Subject Guides: History: Primary Sources

(Selected) Primary Sources for American History

For a more complete list, try our Primary Sources guide.

American West Original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material, and rare printed sources from the Graff Collection about the American West, including tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes, and outlaws, and the growth of urban centres and environmental impact of westward expansion and of life in the borderlands.
Ancestry Provides access to historical documents and photos, local narratives, oral histories, indexes and other resources in over 30,000 databases that span from the 1500s to the 2000s. The Library Edition of Ancestry.com has fewer personalized functions and options than the versions available to private subscribers.
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (BIPNA) is a bibliographic database covering all aspects of Indigenous culture, history, and life in North America. This resource covers a wide range of topics including archaeology, multicultural relations, gaming, governance, legend, and literacy. BNNA contains more than 80,000 citations for books, essays, journal articles, and government documents of the United States and Canada. Dates of coverage for included content range from the sixteenth century to the present.
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans (1639-1800) Covering American history and literature from the colonial period up to the eighteenth century, this database is a full-text digitization of the microform set Early American Imprints, Series I (1639-1800), which was itself based on the American bibliography of Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American bibliography.
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819) Covering every aspect of American life during the early decades of the United States, Early American Imprints, Series II (1801-1819) provides full-text access to the 36,000 American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the first nineteen years of the nineteenth century.

Historic Documents The online equivalent of the entire run of the print serial Historic documents, issued since 1972, each annual volume of which contains approximately 100 documents covering the most significant events of the year. The documents include presidential speeches, international agreements, Supreme Court decisions, U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions. Documents are preceded by introductory material to provide historical and intellectual context. Documents may be searched by full-text keyword, title, and topic, and a cumulative index is provided.

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 from their earliest contact, continuing through the turbulence of the American Civil War, the on-going repercussions of government legislation, right up to the civil rights movement of the mid- to late-twentieth century. This resource contains material from the Newberry Library’s extensive Edward E. Ayer Collection; one of the strongest archival collections on histories of Indigenous Peoples in North America in the world.
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 of North America illustrates the fabric of the North American story with unprecedented depth and breadth. Comprehensive yet personal, the collection covers the history of American Indian tribes and supporting organizations.
Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law With nearly 3,900 titles and more than 2.3 million total pages dedicated to indigenous American life and law, this library includes an expansive archive of treaties, federal statutes and regulations, federal case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence.
Labor and Employment: The American Worker! This sprawling database brings together legislative histories on major legislation, briefs from Supreme Court cases, accounts of labor riots from the not-so-distant past, reports on working conditions of today, and more. HeinOnline editors have analyzed every title within this massive collection and assigned each title one (or more) 18 new title-level subjects.

Library of Congress Digital Collections A multimedia Website of digitized historical documents, photographs, sound recordings, moving pictures, books, pamphlets, maps, and other resources from the Library of Congress.

Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers features publications of all kinds, from the political party newspapers at the beginning of the nineteenth century to the mammoth dailies that shaped the nation at the century's end. Major newspapers stand alongside those published by African Americans, Native Americans, women’s rights groups, labor groups, and the Confederacy.
NYS Historic Newspapers Newspapers back to 1803 from throughout New York State.
Popular culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This database contains original archival materials about popular culture in the U.S. and U.K. from 1950 to 1975. Topics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, the Vietnam War, and more.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers ProQuest Historical Newspapers offers full-text and full-image articles for selected newspapers dating back to the late 18th century. For most titles, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue in the stated time period, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF files.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Collection The ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Newspapers from across New York State. Binghampton [Binghamton Press (1904-1905); Binghamton Press and Leader (1905-1927); Binghamton Press (1927-1960); The Evening Press (1960-1985); Press & Sun Bulletin (1985-)] Elmira [Elmira Gazette and Free Press (1891-1907); Elmira Star-Gazette (1907-1963); Star-Gazette and Advertiser (1963-1967); Star-Gazette (1967-)] Ithaca [The Ithaca Journal (1914-1919); Ithaca Daily News (1919-1919); Ithaca Journal-News (1919-1933); Ithaca Journal (1934-)] New York City [Illustrated Daily News (1919-1919); The News (1919-1920); Daily News (1920-)] Poughkeepsie [The Country Journal, and the Poughkeepsie Advertiser (1785-1788); The Country Journal, and Dutchess and Ulster County Farmer's Register (1788-1789);The Poughkeepsie Journal (1789-1802);The Poughkeepsie Journal, and Constitutional Republican (1802-1815); Poughkeepsie Journal (1815-1838); Poughkeepsie Journal & Eagle (1844-1847); The Journal and Poughkeepsie Eagle (1848-1850); The Poughkeepsie Eagle (1850-1860); Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle (1861-1915); The Sunday Courier (1872-1876); Poughkeepsie Eagle - News (1915-1942); Poughkeepsie New Yorker (1941-19600; Poughkeepsie Journal (1960-); Rockland [The Journal-News (1889-1990); Rockland Journal-News (1991-1998);The Journal News (1998-)] Rochester [Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (1871-1884); Democrat and Chronicle (1884-)] Westchester [The Journal News (1998-)]
Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson) Provides indexing of over three million articles from more than 550 leading magazines, including full coverage of the original print volumes of Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. This important resource offers a wide range of researchers access to information about history, culture and seminal developments across nearly a century.
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law Searchable database which provides links to legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world.

U.S. Congressional Serial Set Database of texts from the bound, sequentially numbered Congressional documents and reports from the U.S. House and Senate. Provides access to primary source material on all aspects of American history, including committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, treaty materials, certain executive department publications, and certain non-governmental publications.

Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000 Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, this collection seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding about U.S. women's history generally and at the same time make those insights accessible to teachers and students at universities, colleges, and high schools.

(Selected) Primary Sources for British History

For a more complete list, try our Primary Sources guide.

19th century British pamphlets project Provides online access to the most significant British pamphlets from the 19th century held in UK research libraries. The pamphlets cover the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day, and are a valuable primary resource relevant to a wide range of disciplines.

British Politics and Society British Politics and Society includes tens of thousands of primary sources related to the political climate in Great Britain during the "long" nineteenth century, covering approximately 1749 to 1984. From Home Office records and papers of British statesmen to working-class autobiographies and ordnance surveys, British Politics and Society is a remarkable resource for scholars looking to uncover new connections or explore new directions in understanding nineteenth century British political and social history.

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers - 19th Century

London Low Life An extraordinary digital collection bringing to life the teeming streets of Victorian London, and inviting students and scholars to explore the gin palaces, brothels and East End slums of the nineteenth century's greatest city. This collection, drawn from the holdings of the Lilly Library, will be of interest to 19th century scholars researching: working-class culture, street literature, popular music, urban topography, 'slumming', prostitution, the Contagious Diseases Act, the Temperance Movement, social reform, Toynbee Hall, police and criminality.
Popular culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This database contains original archival materials about popular culture in the U.S. and U.K. from 1950 to 1975. Topics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, the Vietnam War, and more.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection represents the largest single collection of seventeenth and eighteenth century English news media available from the British Library and includes more than 1,000 pamphlets, proclamations, newsbooks and newspapers from the period.
Victorian Popular Culture Victorian Popular Culture is a portal comprised of four modules, inviting users into the darkened halls, small backrooms, big tops and travelling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to the world of magic, spiritualist séances, optical entertainments and the first moving pictures.

(Selected) Primary Sources for History

For a more complete list, try our Primary Sources guide.

