History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic

Good for: First hand accounts of European exploration, trade and colonization worldwide using primary sources.

Contains: Manuscripts, maps, illustrated documents, diaries, and ship logs.

Dates covered: 1420-1920.

Good for: Searching a large collection of British government and agency records.

Contains: Government and agency records.

Dates covered: 1833-1981.

Good for: Studying the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia, and Afghanistan.

Contains: Correspondence, intelligence reports, diaries, minutes, maps, newspaper excerpts, and other primary sources from British Foreign Office Files.

Dates covered: 1834-1922.

Good for: Studying China's relations with the West in the 19th and early 20th century. 

Contains: Academic and literary journals and missionary periodicals in English about China. 

Dates covered: 1817-1949.

Good for: Researching China and its relations with the West during the late Qing and Republican periods. 

Contains: Official correspondence, dispatches, reports, memoranda, and records of the Maritime Customs Service of China. 

Dates covered: 1858-1949.

Good for: Exploring Chinese life and culture over the past 300 years. 

Contains: Primary source documents like printed books, pamphlets, paintings, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers, and periodicals. 

Dates covered: 1750-1980.

Good for: Understanding the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters around the world. 

Contains: Newspapers, journals, and reports. 

Dates covered: 1804-2009.

Good for: Researching British governance of Caribbean islands and the rise and decline of trade in enslaved people. 

Contains: Primary sources from the records of the British Colonial Office. 

Dates covered: 1624-1872.

Good for: Evidence of changing views about gender, themed around conduct, domesticity, consumption and leisure, education, and the body.

Contains: Primary sources like correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.

Dates covered: 1500s-1920.

Good for: Researching British trade and colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent.

Contains: British government records from the India Office.

Dates covered: 1599-1947.

Good for: Exploring colonial history, politics, culture and society from British and European perspectives.

Contains: Primary sources from archival collections.

Dates covered: 1492-1969.

Good for: Primary sources documenting British Foreign Office involvement in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

Contains: Correspondence, reports, maps, and other primary source evidence.

Dates covered: 1963-1980.

Good for: Studying European colonization in North America, Africa, and Australasia.

Contains: Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries, and government records.

Dates covered: 1650-1920.

Good for: Examining primary sources that tell the story of global trade in chocolate, coffee, cotton, fur, opium, oil, porcelain, silver and gold, spices, sugar, tea, timber, tobacco, wheat, and wine and spirits. 

Contains: Archival collections.

Dates covered: 1500-present.

Good for: Exploring firsthand travel accounts of British tourists in Europe before 1850.

Contains: Travel accounts.

Dates covered: 1550-1850.

Good for: Studying the history of South Asia between the initial involvement of the East India Company and Indian and Pakistani independence.

Contains: Primary sources from colonial government and archival collections.

Dates covered: 1615-1947.

Good for: Studying the history of tourism. 

Contains: Archival material from Thomas Cook travel agency. 

Dates covered: 1850-1980.

Good for: Studying Japan and its relations with the West.

Contains: Publications, papers, journals, and diaries of Edward Sylvester Morse.

Dates covered: 1850s-1930s.

Good for: Studying migration from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe, and Asia to the New World and Australasia. 

Contains: Personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans, and photos. 

Dates covered: 1800-1924.

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.
 

Good for: Researching the trade in enslaved people in America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Cuba using material examining European, Islamic, and African involvement in the slave trade. 

Contains: Case studies and primary source documents. 

Dates covered: 1490-2007.

Good for: Researching colonial and early post-colonial India. 

Contains: Journals, books, primary source documents, and film booklets.

Good for: Exploring travel writing and its history.

Contains: Manuscripts, diaries, correspondence, drawings, guidebooks, and photographs.

Dates covered: 1818-1974.

Good for: Documents recording the experiences of colonized women.

Contains: Primary sources.

Dates covered: 1820-present.

Good for: Examining primary sources about the work of women activists working on social reforms around the world

Contains: Archival collections including organizational records, letters and diaries

Dates covered: 1840-present

Good for: Examining primary sources about the work of women activists contributing to international development programs, including the Peace Corps and United Nations organizations

Contains: Archival collections including organizational records  from intergovernmental (IGOs)  and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and personal papers of activists

Dates covered: 1919-2019