LibGuides: HIST 451, Capstone Research: Primary Source Collections

Primary Source Collections arranged by region

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1800-1906
Primary source documentation related to the “Scramble for Africa,” colonial conquest and the legacy of slavery, missionaries, explorers, economics, world politics, and international strategy.
African Writers Series This link opens in a new window
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Novels, plays, poetry, traditional African folk materials and non-fictional accounts of African culture and history.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Apartheid South Africa This link opens in a new window
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1948-1980
British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices documenting the history of South Africa's apartheid regime.
Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
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1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.
Confidential Print: Africa This link opens in a new window
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1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.
First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
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1650-1920
Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries and government records from Europeans creating colonies in North America, Africa, and Australasia.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
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1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
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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.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
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1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires This link opens in a new window
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1820-present
Primary sources highlighting the voices of colonized women, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans, and South Africa. Includes Native American women, also American women in Guatemala and China.

Global Press Archive
Open access collections: Imperial Russian Newspapers (25 titles); Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers (987 titles); Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (292 titles); Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (79 titles); Southeast Asian Newspapers (65 titles)
Egypt: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1853-1962
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies to League of Nations Mandates in Africa 1910-1929
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Italian Colonies in North Africa and Aggression in East Africa, 1930-1939
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Political and Economic Consolidation of Portuguese Colonies in Africa, 1910-1929
Evangelism and the Syria-Lebanon Mission: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1869-1910
King and the People in Morocco, 1950-1959
Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1864-1918
Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1918-1935
Libya: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1796-1885
Morocco: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1797-1929

Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.
First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
Historical Newspapers: South China Morning Post, 1903-2001 This link opens in a new window
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1903-2001
English-language Hong Kong daily newspaper.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
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1200s-1500s
Manuscripts from journeys to central Asia and the Far East by European ambassadors, missionaries, and merchants like Marco Polo, Prester John, Sir John Mandeville, and Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
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1800-1924
Primary sources like personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and photos documenting the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.
Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War This link opens in a new window
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1873-1953
From The National Archives, U.K., documents encompass signals intelligence reports and government-directed policy and strategy from the period of Appeasement right through to the early Cold War.
British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953, with the majority of files dating from the 1930s and 1940s, across four major conflicts – the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the early years of the Cold War and the Korean War.
Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
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1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
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1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires This link opens in a new window
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1820-present
Primary sources highlighting the voices of colonized women, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans, and South Africa. Includes Native American women, also American women in Guatemala and China.

Central Asia

Afghanistan and the U.S., 1945-1963: Records of the U.S. State Department Central Classified Files

Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule This link opens in a new window
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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.

Pakistan from Crown Rule to Republic: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1949

China

Foreign Office Files for China This link opens in a new window
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1919-1980
British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980.

China Studies This link opens in a new window
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1750-1980
Primary source documents like printed books, pamphlets, paintings, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers and periodicals offer evidence of Chinese life and culture over the past 300 years
Combined search of: China, America and the Pacific, China: Culture and Society, and China: Trade, Politics and Culture.
China and the Modern World: Missionary, Sinology and Literary Periodicals, 1817-1949 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1817-1949
Academic and literary journals, journals of sinology, and missionary periodicals in English about China.
China and the Modern World: Records of the Maritime Customs Service of China, 1854-1949 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1858-1949
Primary source collection for the study of China and its relations with the West in the late Qing and Republican periods.

The Chinese Civil War and U.S.-China Relations: Records of the U.S. State Department's Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955
Chinese Maritime Customs Service: The Customs' Gazette, 1869-1913
The Chinese Recorder and the Protestant Missionary Community in China, 1867-1941
19th Century English-Language Journals from the Far East
Global Press Archive
Open access collections: Imperial Russian Newspapers (25 titles); Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers (987 titles); Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (292 titles); Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (79 titles); Southeast Asian Newspapers (65 titles)
General George C. Marshall's Mission to China, 1945-1947
German Foreign Relations and Military Activities in China, 1919-1935
Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945
Political Relations Between China, the U.S. and Other Countries, 1910-1929
Political, Economic, and Military Conditions in China: Reports and Correspondence of the U.S. Military Intelligence Division, 1918-1941
Records of US State Department's Division of Chinese Affairs
Records of the Far Eastern Commission, 1945-1952
Records of the National Council for United States-China Trade 1973-1983
Records of the U.S. Information Service in China: Chinese Press Reviews and Summaries, 1944-1950
Subject Files of US State Department's Office of the Republic of China Affairs (1951-1978)
Shanghai Municipal Council: The Municipal Gazette, 1908-1940
The Minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council
Tiananmen Square and U.S.-China relations, 1989-1993

Socialism on Film This link opens in a new window
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1918-1990
Documentaries, newsreels and feature films that reveal the 20th century world as seen by Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese, East European, British and Latin American filmmakers.
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. Covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.

India

Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
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1804-2009
Newspapers, journals and reports offering the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters and historical events.

Evangelism in India: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Mission, 1833-1910

Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan This link opens in a new window
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1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
East India Company This link opens in a new window
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1599-1947
British government records from the India Office chart the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
India, Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
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1615-1947
Documents recording the history of South Asia between the initial involvement of the East India Company and Indian and Pakistani independence.

South Asia Archive This link opens in a new window
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Journals, books, and primary source documents from government agencies of colonial and early post-colonial India, many from the Bengal region and some from the wider sub-continent. Also film booklets!
Substantial runs of more than 200 journals in a range of subjects published from India and South Asia, including early journals such as Asiatic Researches (first published in 1788), Indian Review, Modern Review and Calcutta Gazette. There is also an array of vernacular journals such as: Bharatbarsha, Prabasi, Manasi, and Sachitra. Also includes Indian Film Booklets, 1930 – 1949. A significant proportion of the collection is in English, but thirty percent of the documents are written in various vernacular languages of the period/region(s).

The Hindu Conspiracy Cases: Activities of the Indian Independence Movement in the U.S., 1908-1933

Japan

Meiji Japan This link opens in a new window
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1850s-1930s
Publications, papers, journals and diaries of Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925), a polymath notable for his work in natural history, ethnography and art history – but, perhaps most famous for his work in bringing Japan and the West closer together.
Foreign Office Files for Japan This link opens in a new window
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1919-1952
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on Japan: sections on Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific, 1931-1945; Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952; and Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930.

Korea

Southeast Asia

Foreign Office Files for South East Asia This link opens in a new window
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1963-1980
Correspondence, reports, maps and other primary source evidence of British Foreign Office involvement in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
What's included

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.
First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
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1650-1920
Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries and government records from Europeans creating colonies in North America, Africa, and Australasia.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
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1800-1924
Primary sources like personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and photos documenting the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.
Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
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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.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
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1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.

TROVE - newspapers from National Library of Australia

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Archives Direct (all) This link opens in a new window
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1833-1981
Government and agency records from the British National Archives.
Collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew - the UK government's official archive. Subsets are: Apartheid South Africa, Confidential Print: Africa, Confidential Print: Latin America, Confidential Print: Middle East, Confidential Print: North America, Foreign Office Files for China, Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Foreign Office Files for Japan, Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, The Nixon Years, Macmillan Cabinet Papers, Women in The National Archives, Kew.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 (parts I and II) This link opens in a new window
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1940-present
Primary sources from more than 35 countries related to LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
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1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
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1500-1900.
Searchable collection of women's letters and diaries.
Chatham House Online This link opens in a new window
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1920-2008
Commentary, speeches and analysis on international affairs from a British non-profit NGO.
Churchill Archive This link opens in a new window
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1690-1965 (mainly 1940-1955)
Primary source historical documents from the archives of Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during and after World War II.
Early Modern England This link opens in a new window
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1500-1700
Records, correspondence and manuscript collections support research into early modern governance, the networks of prominent families, the organization and dissemination of knowledge in health and medicine, humanities and the sciences, and material cultures.
Includes correspondence, diaries, essays, family papers, and church, legal, government and tax records.
East India Company This link opens in a new window
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1599-1947
British government records from the India Office chart the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship and the Stage This link opens in a new window
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1737-1824.
Archive of plays submitted for license in England between 1737 and 1824, as well as diaries, playbills, theatre records and correspondence.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.
First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
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1650-1920
Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries and government records from Europeans creating colonies in North America, Africa, and Australasia.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
The Grand Tour This link opens in a new window
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1550-1850
Firsthand travel accounts of British tourists visiting Europe.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Literary Print Culture: The Stationers Company Archive This link opens in a new window
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1554-2007
Collection of primary source documents related to the workings of the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright provisions and the history of bookbinding.
London Low Life This link opens in a new window
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1800-1910
Primary sources like ballads, slang dictionaries, brothel guides and posters sold on the street during the 19th century in London.
Mass Observation Online This link opens in a new window
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1937-1960
Personal diaries, surveys, questionnaires, photos and printed research done about everyday lives of ordinary British people.
Social research organization Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by anthropologist Tom Harrisson, film-maker Humphrey Jennings and poet Charles Madge, who recruited a team of observers and a panel of volunteer writers to document their experiences as evidence for a study of the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain.
Medical Services and Warfare This link opens in a new window
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1850s-1930s
Primary sources from Crimean War, the American Civil War and the First World War tell the story of medical advances during warfare, including the outbreak of the influenza epidemic in 1918 and the discovery of penicillin in 1927.
Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
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1400-1500
Letters from the British Paston, Stonor, Cely, Plumpton and Armburgh Papers reveal the world of medieval family, business, relationships, trade, politics and community.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
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1200s-1500s
Manuscripts from journeys to central Asia and the Far East by European ambassadors, missionaries, and merchants like Marco Polo, Prester John, Sir John Mandeville, and Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
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1800-1924
Primary sources like personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and photos documenting the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: British Politics and Society (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1750-1916
Government and archival collections show the development of urban centers and of the restructuring of society that took place during the Industrial Revolution.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: British Theatre, Music, and Literature (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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Primary sources related to the arts in the Victorian era, from playbills and scripts to operas and complete scores
Nineteenth Century Literary Society This link opens in a new window
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1768-1900s
Archival collection digitizing more than 1,400 letters, literary works, and financial records from the historic John Murray publishing company. Includes annotated drafts of Byron’s works and correspondence from Jane Austen, Charles Darwin and Isabella Bird.
Also features correspondence charting the founding of the business by John Murray in 1768, the completed, first edition file copy of On the Origin of Species, with related correspondence from Charles Darwin, and financial papers charting the sales success of hundreds of Murray titles.
The Nixon Years This link opens in a new window
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1969-1974
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Nixon presidency and impeachment (FCO 7 and FCO 82).
Popular Culture in Britain and America This link opens in a new window
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1950-1975
Primary sources documenting music and popular culture in the US and Britain, 1950-1975, including manuscripts, video, photos, underground magazines and more.
Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain This link opens in a new window
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1834-1930
Archival collections of records from philanthropic organizations and the British government documenting social conditions in Victorian England.
Discover the conditions of workhouses and the administration of the new poor relief system through the official government correspondence of the Poor Law Commission, and explore the demonstrable shift in social conditions and welfare reform. Topics include workhouses and outdoor relief, health and medicine, disability, housing, sanitation, education, and social reform.
Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
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1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
Socialism on Film This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1918-1990
Documentaries, newsreels and feature films that reveal the 20th century world as seen by Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese, East European, British and Latin American filmmakers.
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. Covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
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1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.
Victorian Popular Culture, 1779 to 1930 This link opens in a new window
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1779 to 1930
Primary source material relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930. Has books, posters, scrapbooks and optical toys.
Virginia Company Archives This link opens in a new window
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1590-1790
Archival collection of the Ferrar Papers, 1590-1790, revealing details about the Atlantic world and early Colonial period.
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires This link opens in a new window
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1820-present
Primary sources highlighting the voices of colonized women, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans, and South Africa. Includes Native American women, also American women in Guatemala and China.
Women in the National Archives This link opens in a new window
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1903-1962
Original documents from the National Archives on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories.
World’s Fairs This link opens in a new window
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1851-2000s
Official records, monographs, publicity, artwork and artifacts about world’s fairs, exhibitions and expos.

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America This link opens in a new window
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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.

Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
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1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.

Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
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1804-2009
Newspapers, journals and reports offering the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters and historical events.

Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
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1624-1832
Colonial Office files from the National Archive U.K. about British governance of 25 islands in the Caribbean from 1624-1872 trace the rise and decline of trade in enslaved peoples, from transportation through trade and shipping to the rise of the abolition movement.
Confidential Print: Latin America This link opens in a new window
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1833-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.

Evangelism in Latin America: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1854-1911

First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.

Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.

Global Press Archive
Open access collections: Imperial Russian Newspapers (25 titles); Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers (987 titles); Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (292 titles); Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (79 titles); Southeast Asian Newspapers (65 titles)
Latin American & Caribbean Digital Primary Resources

Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1800-1924
Primary sources like personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and photos documenting the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.

Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1500-1926
Digital library of works written or published in the United States, as well as items printed elsewhere, that document the history of the Americas (North, Central, South and the Caribbean) from 1492 to the mid-1800s.
Primary sources that offer original accounts of exploration, settlement, military actions, Native Americans, westward expansion, European relations with Latin America and more. Based on Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana.
Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.

