History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic

1800-1900
American newspapers including the New York Herald, Lynchburg Virginian, The Hawaiian Gazette, Rocky Mountain News, Southern Illustrated News (VA), Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago), the Milwaukee Sentinel, and many more.

1690-1923
Historical newspapers from every state in the U.S.

1732-1950
National and regional British newspapers representing different political and cultural views.

1849-2014
Major daily newspaper from Chicago.

1789-1924
Historical newspapers from the Library of Congress, including Nevada newspapers.

1881-2015
Historical California newspaper.

1851-2020
Historical New York newspaper.

1785-2019
The Times (London) newspaper.

1877-2007
Daily newspaper from Washington, DC. 

1843-2015
Issues of The Economist, a news magazine with a global scope published in London.

1800-1900
Magazines revealing British life in the Victorian age and the events, lifestyles, values, and ideas that shaped their world.

1800-1900
Magazines by and for British imperial colonizers, settlers, missionaries, and travelers.

• Good for: Researching fashion and culture, including specific garments, accessories or brands.
• Contains: Images and text from Vogue Magazine. 
• Dates covered: 1892-present.

1850-1990s
Search three archival collections representing 20th century advertising and marketing from Adam Matthew Publishers.

1493-1945
Primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman collection about American history from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century.

1400-1950s
Primary sources for American Indian history in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books from pre-contact through the mid-20th century.

1820-1922
Pamphlets with advice and opinions about all kinds of 19th century controversies.

1830-1939
Pamphlets, maps, books, ephemeral material and rare printed sources related to the history of the American West.

1834-1922
Correspondence, intelligence reports, agents’ diaries, minutes, maps, newspaper excerpts and other materials from the British Foreign Office Files about the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia and Afghanistan from the decline of the Silk Road in the first half of the nineteenth century to the establishment of Soviet rule over parts of the region in the early 1920s.

1817-1949
Academic and literary journals, journals of sinology, and missionary periodicals in English about China.

1858-1949
Primary source collection for the study of China and its relations with the West in the late Qing and Republican periods.

1606-1822
British government documents from the CO 5 series about administering the American colonies.

1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.

1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.

1833-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

1839-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.

1824-1961
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America.

1800-1920
Primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

1880s-1990s
The J. Walter Thompson Company advertising agency archives include brand case studies and account files about campaigns for Kellogg’s, Kodak, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Pan Am, the US Marine Corps, and more.

• Good for: Finding primary sources about the development of urban centers and of the restructuring of society that took place during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.
• Contains: Government and archival collections 
• Dates covered: 1750-1916 

• Good for: Finding primary source documentation related to the European “Scramble for Africa,” colonial conquest and the legacy of slavery, missionaries, explorers, economics, world politics, and international strategy.
• Contains: Books, manuscripts, government records and newspaper accounts
• Dates covered: 1800-1906
   

1490-2007
Case studies documenting slavery in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.

1850-1950
Primary sources like catalogs, price lists, and brochures reflecting the history of consumer advertising and marketing and life and leisure in America. Includes department store catalogs, cosmetic advertisements, real estate brochures and much more.

• Good for: Finding primary sources related to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe. 
• Contains: Books, posters, scrapbooks, and optical toys. 
• Dates covered: 1779-1930.

• Good for: Researching the Atlantic world and early Colonial period. 
• Contains: Archival collection (Ferrar Papers). 
• Dates covered: 1590-1790.

1749-1900
Printed menus, advertisements, cards, playbills, poems and other printed items never intended to last.

1820-1922
Pamphlets with advice and opinions about all kinds of 19th century controversies.

1639-1800 
Complete books, pamphlets and broadsides published in North America before 1800.

1801-1819
Complete books, pamphlets and broadsides published in North America between 1801 and 1819.

1701-1800
Books on all subjects published in English between 1701 and 1800.

1600-1926
Cross-search five Making of Modern Law databases: Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law 1600-1926, Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources 1620-1926, Making of Modern Law: Treatises, 1800-1926, and Making of Modern Law: Trials 1600-1926.

Good for: Finding primary source materials on exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and more.

Contains: Historical books, pamphlets, serials and other documents about North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Dates covered: 1500-1926

1789-present
Contains searchable full text of all U.S. bills and resolutions from 1789 to the present.

1751-present 
Government reports, laws, legislative histories, ebooks and selected scholarly articles related to branches of the United States armed forces.

1600-1926
Cross-search five Making of Modern Law databases: Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law 1600-1926, Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources 1620-1926, Making of Modern Law: Treatises, 1800-1926, and Making of Modern Law: Trials 1600-1926.

1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.

1833-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

1839-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.

1824-1961
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America.

1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

• Good for: Texts on the invention and early history of photography, collections of photographs, photograph albums, and early books illustrated with photos.
• Contains: Books, photographs
• Dates covered: 1800s-early 1900s

Art digital images and related data.