Primary Sources: Archives

A listing of local archives that will have primary source collections concerning Ohio History.

• Oxford/Butler County
  • Miami University Archives
    The Archives contains manuscripts, publications, photographs, and artifacts dealing with Miami University history.
  • Western College Memorial Archives
    The archives lays claim to materials from the Board of Trustee records dating back to 1853, original material from Western College's various Presidents (including Helen Peabody, Leila McKee and William Boyd), an impressive photograph collection
  • Walter Havighurst Special Collections
    Holds some of the rare, early, or seminal documents of the University.
  • Smith Library of Regional History
    Local Oxford history materials
  • Butler County Historical Society
    The Society maintains a resource library of historical records and documents relating to the county that can be used by the public for research.  The Society also owns and operates four historic sites:  the Butler County Heritage Center, Cooper Cabin Pioneer Homestead, the Little Red School House, and the Lowrie/Shaw House.
  • Oxford Museum Association
    The Oxford Museum Association is entrusted with an exceptional collection of artifacts typical of rural farm life in the 19th century. Items are displayed in the Doty Homestead and the DeWitt Log Homestead.
  • McGuffey Museum
    19th Century house on Miami's campus. Collection of artifacts and McGuffey Readers.
• Greater Cincinnati
  • Cincinnati Historical Society
  • Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
    Old, large public library in Cincinnati. They have many historical documents concerning the devleopment of Cincinnati and its environs as well as many published materials.
  • Hebrew Union College/American Jewish Libraries
    The archival and manuscript holdings of the American Jewish Archives include nearly 800 major manuscript collections and over 16,000 smaller collections. A brief description of the major manuscript collections, as well as a selection of full-text inventories (finding aids), is available on this website.
  • Lloyd Library
    Collect and maintains a library of botanical, medical, pharmaceutical, and scientific books and periodicals, and works of allied sciences.
• Greater Dayton
  • Montgomery County Historical Society
    Dayton History is Montgomery County’s official historical organization.  Consisting of Carillon Historical Park, the Archive Center, Kettering-Moraine Museum, Hawthorn Hill and Patterson Homestead, Dayton History brings the past to life to understand the present and inspire the future by collecting, preserving, interpreting, presenting and promoting the region’s past.
• State of Ohio
  • Ohio Historical Society
    The Archives/Library of the Ohio Historical Socieyt collects, preserves, and makes available to the public written and graphic information concerning Ohio's history. As the State Archives of Ohio, it is the designated repository for state government records of enduring historical value.

Lists that link to other archives and libraries

• Directoriy of Corporate Archives in The United States and Canada
  This directory of corporate archives "includes companies that maintain their historical records themselves, as well as companies that contract with historical consulting firms to maintain their archives collections for them." Browsable by corporation, archivist, and location. From the Society of American Archivists, Business Archives Section
• Historical Research in Europe
  The intention is to unite web-based and printed resources which provide information about European libraries and archives in a single interactive database.
• Repositories of Primary Sources
  A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar.