THE 191 (Hamilton): Finding Historical Information
Searching Tips
In all of these resources, you can search for a specific person or event. Or, you can just search for a date range to see all things (topics, events, people) that were being written about during that specified time period.
In some of the resources, it is best to put quotation marks around the event or name (ex. "Eiffel Tower" or "Dorothy Counts") to get more accurate results.
Newspapers
Washington Post Historical
Full text, cover to cover from 1877 to 1990. Pages available as downloadable PDFs.
New York Times Historical
Full text from 1851 to 3 years ago. Searchable content.
Chicago Tribune Historical
Full text, cover to cover from 1849 to 1985. Pages available as downloadable PDFs.
Times Digital Archive
This full text database to the London Times provides access to European and world cultures and events.
African American Newspapers 1827-1998
More than 350 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience.
Chronicling America
A searchable, digital collection of American newspapers hosted by the Library of Congress. Covers 1789-1922.
Historical Collections
American Decades
Each volume a decade. Looks at all aspects of American life.
FBIS (Foreign Broadcast Information Service) Daily Reports, 1941-1996
Full text intercepted radio broadcasts from foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories. These are first-hand reports of events as they occurred.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
Digitized primary sources and links to primary source collections. Organized by historical era.
Other Sources
Biography in Context
Research people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas.
America: History and Life
Abstracts journal articles, book reviews, media reviews, and dissertations on all aspects of American and Canadian history from prehistory to the present.
LGBT Thought and Culture
Key works and archival documentation of LGBT political and social movements throughout the 20th century and into the present day.
Social and Cultural History: Letters and Diaries Online
The resource is a unique forum that brings together the voices of ordinary men and women from all walks of life with the personal accounts of well-known historical figures.
Timeline Search
HistoryWorld Timelines
Enter a year in the box at the top of the page to see what events happened in that year. The entries may reflect political, economic, or artistic events. You can also search specific timelines from the list further down the page.
Search Tips
“And”, “Or”, “Not” (Boolean Operators): Use the words to narrow or expand your search results. For Example:
- “automobiles” AND “accidents” will return results that contain BOTH of the terms.
- “juvenile” OR “adolescent” OR “teenager” will return results that contain at least one of the terms. Useful for words with similar meanings.
- “cinderella” NOT “rock band” will return results that do NOT include the 1980’s rock band, Cinderella.
Use an * at the end of a root word to find all variations of that word. For example, “child*” will search for “child,” “children,” “childhood,” and “children's.”
Brainstorm words or concepts that are similar in meaning and use those as search terms. If you find a good resource, look at the “Subject Headings” or “Descriptors” listed and use those as additional search terms.
Bibliographies/References/Works Cited pages are great ways to find additional resources. You can search the library’s Catalogs and/or Databases.