Databases with Primary Sources
The library subscribes to a number of databases that include primary source material. Please note that not everything within each database is a primary source; you will need to evaluate each source carefully to determine if it meets the criteria of a primary source for your research.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodical Collection - EBSCO This link opens in a new windowThe digitized periodical collection of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), the premier library documenting the life of America's people from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. It is the most comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912. Includes Series 1-5: 1684-1820, 1821-1837, 1838-1852, 1853-1865, and 1866-1912.
- Biography In Context - Gale This link opens in a new windowBiography In Context offers authoritative reference content alongside magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day newsmakers, it’s continuously updated to ensure that students have access to the very latest information.
- Black Studies Center - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowBlack Studies Center, from Chadwyck Healey US, brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. It is comprised of several cross-searchable, component databases including: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience; International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP); The Chicago Defender; the Black Literature Index, the HistoryMakers oral history video resource, and Black Abolitionist Papers .
- Congressional Legislative & Executive Publications - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowProvides legislative history information and access to a wide range of congressional documents, including published and unpublished hearings, CRS reports, committee reports, and committee prints.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowEarly English Books Online (EEBO), from Chadwyck Healey US, contains page images of every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473–1700. For more information on the content in this database, please see the About page.
- History Reference Center - EBSCO This link opens in a new windowDesigned for secondary schools, public libraries, junior/community colleges and undergraduate research, this database features full text for thousands of primary source documents and informational texts.
- History Vault - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowHistory Vault is a collection of primary source material pertaining to the civil rights movement and to U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War era. This rich collection of federal records, letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries is organized in five subject categories: 1) Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle; 2) Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; 3) American Indians and the American West; 4) American Politics and Society; 5) International Relations and Military Conflicts; 6) Women's Studies; and 7) Workers and Labor Unions.
- Primary Source Collections by Adam Matthew This link opens in a new windowAdam Matthew publishes unique primary source collections from archives around the world. SNHU Shapiro Library subscribes to the following collections: African American Communities, American History 1493-1945, the Confidential Print: North America collection in Archives Direct, Defining Gender, Empire Online, Everyday Life and Women in America 1800-1920, Race Relations in America, and Socialism On Film. For more information on how to use these database, please see these tutorial videos.
- ProQuest (ProQuest Central and Primary Source) This link opens in a new windowProQuest includes all ProQuest Central databases as well as many primary source databases. If you would like to access ProQuest Central only, you can do so at the following link: ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window.
- U.K. Parliamentary Papers - ProQuest This link opens in a new windowU.K. Parliamentary Papers empowers researchers to explore the British perspective on historical and contemporary events through a vast and authoritative archive of official government documents spanning three centuries. Includes House of Commons and House of Lords papers.
- U.S. History In Context - Gale This link opens in a new windowIncludes more than 5,000 primary source documents, full-text articles drawn from top periodicals and newspapers, thousands of images, videos, and audio selections.
- World History In Context - Gale This link opens in a new windowWorld History In Context reaches back to the ancient world — and forward to today's headlines — to deliver a chronicle of the great cultures and societies that have formed the history of the human race. Includes primary sources, reference, and multi-media content.
Primary Sources
Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons.
Taken from the American Library Association / Reference and User Services Association http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/usingprimarysources
American History Primary Sources
The following is a list of selected digital collections that include images, manuscripts, maps, and government documents.
- David Rumsey Historical Map CollectionThe David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 20,000 maps and images online and focuses largely on North and South America.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaResources from US libraries, archives and museums, including photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and more.
- Documenting the American SouthDAS is maintained by the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and is dedicated to "providing access to digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture.
- Edward E. Ayer Digital CollectionOne of the world's premiere sources of primary documents on American Indians. Topics covered include Native American archaeology, ethnology, art, and language; the history of the contact between Europeans and native peoples; voyages, travels, and accounts of early America; the development of cartography of the Western Hemisphere; and the history of the aboriginal peoples under the jurisdiction of the U.S. in the Philippine Islands and Hawaii.
- Harvard University Digital CollectionsHarvard University has a number of digital collections that focus on different topics, geographical areas, and time periods.
- Library of Anglo-American CultureThe History Search allows you to browse documents by country/event of interest. Note: not all documents are primary sources and many are in languages other than English.
- Library of Congress: Digital CollectionsMaintained by the Library of Congress, American Memory has well over 5 million primary source documents related to American history online.
- Library of Congress Picture CollectionThe Library of Congress has made 1.25 million digitized photographs searchable using this new interface. Collections range from digitized cartoons and baseball cards to depression-era photographs documenting the struggle of migrant workers.
- The Making of AmericaFrom the University of Michigan, Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
- National ArchivesSearch the entire collections of the Nation's Record Keepers.
