Databases featuring "Primary sources"

Artifacts such as documents, manuscripts, recordings, etc., that provide first-hand or contemporary accounts of historical events or time periods.
  • 17th and 18th century Nichols newspapers collection - The Nichols Collection consists of 280 newspaper and periodical titles and approximately 300 monographs....
  • 17th-18th century Burney Collection newspapers - Searchable full-text access to the British Library's collection of the newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817)--the largest and most comprehensive collection o...
  • 18thConnect - 18thConnect is an aggregator of digital resources that provide a comprehensive research environment for scholars working on the literature, history, the fine arts, and philosophy of the long eighteent...
  • 19th century masterfile. Series I - Coverage: 1786-1922. Contains journal citations published from top indices of the Nineteenth-Century....
  • Accessible Archives full-text databases - Accessible Archives includes the following collections: African American Newspapers, African American Newspapers in the South, American County Histories, American Inventor, Anatomy of Protext in Am...
  • Africa commons. History and culture - Database of digitized African historical and cultural materials covering over 4,500 collections held by 600+ organizations from around the world....
  • African American communities - Electronic reproduction of materials from the Southern Historical Collection in the Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill....
  • Age of exploration - Contains rare manuscripts, early printed materials, maps, documents, diaries, ships' logs as well as speeches and films related to key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c....
  • ALB1876, American libraries before 1876 - This database covers institutional and commercial libraries that existed in what is now the continental United States from the time of first settlement through 1875....
  • America in World War Two - Uncover the stories of American military personnel and civilians during the Second World War through their oral histories, correspondence, diaries, photographs, artifacts, and military records....
  • America's historical newspapers - Web-based archive of Americana that features images and full-text content from many historical newspapers. Ser....
  • American Antiquarian Society (AAS) historical periodicals collection - Provides electronic access to a comprehensive collection of American periodicals published from 1684 onwards....
  • American history in video - "American History in Video provides the largest and richest collection of video available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles on completion....
  • American history, 1493-1945 - This resource brings together materials on American history from the time of the earliest settlers until the end of World War II, sourced from publications and unique documents in the Gilder Lehrman c...
  • American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971 - "Consists of a large variety of collections from the U.S....
  • American West - The Graff Collection, consisting of original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material (trade cards, wanted posters, photos, claim certificates, news-sheets, etc), and rare printed sources, acts as a dyna...
  • Amnesty International archives - "Amnesty International Archives explore[s] the growth of the human rights movement during the second half of the twentieth century through the International Secretariat records of Amnesty Internationa...
  • Apartheid South Africa 1948-1980 - Contains British government files and maps related to South Africa under the first thirty years of the apartheid regime....
  • ArchiveGrid - Index to archival finding aids derived from major archival libraries and sources in the United States and the United Kingdom....
  • Archives of sexuality and gender - The Archives of Sexuality and Gender program provides a collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender....
  • Black freedom struggle in the 20th century - Module one (Federal government records) consists of 37 collections of organizational records and personal papers and contains records of civil rights organization and personal papers on African Americ...
  • Black studies center - Black Studies Center combines invaluable resources for research and teaching in Black studies: Schomburg studies on the Black experience, International index to Black periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago d...
  • British Library newspapers - Sourced from the extensive holdings of the British Library, British Library Newspapers delivers a wide range of irreplaceable local and regional voices to reflect the social, political, and cultural e...
  • British newsreels, 1911-1930 - "Supplied by the British Film Institute and Imperial War Museums, British Newsreels, 1911-1930: Culture and Society on Film showcases a large collection of newsreels produced by the Topical Film Compa...
  • Broadcasting America - The collections selected for inclusion in the resource allow for the study of twentieth-century broadcasting through the lens of David Sarnoff, predominantly during his time at the helm of the Radio C...
  • Cecil papers - ...
  • Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1922 - This resource provides digital access to official British government records relating to the region, from the decline of the Silk Road, through the diplomatic confrontation between the British and Rus...
  • Checkpoint - Comprehensive tax and accounting research database covering tax and accounting laws and news on the international, federal, state and local levels....
  • Children's literature and culture - "Children's Literature and Culture contains more than 8,600 digitized items produced for, about and, in some cases, by children and youth in the decades between the 1810s and the 1920s.......
  • China : trade, politics & culture, 1793-1980 - Sources from the School of Oriental and African Studies and the British Library, London: 1793-1980....
