History: HST 397 Spring 2020
Overview
You have been asked to find different formats of primary sources (visuals, maps, information about people, and data). You will find these kinds of primary sources spread across and within different resources. Sometimes you wil look in a database of images, sometimes you will find images in a printed book or a newspaper. Sometimes you will find images and data in the same source. Maps may be online and interactive (and build your own) or they may be static and printed. Much of what you will find will not be digital. Even if it is digital, it may be hard to locate. Below are some sources to get you started. There are many more I could have added depending on your topic of research. Also check out other guides listed below for more recommended primary sources.
Other guides with useful sources
- Primary Source Collections
- Historical Primary Sources
- History
- Genealogy
- Art and Architecture History
A note about copyright mostly related to images.. Anything (print as well as images) before 1923 is in the public domain, which means you can freely use the image. If you were publishing your project you may have to pay for the rights to use copyrighted material 1924 to the present. Although you are technically publishing this on the web, you are making no profit and you can use the image, etc. HOWEVER YOU MUST CITE WHERE THE SOURCE CAME FROM AND WHAT IT IS.
Books
- Hathi TrustAccess to digital copies of many public domain books and documents. Catalog covers many sources not digitized.
Newspapers/Periodicals
- American Periodicals This link opens in a new windowFull-text of American magazines published from 1741 into the 20th century. Database can be browsed by title, editor, or publisher, and searched using a sophisticated search menu.
- Chicago Tribune Historical This link opens in a new windowFull-text page and article images of the Chicago Tribune, 1849-1994.
- Early American Newspapers: Series 1-7 This link opens in a new windowFull-text page and article images of selected American newspapers from roughly 1690-1922.
- HarpWeek This link opens in a new windowFull-text page and article images of Harpers Weekly, an important 19th century political and social magazine. 1857-1871.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowFull-text of the entire historical runs many law journals with more being added regularly. Also included: the Federal Register (1936-1981), U.S. Reports (Supreme Court opinions), United States Treaties sets, international treaties, and many more.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new windowOxford campus users only. Indexes articles in scholarly humanities and social science journals published between 1907-1984.
- Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines This link opens in a new windowContains campaign newspapers for the 1860 Presidential campaign and magazines and newspapers sympathetic to the Confederacy, Union, and Abolitionism. 1860-1865.
- National Review Archive Publications This link opens in a new windowOxford campus users only. Republican/conservative news, commentary, and opinion. 1955-present.
- New Republic Archive This link opens in a new windowOxford campus users only. Journals/magazine containing political opinion as well as art and society. Contains articles from many award-winning writers and critics from many fields. Trends progressive. 1914 - .
- New York Times Historical This link opens in a new windowFull-text of the complete run of New York Times including with page images, individual articles, ads, and illustrations in downloadable PDF. It includes, and is searchable by, display and classified ads, cartoons, photos, maps, graphics, etc., editorials, obituaries, and commentary, as well as articles. 1851-3 years ago.
- Pravda Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Pravda ("Truth") was the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991. Founded in 1912 in St. Petersburg, Pravda originated as an underground daily workers' newspaper, and it soon became the main newspaper of the revolutionary wing of the Russian socialist movement. Throughout the Soviet era, party members were obligated to read Pravda. Today, Pravda still remains the official organ of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, an important political faction in contemporary Russian politics.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new windowOxford campus users only. Index only to popular magazines (primarily United States) in the 20th century. 1890-1982.
- Washington Post Historical This link opens in a new windowFull-text image and indexing of the Washington Post from its beginning in 1877 through 17 years ago. Includes full-page and article images of all articles and display and classified ads, comics and cartoons, photos, maps, graphics, etc., editorials and commentary, literary criticism as well as articles.
Statistics and Data
- The Value of a Dollar : Prices and Incomes in the United States, 1860-2009BEST Reference HB235.U6 V35 2009
Records the actual prices of thousands of items that consumers purchased from the Civil War to the present, along with facts about investment options and income opportunities - The Value of a Dollar : Colonial Era to the Civil War, 1600-1865BEST Reference HB235.U6 V358 2005
Similar to Value of a Dollar above. - Measuring Worth (US)Online calculators to measure dollar values over time.
- Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new windowCollected from governmental and non-governmental resources. Contains statistics on social, behavioral, economics, government, finance, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, migration, trade and more. Allows for customization of data into tables.
- Statistical Abstract of the United StatesPublished since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.
Online Collections
- CalisphereStatewide collection of California documents, videos, images, etc. Look under collections and exhibitions, eg. under collections there is one entitled Gold Rush Life
- Online Archive of Californiasimilar to above
- American Environmental Photographsphotographs documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century
- American Lumberman PhotographsFrom American Lumberman magazine -- might only be of Texas.
- DOCUMERICA Project by the Environmental Protection AgencyFor the Documerica Project (1971-1977), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hired freelance photographers to capture images relating to environmental problems, EPA activities, and everyday life in the 1970s. On flickr. Mostly photographs which are identified.
- Evolution of the Conservationist MovementFrom the Library of Congress.
- Forest History SocietyLink to digital collections. May be other useful information on the site.
- Western WatersHistoric governmental documents about the trans-Mississippi west.
- Dust BowlNice link to many online collections. From Texas A&M, but covers other states as well as Texas.
- Resources for Boston Harborlook at the digital collections. If you find sources under the books tab (on the left) put the title in google to see if there is a digital copy. Also see maps tab
Below are good, general repositories for primary source collections. They may or may not have information on your topic.
Maps
Map Collections
Map Libraries and other large collections of online images. For further information see: Maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For maps or atlas' on certain areas, see the history by region or history by subject tabs.
- David Rumsey Map CollectionOver 10,000 images. Rare 18th- and 19th-century maps of North and South America. The world, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. Note: browser must be able to allow pop-up windows.
- Map Collections: 1500 to PresentDigital images of maps of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Featured are Americana and cartographic treasures of the Library. Also available are copyright free contemporary maps of countries and regions of the world.
- Perry-Castañeda Library Map CollectionJPEG, GIF, and PDF map images, at the University of Texas at Austin Library. Many of the maps were originally produced by federal government agencies.
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: OhioLarge scale street plans produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance company from 1867 to 1970. Maps show the outline of each building including the location of windows and doors together with street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers.
- Library of Congress Map Collections: 1500-2003The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. This represents only a small fraction of the holdings of the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress.
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowUse Social Explorer to visualize and interact with data, create maps, charts, reports and downloads. Explore hundreds of thousands of built-in data indicators related to demography, economy, health, politics, environment, crime and more. Easily add your own data for further impact. 5 simultaneous users.
Video
- American History in Video This link opens in a new windowHistorical videos (1894-2015) from commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries. Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
- March of Time This link opens in a new windowCollection of newsreels highlighting world cultures and contemporary issues. Some videos contain multiple short vignettes about news around the world and others are longer single topic explorations. Some were also reenactments 1935-1967. Users may encounter content in this database the library has not purchased.
- World History in Video This link opens in a new windowOnline collection of streaming videos that gives users access to critically acclaimed documentaries from filmmakers worldwide. Documentaries topics include, a survey of human history from the earliest civilizations to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Focus is Africa and the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania.