- NY Historical Society | Making History MatterNYHS manuscript collections relating to slavery
- NYPL Archives & ManuscriptsFrom the New York Public Library you can search "over 60,000 linear feet of personal papers and organizational records supporting historical research".
- Oral Histories of the American SouthA project to digitize 500 interviews, this collection contains interviews with civil rights leaders in the south and southern politicians such as Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
- Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & ImageOver 2,000,000 images from various collections of rare books, manuscripts, papyri, photographs and sheet music are available for your viewing. Each collection has its own web site that is unrestricted in the interests of knowledge and learning.
- Suffragist Oral History ProjectFrom UC Berkeley Library, this collection contains 12 interviews with participants in the suffragist movement.
- University of New Hampshire Digital CollectionsThe University of New Hampshire has digitized documents relating to New Hampshire history including government documents, photographs, maps, et cetera.
Early American History
- The American Presidency Project - DocumentsThe American Presidency Project has consolidated, coded, and organized into a single searchable database:the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Inaugural Addresses, State of the Union Speeches, Executive Orders, and thousands of other documents such as Presidential Proclamations and National Party Platforms.
- The Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History, and DiplomacyThis collection of documents covers the 19th century, 1800 - 1899.
- David Rumsey Historical Map CollectionThe David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 20,000 maps and images online and focuses largely on North and South America.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaResources from US libraries, archives and museums, including photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and more.
- Documenting the American SouthDocumenting the American South (DocSouth) is a digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
- Documents for the Study of American HistoryLegislation, speeches, policy statements, documents, and maps from 1800 - 1850
- Documents on the Erie CanalThe Erie Canal is famous in song and story. Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. An engineering marvel when it was built, some called it the Eighth Wonder of the World.
- Fordham University Modern History Sourcebook - Early U.S. HistoryThe Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
- Harvard University Digital CollectionsHarvard University has a number of digital collections that focus on different topics, geographical areas, and time periods.
- Library of Congress: Digital CollectionsMaintained by the Library of Congress, American Memory has well over 5 million primary source documents related to American history online.
- Library of Congress Picture collectionThe Library of Congress has made 1.25 million digitized photographs searchable using this new interface. Collections range from digitized cartoons and baseball cards to depression-era photographs documenting the struggle of migrant workers.
- The Making of AmericaFrom the University of Michigan, Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
- National ArchivesSearch the entire collections of the Nation's Record Keepers.
- NY Historical Society | Making History MatterNYHS manuscript collections relating to slavery
- Primary Documents in American History - National Expansion and Reform 1815 - 1860Links to 8 major historical documents from 1820 - 1857
- US History Primary SourcesFrom National History Day and Cecil Hall University this site provides links to documents supporting research in American History. Topics include civil war history, presidential history, government history, women's history, and many more.
- WWW-VL: History: United States: National Period, 1800-1830Research tools, timelines, documents and secondary sources on multiple topis from 1800 - 1850
- WWW-VL: History: United States: The Age of Jackson, 1830-1857Research tools, timelines, documents and secondary sources on multiple topics from the period of the Presidency of Andrew Jackson to 1850
World History Primary Sources
The following is a selected list of digital collections supporting world history research.
- Ancient History SourcebookThis site focuses on online texts, which, for the most part, means public domain texts translated more than 75 years ago. In many cases it is these older translations which are used in commercially available sourcebooks. Coverage ranges from Mesopotamia to the origins of Christianity
- Avalon ProjectYale Law School’s Avalon Project contains digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. Covers time periods from ancient history to the modern day.
- British Library Online ResourcesUnique collection items & expert commentary related to History, English, Religious Studies, Citizenship & a variety of other subjects.
- Digital ScriptoriumThe Digital Scriptorium is a growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research.
- Euro DocsSearch primary sources by European country of origin
- Hanover Historical Texts CollectionThe Hanover Historical Texts Collection makes available digital versions of historical texts for use in history and humanities courses. Material touches on the Crusaders, Italian Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, French Revolution, and many other topics.
- Internet History Sourcebooks ProjectFrom Fordham University, find primary sources for Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods. The site offers several subdivisions (i.e. African, women, etc.) as well
- The LabyrinthFrom Georgetown University: Medieval studies scholarly resources compiled and organized from around the world. Contains texts in all European languages, including Latin and Greek.
- Library of Congress Global GatewayThis resource contains a number of digitized international resources including cuneiform tablets, photographs and manuscripts.
- Perseus Digital LibraryTufts University brings you an evolving collection of resources for the study of the ancient world, including archaeology, atlas, texts and translations, text tools and lexica.
- World Digital LibraryThe World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.