  • China, America and the Pacific - China, America and the Pacific explores the cultural and trading relationships that emerged between America, China and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries....
  • China: culture and society - The core of China: Culture and Society is the pamphlets held in the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia housed in the Carl A. Kroch Library of Cornell University....
  • Church Missionary Society periodicals - ...
  • Church Missionary Society periodicals. Module II, Medical journals, Asian missions and the historical record, 1816-1986 - The periodicals for Module 2 come from the collections of both the Crowther Mission Studies Library in Oxford and the Cadbury Research Library in Birmingham and explore the medical journals, Asian mis...
  • Colonial America. Module 1, Frontier Life, Early Expansion and Rivalries - This module focuses on Europeans who were eager to carve out new lands and economic opportunities, so they turned their eyes westward....
  • Colonial Caribbean - Digital resource covering three centuries of Caribbean history from 1624 to 1870 drawn from the archives of the British Colonial Office....
  • Colonial state papers - Colonial State Papers provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries....
  • Confidential print. Africa, 1834-1966 - The Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 is Official British government correspondence concerning Africa from the Foreign Office and the Colonial Office. It was issued by the British Government....
  • Confidential print. Latin America, 1833-1969 - The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between c. 1820 and 1970, is a fundamental building block for political, social and economic research....
  • Confidential print. Middle East, 1839-1969 - The collection covers Middle Eastern history from 1839-1969; countries included are: Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Persia, Suez Canal, Turkey, Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Syria....
  • Confidential print. North America, 1824-1961 - The collection covers a broad sweep of history from c.1824-1961, taking in the USA, Canada, the Caribbean and Central America....
  • Declassified documents reference system - The database provides online access to over 500,000 pages of previously classified government documents....
  • Defining gender - Provides access to original British source material which supports the study of history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective....
  • Digital National Security Archive - Database contains 15 complete collections of declassified documents: Afghanistan, Berlin Crisis 1958-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis, El Salvador, Iran-Contra Affair, Intelligence Community, Iran Revolutio...
  • Documents on British policy overseas - ...
  • Early American imprints. Series I, Evans (1639-1800) - Provides full-text and full-page-image access to books, pamphlets and broadsides printed in America from 1639-1800....
  • Early American imprints. Series II, Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819) - Provides full-text and full-page-image access to books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in America from 1801 through 1819....
  • Early English books online - From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this collection contains digital facsimile page images from more than 130,000 titles listed in Pollard and Redgra...
  • Early modern England - This collection of primary sources looks at two centuries of everyday, political, religious, working, trading and administrative life in England during this pivotal epoch....
  • East India Company - From 16th-century origins as a trading venture to the East Indies, through to its rise as the world's most powerful company and de facto ruler of India, to its demise amid allegations of greed and cor...
  • Eighteenth Century collections online - A comprehensive digital edition of The Eighteenth Century microfilm set, which has aimed to include every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along w...
  • Eighteenth century journals. I, Newspapers and periodicals 1693-1793, from the Bodleian Library, Oxford - Electronic collection of material reproduced from newspapers and periodicals published in Britain during the 18th century and held in the Bodleian Library....
  • Empire online - Empire Online spans five centuries, charting the rise and fall of empires around the world. It provides exploration of colonial history, politics, culture, and society....
  • Entertainment industry magazine archive - "An archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to 2000....
  • European views of the Americas, 1493-1750 - This bibliographic database is a valuable index for libraries, scholars and individuals interested in European works that relate to the Americas....
  • Everyday life & women in America - This digital collection provides access to rare primary source material on American social, cultural, and popular history from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History, Duke University and The Ne...
  • First World War - The Visual perspectives and narratives section showcases material from the Imperial War Museum in London, including photographs, artwork, posters, manuscripts, ephemera, museum objects, and even a few...
  • Food and drink in history - From feast to famine, explore primary source material documenting the story of food and drink throughout history....
  • Foreign Office files for China, 1919-1980 - This digital collection makes available all British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980....
  • Foreign Office files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980 - This collection focuses on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Includes content on Bangladesh, Ceylon/Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Kashmir, and the Maldives....
  • Foreign Office files for South East Asia, 1963-1980 - "Published in two parts, this extensive collection of Foreign Office Files explores South East Asia between 1963 and 1980 in a time of conflict, growth and change......