U.S. Relations with Panama and Operation Just Cause

Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1820-present
Primary sources highlighting the voices of colonized women, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans, and South Africa. Includes Native American women, also American women in Guatemala and China.

Venezuela: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963

African American Archives This link opens in a new window
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1792-1941
Primary source documents from the National Archives about the lives of African Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
African American Communities This link opens in a new window
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1860s-1980s
Primary sources documenting African American communities in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Americana This link opens in a new window
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1493-1975
Search all American history archival collections from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Combined search of American History, American Indian Histories and Cultures, American West, Everyday Life & Women in America c.1800-1920, Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, and Virginia Company Archives.
American Broadsides and Ephemera This link opens in a new window
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1749-1900
Printed menus, advertisements, cards, playbills, poems and other printed items never intended to last.
American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
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1860-1865
Published memoirs, letters and diaries written about and during the Civil War.
American Consumer Culture This link opens in a new window
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1850-1990s
Search three archival collections representing 20th century advertising and marketing from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Combined search of Market Research & American Business, 1935-1965, Trade Catalogues and the American Home, J. Walter Thompson: Advertising America
American History (Gilder Lehrman collection) This link opens in a new window
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1493-1945
Primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman collection about American history from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America This link opens in a new window
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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.
American Pamphlets This link opens in a new window
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1820-1922
Pamphlets with advice and opinions about all kinds of 19th century controversies.
American West This link opens in a new window
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1830-1939
Pamphlets, maps, books, ephemeral material and rare printed sources related to the history of the American West.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 (parts I and II) This link opens in a new window
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1940-present
Primary sources from more than 35 countries related to LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1750-present
Publications documenting the Hispanic culture of the United States - history, literature, political commentary, and culture. Written in Spanish (80%) and English (20%).
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records This link opens in a new window
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1901-2000
Records from the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations detailing the interaction between civil rights leaders and the federal government; includes FBI files on Martin Luther King Jr.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
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Scholarship and historical sources for Black Studies.
Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1606-1822
British government documents from the CO 5 series about administering the American colonies.
Confidential Print: North America This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
Congressional Publications (ProQuest Congressional) This link opens in a new window
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1789-
U.S. legislative information, including access to many full-text Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more. Includes the U.S. Serial Set.
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information, including access to many full-text Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more. Additionally, searchers can retrieve CIS Legislative Histories for public laws. Contains an index of congressional publications from 1789 to the present and locate information about members and committees. Statutes at Large and Congressional Indexes from 1789-1969 are included.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.
Everyday Life and Women in America This link opens in a new window
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1800-1920
Primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
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1650-1920
Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries and government records from Europeans creating colonies in North America, Africa, and Australasia.
Gateway to North America This link opens in a new window
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1801-1900
Community histories, atlases, and other primary sources documenting people, places, and organizations of 19th century New York.
The Gilded Age and Progressive Era This link opens in a new window
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1870-1920
Archived papers of key industrial corporations, charities, influential families, and cultural institutions, including political cartoons, photographs, and ephemera.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
Historical Annual Reports This link opens in a new window
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1884-
Corporate annual reports from 1884 to 2008.
Update frequency: annual
A rich source for scholars in business, economics, and history, this collection of annual reports for 800 U.S. companies dating from 1884 to 2008 provides information on companies, including financial performance, key officers, competitors, and market trends.
Jewish Life in America This link opens in a new window
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1654-1954
Organizational and personal archival collections including rare printed books and pamphlets from the American Jewish Historical Society in New York.
Latino-Hispanic American Experience: Leaders, Writers, and Thinkers This link opens in a new window
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1800-1960
Primary sources related to Hispanic-American writers and activists in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Medical Services and Warfare This link opens in a new window
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1850s-1930s
Primary sources from Crimean War, the American Civil War and the First World War tell the story of medical advances during warfare, including the outbreak of the influenza epidemic in 1918 and the discovery of penicillin in 1927.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
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1800-1924
Primary sources like personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and photos documenting the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.
Military & Government This link opens in a new window
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1751-present
Government reports, laws, legislative histories, ebooks and selected scholarly articles related to branches of the United States armed forces.
Research government administration of the armed forces along with issues confronting the military on and off the battlefield with access to primary source documents including committee prints, government reports, congressional hearings, legislative hearings, etc. The database also includes books, serials, periodicals and scholarly articles.
NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window
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1913-1965
Selected sets of documents from the archives of the NAACP.
Archives of the NAACP: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files; The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces. Parts 1, 2, 14, 16, 17, 21; parts 3, 4, 5, 9, 13 from micro set.
Native American Archives This link opens in a new window
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1792-1940
Treaties and correspondence between the US government and American Indian tribes; also photos, census rolls, Dawes packets and enrollment cards.
The Nixon Years This link opens in a new window
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1969-1974
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Nixon presidency and impeachment (FCO 7 and FCO 82).
North American Immigrant Letters & Diaries This link opens in a new window
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1840-
Personal narratives, including letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories about immigrating to the U.S. or Canada.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
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1770-1950
Diaries, journals, and letters written by famous and not-so-famous North American women.
Popular Culture in Britain and America This link opens in a new window
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1950-1975
Primary sources documenting music and popular culture in the US and Britain, 1950-1975, including manuscripts, video, photos, underground magazines and more.
Popular Medicine in America This link opens in a new window
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1800-1900
Advertising pamphlets, trade cards, posters and promotional work by commercial manufacturers of medical aids revealing trends such as phrenology, herbal medicine and hydrotherapy.
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1943-1970
Primary sources on the fight for civil rights, including speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Fisk University Race Relations Department’s staff and Institute participants, including Charles S. Johnson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall.
Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
Territorial Papers of the United States This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1764-1953
Archival records of each territory of the United States before statehood. Includes Native American negotiations and treaties, correspondence with federal agencies, military records, judicial proceedings, population details, financial statistics, land records, and more.
Official documents include correspondence between territorial officials and federal agencies, details of tribal treaties, accounts of battles and troop movements, petitions for statehood, and records of agricultural and industrial production. Collections also contain firsthand accounts of frontier life via letters and financial documents.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
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1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.
Victorian Popular Culture, 1779 to 1930 This link opens in a new window
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1779 to 1930
Primary source material relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930. Has books, posters, scrapbooks and optical toys.
Virginia Company Archives This link opens in a new window
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1590-1790
Archival collection of the Ferrar Papers, 1590-1790, revealing details about the Atlantic world and early Colonial period.
War Department and Indian Affairs This link opens in a new window
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1800-1824
Handwritten correspondence from Indian superintendents and agents, factors of trading posts, Territorial and State governors, and others.
Women's Suffrage Collection This link opens in a new window
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1849-1913
Newspaper collections deliver an in-depth look at the eighty-year struggle by women to secure the right to vote.
The Lily. 1849-1856
National Citizen and Ballot Box. 1878-1881
The Revolution. 1868-1872
The New Citizen. 1909-1912
The Western Woman Voter. 1911-1913
The Remonstrance. 1890-1913
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1820-present
Primary sources highlighting the voices of colonized women, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans, and South Africa. Includes Native American women, also American women in Guatemala and China.
Women and Social Movements in the United States This link opens in a new window
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1600-2000
Books, images, historical documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies which document reform activities by and affecting women.
World’s Fairs This link opens in a new window
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1851-2000s
Official records, monographs, publicity, artwork and artifacts about world’s fairs, exhibitions and expos.