AM Explorer AM Explorer allows users to search across Adam Matthew's primary source products for the social sciences and humanities.
Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange Asia and the West features a range of primary source collections related to international relations between Asian countries and the West during the nineteenth century. These invaluable documents include government reports, diplomatic correspondence, periodicals, newspapers, treaties, trade agreements, NGO papers, and more, offering a look at the inner workings of international relations.
East India Company Offers access to a unique collection of India Office Records from the British Library, London. Containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1595 to 1947.
Empire Online This resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
Europe and Africa: commerce, Christianity, civilization, and conquest Europe and Africa: commerce, Christianity, civilization, and conquest delivers official government documents, monographs, manuscripts, and newspaper accounts covering key issues of economics, world politics, and international strategy. Researchers can trace the development of British strategic imperatives, French and Belgian desire for the expansion of trade and raw materials, and Germany and Italy's late entrance onto the imperial stage.
First World War The First World War portal showcases a wealth of primary source material for the study of the Great War, complemented by a range of contextual secondary features. Includes three modules: Personal experiences; Propaganda and recruitment; Visual perspectives and narratives.
Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs The Gerritsen Collection was begun by Aletta Jacobs Gerritsen in the late 1800s, and, when the work was finished in 1945, it was the greatest single source for the study of women's history in the world. The online resource delivers two million page images exactly as they appeared in the original printed works. It includes monographs, periodicals and pamphlets in fifteen languages, and is searchable by keyword and Boolean operators.
HistoryMakers The HistoryMakers is a non-profit institution whose purpose is to record, preserve and disseminate the content of video oral history interviews highlighting the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements.
India, Raj, and Empire Manuscript collections from the National Library of Scotland comprising diaries, letters, maps, sketches and official and private papers: a rich array of documents with which to explore the history of India from the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 to the granting of independence for India and Pakistan in 1947.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online A multi-year global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century; will be comprised of numerous collections to be released over many years, including a variety of material types--monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more--in one cross-searchable location.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers ProQuest Historical Newspapers offers full-text and full-image articles for selected newspapers dating back to the late 18th century. For most titles, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue in the stated time period, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF files.
Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson) Provides indexing of over three million articles from more than 550 leading magazines, including full coverage of the original print volumes of Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. This important resource offers a wide range of researchers access to information about history, culture and seminal developments across nearly a century.
Science, technology and medicine, 1780-1925 This archive covers every aspect of nineteenth-century science: electricity and electromagnetism, mathematics and engineering, astronomy and astrophysics, color theory and the theory of natural selection, geology and mineralogy, chemistry and medicine. The documents collected represent the most theoretical pursuits as well as practical applications and popular science.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 An essential resource for the study of slavery, the African American experience and world history spanning over five centuries. Designed for teaching and research, this resource brings together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world, covering an extensive time period from 1490. Topics covered include the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is devoted to the study and understanding of the history of slavery in America and the rest of the world from the 17th century to the late 19th century. Archival collections were sourced from more than 60 libraries, providing unparalleled depth and breadth of content.
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law Searchable database which provides links to legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world.
Struggles for freedom: Southern Africa Focuses on the complex and varied liberation struggles in Southern Africa, with an emphasis on Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The contents of the collection document colonial rule, dispersion of exiles, international intervention, and the worldwide networks that supported successive generations of resistance within the region. Included are periodicals, nationalist publications, records of colonial government commissions, local newspaper reports, personal papers, correspondence, UN documents, out-of-print and other relevant books, oral histories, and speeches.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History Women's travel diaries and correspondence from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. Includes manuscripts, diaries, travel journals, correspondence, photographs, postcards and ephemera, from 1818 to the 1970s.

World Heritage Sites: Africa World Heritage Sites: Africa is made up of 20 sub-collections and more than 57,000 objects... The collection includes photographs, 3D models, GIS data, site plans, aerial and satellite photography, images of rock art, excavation reports, manuscripts, traveler's accounts, historical and antiquarian maps, books, articles, and other scholarly research.

Lucy Scribner Library

History: Primary Sources

(Selected) Primary Sources for American History

(Selected) Primary Sources for British History

(Selected) Primary Sources for History