  • Foreign Office files for the Middle East, 1971-1981 - This resource comprises British Foreign and Commonwealth Office files and selected files from the Prime Minister's Office and Defence Intelligence....
  • Frontier life - "There is a large array of document types published on this site including correspondence, diaries, government papers, business records, land transactions, legal documents, speeches, books and pamphle...
  • Gale newsvault - Gale NewsVault delivers the definitive cross-searching experience for exploring Gale's range of historical newspaper and collections....
  • Gender identity and social change - Covers the 19th to 21st centuries, focusing on the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. Includes digitized archival documents, image gallery, and video content....
  • Gilded age and progressive era - The period after the Civil War in America became known as the Gilded Age, coined by Mark Twain in his seminal novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, playing on the failure of the expected 'golden era'...
  • Global commodities - Global commodities focuses on the history of 15 major commodities, and examines the ways that they have changed the world from c1500 to the present day....
  • Global think tanks - Global Think Tanks is a collection of objective, fact-based research from the world's policy experts, think tanks, IGOs and NGOs....
  • Grand tour - This collection of manuscript, visual and printed works allows scholars to explore the history of British travel in Europe between 1550 and 1850 from every angle.|bIt includes letters, diaries and jou...
  • Grove art online - Groveª Art Online is the foremost scholarly art encyclopedia, updated regularly and covering global art and architecture from prehistory to present day....
  • Harper's bazaar online - ...
  • HarpWeek - The database contains all the pages of Harper's weekly, the Civil War Era (1857-1865), Reconstruction I, II (1866-1877), and Gilded Age I, II, III, IV, V, and VI (1878-1912) as scanned images, toget...
  • HeritageQuest online - Provides a collection of research materials for tracing family history and American culture, including the complete set of US Federal Census records from 1790-1930; over 25,000 books of family and lo...
  • Historical State - Historical State is the gateway to NC State history. Use Historical State to learn something new about NC State or to start your research on a university history topic....
  • History study center - The History Study Center is a collection of primary and secondary sources on global history from ancient times to the present....
  • Illustrated London news historical archive, 1842-2003 - "The Illustrated London News Historical Archive gives students and researchers unprecedented online access to the entire run of the ILN from its first publication on 14 May 1842 to its last in 2003....
  • India, Raj and Empire - In 1615, Britain signed a treaty with the Mughals to permit the East India Company to establish 'factories' or trading posts in cities such as Mumbai (Bombay) and Kolkata (Calcutta)....
  • Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America - The wide range of material included in Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America presents a unique insight into interactions between Indigenous Peoples in North America and European colonists...
  • Indigenous Newspapers in North America - Indigenous Newspapers in North America aims to present a diverse and robust collection of print journalism from Indigenous peoples of the US and Canada over more than 9,000 individual editions from 18...
  • Indigenous peoples of North America - Enabling exploration of the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples from the sixteenth century well into the twentieth century, Indigenous Peoples: North America illustrates the fabr...
  • Interwar culture - Interwar Culture comprises runs of both prominent and lesser-known periodicals published throughout the interwar period, covering various facets of culture, entertainment, fashion, home and family lif...
  • Jewish life in America, c1654-1954 - Contains full-color, full-text searchable digitized primary source materials on the history of Jewish communities in America from their first arrival in New York in 1654 to today....
  • Leisure, travel and mass culture : [Material from Brooklyn Historical Society] - Maps, view books and guides provide in-depth case studies for Coney Island, Long Island and Rockaway Beach....
  • Liberty magazine, 1924-1950 - This database is a digitization of the entire run of Liberty Magazine, nearly 1,400 issues, and contains over 17,000 fiction and non-fiction articles and thousands of advertisements all in a searchabl...
  • Life at sea - "This material includes the following document types: artwork and sketchbooks, correspondence, court martial records, examination of pirates, impressment and regulations, journals and diaries, legal r...
  • Life Magazine archive - Access to articles and images from one of the most influential popular magazines of all time. Contains publications from 1936-2000....
  • Literary print culture - "Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive, 1554-2007 showcases a diverse range of material from the archive of the Stationers' Company archive including constitutional records, court re...
  • London low life - London Low Life is a full-text searchable electronic resource, containing colour images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 19th and early 20th century London reproduced from...