Mexico

Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
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1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.

Caribbean

Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
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1624-1832
Colonial Office files from the National Archive U.K. about British governance of 25 islands in the Caribbean from 1624-1872 trace the rise and decline of trade in enslaved peoples, from transportation through trade and shipping to the rise of the abolition movement.

Canada

Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.

Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1800-present
Primary source documents, archival collections, films, and ephemera describing events and lives of displaced people, refugees, undocumented and unauthorized migrants and victims of human trafficking at significant border areas from the 19th to 21st centuries.
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
Chatham House Online This link opens in a new window
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1920-2008
Commentary, speeches and analysis on international affairs from a British non-profit NGO.
Churchill Archive This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1690-1965 (mainly 1940-1955)
Primary source historical documents from the archives of Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during and after World War II.
Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1804-2009
Newspapers, journals and reports offering the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters and historical events.
Confidential Print: Middle East This link opens in a new window
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1839-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.
The Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Partition of the Middle East This link opens in a new window
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Archival collection of the personal papers of Mark Sykes (1879-1919), a politician and diplomatic advisor famous for his role in the partition of the Middle East around the period of the First World War.
First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1900-1950
Primary sources including documents, films and oral histories themed around personal experiences, propaganda and recruitment, visual perspectives and narratives, and the global conflict.
Foreign Office Files for the Middle East This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1971-1981
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Middle East in the 1970s.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
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1200s-1500s
Manuscripts from journeys to central Asia and the Far East by European ambassadors, missionaries, and merchants like Marco Polo, Prester John, Sir John Mandeville, and Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo.
Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations This link opens in a new window
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1917-1970
Primary source documents from the British Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through to the Black September war of 1970-1.
Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1945-1950
Records from the National Archives of the UK reveal challenges facing Displaced Persons, refugees and humanitarian aid organizations in the aftermath of World War II.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.

