American County Histories: Kentucky, Godey's Lady's Book, History of Woman Suffrage, Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Packet, Scenes from the Life of Harriet Tubman, Twelve Years a Slave.
- African American Newspapers (from Accessible Archives)Nineteenth century newspaper collection that includes The Christian Recorder, The Colored American/Weekly Advocate, Frederick Douglass’ Paper/Douglass' Monthly, Freedmen's Journal (Freedmen's Record), Freedom’s Journal, The National Era, The Negro Business League Herald, The North Star, and Provincial Freeman.
- African American Newspapers, 1827-1998Now featuring 345 newspapers published in 36 states; full-text searchable.
- America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1998Full-text access to colonial and early American history. Also covers large collection of African American publications. With issues from over 700 titles (for many titles the holdings are scattered); includes Kentucky titles.
- American Prison NewspapersSince 1800 over 450 prison newspapers have been published from U.S. prisons. American Prison Newspapers will bring together hundreds of these periodicals from across the country into one collection that will represent penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions.
- American PeriodicalsScanned and searchable full-text images from over 1,000 American magazines and journals, including 89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 and 118 periodicals published during the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction (1865-1877) eras. Coverage includes popular and scholarly as well as regional and niche publications.
- Early American NewspapersFull text, mostly late 18th/early 19th century, covering colonial and early American history, with titles from 23 states and D.C.
- New York Times Historical EditionSearchable full-text of the NYT from ProQuest, with keyword searching and date limiting.
- London Times Digital Archive 1785-1985Over two centuries on-line for full-text searching of the London publication, more than 7 million articles, from 1785-1985. Widely recognized as the source for authoritative reports on politics, law, business and society. Extensive coverage of parliamentary debates, royal doings, obituaries, official appointments. Does not include the Sunday Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Times Educational Supplement, the Times Higher Education Supplement.
Finding Archives - Biographical Dictionaries
- American National BiographyWith over 18,000 full-text biographies, many of which include illustrations. In addition 80,000 hyperlinked cross-references and links to selected websites are available. Also includes articles from The Oxford Companion to United States History to provide historical and social context.
- Dictionary of Literary BiographyProvides comprehensive access to the series dedicated to making literature and its creators better understood and more accessible to students and interested readers while simultaneously satisfying the standards of librarians, teachers, and scholars. The series provides reliable information on authors and their works in an easy to understand, engaging format, while placing writers in the larger perspective of literary history.
What is a Primary Source?
A primary source is the uninterpreted original document that contains the words of the witnesses or the first recorders of an event or creative work. Some examples of primary sources:
Artifacts (clothing, furniture, tools, buildings)
Experiments
First–person accounts (including newspaper accounts)
Government publications (statistics, court reports)
Historical documents
Internet resources (especially digitized versions of historical documents)
Lab reports
Manuscripts, journals, diaries
Observations
Official papers
Recordings
Finding Archives - Databases
- WorldCat (FirstSearch)A database which containd materials from libraries and repositories around the world, but with emphasis on North America. To find archival material on a person, search using the person's name as a subject and then click the archival tab to see holdings.
- ArchiveGridDatabase containing all of the archival records from WorldCat, plus thousands of records contributed independently by libraries and archives. Microfilmed and digitized collections are usually not included.
- Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC)SNAC is a free, online resource that helps users discover biographical and historical information about persons, families, and organizations that created or are documented in historical resources (primary source documents) and their connections to one another. Users can locate archival collections and related resources held at cultural heritage institutions around the world.
SNAC is an international cooperative including, but not limited to, archives, libraries, and museums, that is working to build a corpus of reliable descriptions of people, families, and organizations that link to and provide a contextual understanding of historical records.