  • Macmillan cabinet papers, 1957-1963 - "Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963 provides complete coverage of the Cabinet conclusions (minutes) (CAB 128) and memoranda (CAB 129) of Harold Macmillan's government, plus selected minutes and memor...
  • Making of America (MOA) - Presents a digital library of books and journals related to the development of United States social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction (1850-1877)....
  • Making of the modern world - Provides full-text and full-page-image access to books from 1450-1914, and pre-1906 serials....
  • Market research and American business reports, 1935-1965 - This database is a source for American consumption history as well as the history of transnational marketing....
  • Mass observation online - This resource includes essays on British social history collected between 1937 and 1972 during a project called the Mass Observation....
  • Mass Observation Project, 1981-2009 - Mass Observation Project 1981-2009 provides digital access to a unique life-writing archive, capturing the everyday experiences, thoughts and opinions of people living through the final decades of the...
  • Medical services and warfare - Medical Services and Warfare tells the story of medical advances during warfare from the mid-nineteenth century to the outbreak of the influenza epidemic in 1918 and the discovery of penicillin in 192...
  • Medicine and Madison Avenue - This website explores the complex relationships between modern medicine and modern advertising, or "Madison Avenue," as the latter is colloquially termed....
  • Medieval family life - Only five major letter collections, those of the Paston, Stonor, Plumpton, Armburgh and Cely families, exist from 15th century England....
  • Medieval travel writing - Extensive collection medieval manuscripts from archives and libraries around the world, dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries, with a focus on accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and Chi...
  • Meiji Japan - The Edward Sylvester Morse Papers (ca....
  • Migration to new worlds - Migration to New Worlds: The Modern Era begins with the activities of the New Zealand Company during the 1840s and presents thousands of unique original sources focusing on the growth of colonization ...
  • NAACP Papers - The NAACP Papers collection consists of 6 modules....
  • Nineteenth century literary society - Nineteenth Century Literary Society provides access to over 1,400 digitized items from the archive of the historic John Murray Publishing Company....
  • Nixon years, 1969-1974 - Top level Anglo-American discussions and briefing papers dominate this project. There is also a wealth of material on social conditions, domestic reforms, trade, culture and the environment....
  • North American city reports - The North American city reports module on Policy Commons contains over five million pages of in-depth surveys, reports, and research from more than six hundred North American cities and urban agencies...
  • North American women's letters and diaries - North American Women's Letters and Diaries (NAWLD) is a full-text database of the personal experiences as reflected in the letters and diaries of 1,325 women who lived in North America before 1960....
  • Perdita manuscripts - Includes complete facsimile images of over 230 manuscripts written or compiled by women living in the British Isles during the 16th and 17th centuries....
  • Popular culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 - This resource contains digitizations of popular culture collections from the U.S. and U.K. between 1950 to 1975. These original archival materials are from various libraries and archives....
  • Popular medicine in America, 1800-1900 - Electronic reproduction of materials documenting the history of popular remedies and treatments in 19th century America, from the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphi...
  • Poverty, philanthropy and social conditions in Victorian Britain - "This multi-archive collection, comprising collections from the National Archives at Kew, the British Library and Senate House Library navigates the complex social climate of nineteenth and early twen...
  • ProQuest Congressional - Indexes information produced by or pertaining to the United States Congress from 1789 to the present. Provides full text for many titles, generally from the early 1990's to the present....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Atlanta daily world - Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue....
  • Proquest historical newspapers. Chicago defender (1910-1975) - This database provides full page and article images with searchable full text from the Chicago daily defender (1966-1973 : Big weekend ed.), Chicago daily defender (1960-1973 : Daily ed.), Chicago def...
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Chinese Newspapers Collection - Contains full text of various Chinese newspapers....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Cleveland call and post - Full text of the Cleveland call post from 1934-2010 under all its title variants....
  • ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Kansas City call - "The Kansas City Call is a Black weekly newspaper founded in 1919 to provide leadership for the Black community. It quickly became one of the most successful Black newspapers in the U.S....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Los Angeles sentinel - Full-page and article images from the Los Angeles Sentinel, the oldest and largest black newspaper in the western United States and the largest African-American owned newspaper in the U.S., covering i...
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Los Angeles times - Database offers full-page images and article images from the Los Angeles daily times (1881-1886) and the Los Angeles times (1886-1993)....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Louisville defender - ...
