Subject Guides: History: Primary Sources

(Selected) Primary Sources for American History

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

Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America This link opens in a new window 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.
American West This link opens in a new window 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Ancestry This link opens in a new window Provides access to historical documents and photos, local narratives, oral histories, indexes and other resources in over 30,000 databases that span from the 1500s to the 2000s.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.

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Library of Congress Digital Collections A multimedia Website of digitized historical documents, photographs, sound recordings, moving pictures, books, pamphlets, maps, and other resources from the Library of Congress.

Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window 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.

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 This link opens in a new window 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 This link opens in a new window 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 This link opens in a new window 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.
Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window 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 This link opens in a new window
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 This link opens in a new window 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 This link opens in a new window
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 link opens in a new window 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.
First World War This link opens in a new window 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 This link opens in a new window 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.
India, Raj, and Empire This link opens in a new window 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.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new window 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.
Struggles for freedom: Southern Africa This link opens in a new window 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 This link opens in a new window 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