Aden: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1880-1906
Afghanistan and the U.S., 1945-1963: Records of the U.S. State Department Central Classified Files
British Mandate in Palestine, Arab-Jewish Relations, and the U.S. Consulate at Jerusalem, 1920-1944
Democracy in Turkey, 1950-1959: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files
Evangelism and the Syria-Lebanon Mission: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1869-1910
Evangelism in Iran: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1847-1911
The French Mandate in The Lebanon, Christian-Muslim Relations, and the U.S. Consulate at Beirut, 1920-1941
George H. W. Bush and Foreign Affairs: The Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid
Global Press Archive
Open access collections: Imperial Russian Newspapers (25 titles); Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers (987 titles); Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (292 titles); Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (79 titles); Southeast Asian Newspapers (65 titles)
Iran (Persia): Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1883-1959
Iraq: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1888-1944
Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Trans-Jordan: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1836-1944
The Middle East Online: Iraq, 1914-1974
Palestine and Israel: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1959
The Persian Gulf States and Yemen, 1950-1959
Records of the Persian Gulf War
Saudi Arabia: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1959
Turkey, Greece, and the Balkan States: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1944
Turkey: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1802-1949
U.S. and Iraqi Relations: U.S. Technical Aid, 1950-1958
U.S. Middle East Peace Policy and America's Role in the Middle East Peace Process, 1991-1992
U.S. Operations Mission in Iran, 1950-1961
U.S. Operations Mission to Saudi Arabia, 1950-1955: Correspondence and Subject Files of the Office of the Director

Commercial and Trade Relations Between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the U.S., 1910-1963

Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule This link opens in a new window
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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.

Country Intelligence Reports/State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research Reports USSR (1941-1961)
Czechoslovakia from Liberation to Communist State, 1945-63: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files
East Germany from Stalinization to the New Economic Policy, 1950-1963
George H. W. Bush and Foreign Affairs: The Moscow Summit and the Dissolution of the USSR
Global Press Archive
Open access collections: Imperial Russian Newspapers (25 titles); Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers (987 titles); Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (292 titles); Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (79 titles); Southeast Asian Newspapers (65 titles)
Origins of the Cold War
Posters of the Russian Civil War, 1918-1922
New York Public Library digital exhibit
Russian Civil War and American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20
Russian Historical News Sources
List of open access newspaper collections

Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War This link opens in a new window
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1873-1953
From The National Archives, U.K., documents encompass signals intelligence reports and government-directed policy and strategy from the period of Appeasement right through to the early Cold War.
British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953, with the majority of files dating from the 1930s and 1940s, across four major conflicts – the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the early years of the Cold War and the Korean War.
Socialism on Film This link opens in a new window
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1918-1990
Documentaries, newsreels and feature films that reveal the 20th century world as seen by Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese, East European, British and Latin American filmmakers.
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. Covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.

Official government publications, including laws, treaties, and records of legislative proceedings.