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Michigan chronicle - "Michigan Chronicle offers primary source material essential to the study of American history and African American culture, history, politics, and the arts....
  • Proquest historical newspapers. New York Amsterdam news (1922-1993) - This database provides full page and article images with searchable full text from the New York Amsterdam news (1922-1938), New York Amsterdam news (1938-1941 : City ed.), New York Amsterdam news (194...
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Norfolk journal and guide - "Under the leadership of P.B....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Philadelphia tribune - "The oldest continuously published black newspaper, is dedicated to the needs and concerns of the fourth largest black community in the U.S....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. Pittsburgh courier - This database provides full page and article images with searchable full text for the Pittsburgh courier (1911-1950 : City ed.), Courier (1950-1954 : City ed.), Pittsburgh courier (1955-1966 : City ed...
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. The Baltimore Afro-American - A searchable database of full-text and full-image newspaper articles published in: the Afro-American (Baltimore, Md....
  • ProQuest historical newspapers. The New York times - This database offers full-page images and article images from the New York Times dating back to 1851 (called New York daily times, 1851-1857)....
  • ProQuest Legislative Insight - The Legislative Insight Collection is a Federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full text publications created by Congress during the pro...
  • ProQuest regulatory insight - Regulatory Insight creates regulatory histories for individual federal statutes and Executive Orders by compiling pertinent Federal Register articles into a research-friendly workspace similar to the ...
  • ProQuest Supreme Court insight - The Supreme Court Insight Collection is a complete online collection of full opinions from Supreme Court argued cases, including per curiam decisions, with dockets, joint appendices and amicus briefs....
  • Punch historical archive, 1841-1992 - From 1841 to 1992 Punch was the world's most celebrated magazine of humour and satire....
  • Queen Victoria's journals - "Queen Victoria's Journals was launched on 24 May 2012, the anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth in 1819, and as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of HM Queen Elizabeth II....
  • Race relations in America - Record of speeches, reports, surveys, and analyses produced by Fisk University's Race Relations Department from 1943-1970....
  • Service newspapers of World War Two - Service Newspapers of World War Two contains an extensive range of both rare and well-known wartime publications for soldiers serving in major theaters around the world....
  • Sex & sexuality - Module 1, sourced solely from the Kinsey Institute, presents correspondence, research papers and records spanning the tenures of the first three Kinsey Institute directors; Dr Alfred C....
  • Slavery and anti-slavery - Slavery and Anti-Slavery includes documents from the United States and Europe, as well as other parts of the world....
  • Slavery in America and the world - Searchable database which provides links to legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world....
  • Slavery, abolition and social justice, 1490-2007 - Digital facsimiles of printed and manuscript materials relevant to trans-Atlantic slavery and abolition. Materials relating to slavery today, desegregation and social justice are included....
  • Smithsonian collections online. World's fairs and expositions - This database includes primary source documents from exhibits between 1840 to 1940....
  • Socialism on film - Sourced from the British Film Institute (BFI), this collection of documentary, newsreel and feature films reveals the world as seen by Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese, East European, and Latin American fi...
  • State papers online - "State Papers Online, 1509-1714 is a collection of English government documents originating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--when the King or Queen acted as Prime Minister as well as Mona...
  • Sunday time digital archive - Searchable and browsable database of the Sunday times and related publications....
  • Time magazine archive - The Time Magazine Archive consists of PDF cover-to-cover content dating back to issue number one of the American popular magazine Time. Contains perpetual access to publications from 1923-2000....
  • Times Digital Archive 1785-2011 - Full-text and full-image articles from the Times of London. It is a digital reproduction, cover to cover, of the paper in PDF files....
  • Travel writing, spectacle and world history - 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....
  • Victorian popular culture - An essential resource for the study of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries....
  • Victorians on film - "Showcasing the British Film Institute's Victorian Film Collection and the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection, Victorians on Film provides a glimpse into the lives of the late Victorians and Edwardians ca...
  • Virginia Company archives - This collection provides a rich source for the study of trade between Britain and America....
  • Women in the National Archives - "This collection consists of two distinct elements: A finding aid to women's studies resources in The National Archives [and] original documents on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and col...
  • World's Fairs - Contains official records, publicity, artwork, artifacts and other primary source materials for more than 200 fairs, with a primary focus on nine fairs: 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry ...