Primary Sources
The following is a selected list of primary source databases that focus on American materials (books, newspapers, images, articles from earlier periods). For a more comprehensive listing, see the History: Primary Sources database page.
- American MemoryThe Library of Congress's primary-source collections on American history and culture, including photographs, documents, sound recordings, and motion pictures.
- Internet Archive (Archive.org)Open-access text/video archive. Lots of material now in the public domain published before 1926.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaImages, texts, videos, and sounds from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States.
- America's Historical NewspapersIncludes Early American Newspapers Series 1, 2, 3 and 6, 1690-1922, and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 and many regional titles as well.
- America's Periodicals Online (APS)American special interest and general magazines, labor and trade publications, scientific and literary journals, and photographic periodicals, as well as other historically significant titles, from the 19th century through the dawn of the 20th century.
- ProQuest historical newspapersMajor newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post from the 19th century to recently.
- NewspaperArchiveIncludes some small-town U.S. newspapers not available elsewhere. Coverage varies by title.
- Making of America Collection"a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction, particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. Provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints."
- Harper’s WeeklyAn index to Harper’s weekly magazine, presented in an alphabetical, multi-level structure. Also contains browsable full text of Harper’s weekly.
- Samuel J. May Anti-slavery CollectionDigital collection of pamphlets and leaflets donated to Cornell by abolitionist and humanitarian Samuel J. May. Covers the anti-slavery struggle at local, regional, national, and international levels during the ante-bellum and Civil War periods in America.
- Eight CenturiesFormerly known as 19th Century Masterfile. Searchable index to a variety of 19th century Anglo-American periodical articles, documents and other primary and secondary sources published before 1930.
- Proquest CongressionalA full-text collection of House & Senate Documents, Reports, Hearings, Bills, Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, and the Congressional Record.
- North American Slave NarrativesContains full text of books and articles from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. "This collection includes all the existing autobiographical narratives of fugitive and former slaves published as broadsides, pamphlets, or books in English up to 1920. Also included are many of the biographies of fugitive and former slaves and some significant fictionalized slave narratives published in English before 1920."
- The Sixties: primary documents and personal narratives 1960-1974Diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975: Rock and Roll, Counterculture, Peace and ProtestTopics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, and the Vietnam War. The collection includes pamphlets, letters, government files, eye witness accounts, underground magazines, visual and video materials and ephemera and memorabilia, and more.
- World's Fairs and Expositions: Visions of TomorrowIncludes primary source documents from exhibits between 1840 to 1940. The collection includes photos, newspapers, periodicals, books, general histories, exhibition catalogs, official histories, commemorative accounts, exposition publications, visitors' guides, lectures, technical reports, and promotional publications.
- Early American imprints. Series I, Evans (1639-1800)Provides full-text and full-page-image access to books, pamphlets and broadsides printed in America from 1639-1800.
- Early Encounters in North America : peoples, cultures, and the environment.Documents the relationships among peoples and with the environment in North America from 1534 to 1850, the collection focuses on personal accounts and provides unique perspectives from all of the protagonists, including traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials, both men and women. It includes works by American Indians as well as a wide range of Europeans.
- AncestryPrimary sources for genealogy and local history.
- HeritageQuestOffers research materials for tracing family lineage and American culture. Features United States census records, family and local histories, city directories, U.S. Indian Census rolls, and other primary source material.
Rare Books & Mss.
The Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) includes 400,000 printed volumes, more than 70 million manuscripts, and another million photographs, paintings, prints, and other visual media. Explore RMC's 19th century American photography collection as represented in an online exhibition.
Kheel Archives - ILR Library
The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives is the unit of Catherwood Library that collects, preserves, and makes accessible special collections pertaining to the history of the workplace and labor relations. Materials consist of unique and rich primary sources, including printed and hand-written historical documents dating back to colonial times, historical photographs, rare pamphlets, audio recordings, film, and oral histories.