Great Britain

Archives Direct (all) This link opens in a new window
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1833-1981
Government and agency records from the British National Archives.
Collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew - the UK government's official archive. Subsets are: Apartheid South Africa, Confidential Print: Africa, Confidential Print: Latin America, Confidential Print: Middle East, Confidential Print: North America, Foreign Office Files for China, Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Foreign Office Files for Japan, Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, The Nixon Years, Macmillan Cabinet Papers, Women in The National Archives, Kew.
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
Churchill Archive This link opens in a new window
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1690-1965 (mainly 1940-1955)
Primary source historical documents from the archives of Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during and after World War II.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1606-1822
British government documents from the CO 5 series about administering the American colonies.
Confidential Print: Africa This link opens in a new window
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1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.
Confidential Print: Latin America This link opens in a new window
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1833-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
Confidential Print: Middle East This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1839-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.
Confidential Print: North America This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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.
East India Company This link opens in a new window
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1599-1947
British government records from the India Office chart the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
Foreign Office Files for China This link opens in a new window
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1919-1980
British Foreign Office files dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between 1919 and 1980.
Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan This link opens in a new window
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1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Foreign Office Files for Japan This link opens in a new window
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1919-1952
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on Japan: sections on Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific, 1931-1945; Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952; and Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930.
Foreign Office Files for South East Asia This link opens in a new window
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1963-1980
Correspondence, reports, maps and other primary source evidence of British Foreign Office involvement in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
What's included
Foreign Office Files for the Middle East This link opens in a new window
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1971-1981
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Middle East in the 1970s.
India, Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
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1615-1947
Documents recording the history of South Asia between the initial involvement of the East India Company and Indian and Pakistani independence.
Macmillan Cabinet Papers This link opens in a new window
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1957-1963
Archival collection from the British National Archives focused on Harold Macmillan’s government and selected policy committees.
Making of Modern Law (MOML): Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
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1600-1926
The Gale Primary Sources interface allows cross-searching of 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.
Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations This link opens in a new window
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1917-1970
Primary source documents from the British Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through to the Black September war of 1970-1.
The Nixon Years This link opens in a new window
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1969-1974
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the Nixon presidency and impeachment (FCO 7 and FCO 82).
Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement This link opens in a new window
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1945-1950
Records from the National Archives of the UK reveal challenges facing Displaced Persons, refugees and humanitarian aid organizations in the aftermath of World War II.
Routledge English Historical Documents This link opens in a new window
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476 -1914
Primary sources with editorial commentary representing significant British historical documents, like treaties, statutes, declarations, government and cabinet proceedings and more.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
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1801-2000
Bills, reports, correspondence and command papers all highlight Britain's role in the political, social, economic and foreign policy arenas.
Women in the National Archives This link opens in a new window
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1903-1962
Original documents from the National Archives on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories.

Newspapers

British Library Newspapers (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1732-1950
National and regional British newspapers representing different political and cultural views.

Global Press Archive
Open access collections: Imperial Russian Newspapers (25 titles); Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers (987 titles); Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers (292 titles); Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers (79 titles); Southeast Asian Newspapers (65 titles)

Historical Newspapers: The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times, 1859-2019 This link opens in a new window
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1859-2019
Newspaper from Dublin, Ireland published daily except Sundays.

RetroNews (French)
1631-1950
Newspapers from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
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1939-1948
The story of World War II as told by the newspapers that brought information, entertainment and camaraderie to the forces at home and overseas. Explore over 200 titles from key nations across the globe that took part in the world-changing conflict.
Historical Newspapers: South China Morning Post, 1903-2001 This link opens in a new window
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1903-2001
English-language Hong Kong daily newspaper.
Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019 This link opens in a new window
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1785-2019
The Times (London) newspaper.

TROVE - newspapers from National Library of Australia

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspaper Collection This link opens in a new window
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1603-1800
Newspapers, pamphlets, proclamations, and newsbooks from the British Library.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Nichols Newspaper Collection This link opens in a new window
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1672-1737
British newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and broadsheets from the Bodleian Library.

Periodicals

Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals, part I: Women's, Children's, Humour, and Leisure (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1800-1900
Magazines revealing British life in the Victorian age and the events, lifestyles, values, and ideas that shaped their world.
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals, part II: Empire (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1800-1900
Magazines by and for British imperial colonizers, settlers and travelers.
British Periodicals Collection I and II This link opens in a new window
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1681-1920
Popular British periodicals mostly from the 19th century.

International Women's Periodicals, 1786-1933: Social and Political Issues

Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2015 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1843-2015
Issues of The Economist, a news magazine with a global scope published in London.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
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1685-1835
Literary, satirical, political, religious and theatrical magazines and newspapers from Britain, Ireland, Scotland, India and the Caribbean.

Books

Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
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1475-1700
Books on all subjects published in England between 1475 and 1700.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
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1701-1800
Books on all subjects published in English between 1701 and 1800.
Gerritsen Collection-Women's History Online, 1543-1945 This link opens in a new window
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1543-1945
Books and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights.
Hathi Trust This link opens in a new window
Access to nearly any public domain (pre-1924) book owned and scanned by a library. UNLV users can login with their ACE accounts and download entire "full view" books/documents.
Making of Modern Law (MOML): Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
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1600-1926
The Gale Primary Sources interface allows cross-searching of 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.
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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1500-1926
Digital library of works written or published in the United States, as well as items printed elsewhere, that document the history of the Americas (North, Central, South and the Caribbean) from 1492 to the mid-1800s.
Primary sources that offer original accounts of exploration, settlement, military actions, Native Americans, westward expansion, European relations with Latin America and more. Based on Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana.

Archival Collections

These links allow you to search across multiple databases at the same time.

AM Explorer This link opens in a new window
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1493-1975
Search all archival collections from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
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Includes 19th Century UK Periodicals, Archives of Sexuality & Gender (LGBTQ History), British Library Newspapers, The Economist (1843-2014), Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, Sabin Americana (1500-1926), China and the Modern World, London Times Digital Archive, and London Times Literary Supplement.
Historical U.S. Newspapers from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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1841-2000 with some more recent
Search all ProQuest U.S. historical newspaper collections simultaneously.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender‎ (1909 - 1975)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune‎ (1849 - 1993)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Christian Science Monitor‎ (1908 - 2003)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times‎ (1881 - 1993)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times‎ (1851 - 2013)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune‎ (1841 - 1922)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post‎ (1877 - 2000)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: U.S. West, including Reno Gazette-Journal (1876-2008), San Francisco Examiner (1889-2007), and Spokane Statesman-Review (1894-2009)
Historical Periodicals from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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1740-1940 with some more recent
Search all ProQuest historical periodical collections simultaneously.
American Periodicals‎ (1740 - 1940)
British Periodicals‎ (1681 - 1939)
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive‎ (1880 - 2000)
The Harper's Bazaar Archive‎ (1867 - current)
Periodicals Archive Online‎
The Vogue Archive‎
Women's Magazine Archive‎ (1846 - 2005)
The Women's Wear Daily Archive‎
Readex AllSearch This link opens in a new window
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1639-1922
Combined search of American historical newspapers (1690-1922), printed books (1639-1819), and pamphlets and ephemera (1749-1922).
Search all collections of historical primary sources from Readex simultaneously: America's Historical Newspapers, American Broadsides and Ephemera; American Pamphlets; Early American Imprints (Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker).

Accessible Archives combined search
more...less...
Collections include African American Newspapers, The Civil War A Newspaper Perspective, Godey's Lady's Book, South Carolina Newspapers (colonial), and antislavery and woman suffrage publications.
EBSCO 19th C periodicals

Primary Source collections online

Digital libraries of Europe
List of national libraries with online collections.
Digital Public Library of America
Searches scanned primary sources from archives, museums and libraries across the USA.
DIPPAM: Documenting Ireland: Parliament, People and Migration
DIPPAM is an online virtual archive of documents and sources relating to the history of Ireland and its migration experience from the 18th to late 20th centuries.
EuroDocs
European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated.
Europeana
Europeana is a European digital library which gives access to online collections of many European institutions (archives, libraries, museums).
European History primary sources
The purpose of EHPS is to provide an easily searchable index of scholarly digital repositories that contain primary sources for the history of Europe.
The European Library
Access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries. Not updated after 2016.
Historical Research in Europe
Database that lets you identify existing archival collections. Try the guided search option to browse by topic.
Hoover Institution WWII collections
With more than fourteen hundred archival collections, Hoover's holdings on World War II are expansive, covering every theater of war in a multitude of languages. Those materials provide a variety of perspectives, from the directives of military officers to clandestine materials by underground movements.
Imperial War Museums digital collections
IWM’s collections cover all aspects of twentieth and twenty-first century conflict involving Britain, the Commonwealth and other former empire countries. They were intended to record the 'toil and sacrifice' of every individual affected by war.
The National Archives - The Cabinet Papers 1915 - 1980
Core records of the British Cabinet from 1915 to 1979 have been digitised, and their full text is searchable online.
World Digital Library
Significant primary materials from all countries and cultures organized by the U.S. Library of Congress, with the support of UNESCO and in cooperation with libraries, archives, museums, educational institutions, and international organizations from around the world.

slides from 2024 classes

451 spring 24

Other newspaper guides

Microform Research Collections

List of world history microform collections at UNLV
Microfilmed research collections are housed in the cabinets on the second floor to the left of the grad commons. There are two computers set up to scan the film behind the grad commons near tutoring and one on the first floor.
Browse all microfilm collections at UNLV

humanities librarian

Priscilla Finley, humanities librarian

Email Me

Contact:

Lied Library LLB1187

(702) 570-1338

Subjects: English, Film Studies, History, Literature, Philosophy, Theater Arts, World Languages and Cultures

HIST 451, Capstone Research: Primary Source Collections