LibGuides: HIST 2765/ AMST 2775/ LSP 2765: The North American West: Primary Sources

Useful Tips

Browse footnotes and bibliographies of books, encyclopedias, and articles for information about primary sources.

Search the Library Catalog for primary sources--both unpublished manuscripts and modern editions in print and online, sometimes in translation, of original primary medieval sources. Use the guided keyword search with terms like:

sources
diaries
personal narrative
interview
letters

Digital Collections at State Archives & Libraries

Each state will have a publicly accessible archive and state library as well as many historical societies and organizations. Often these organizations have digitized some of their collections. Google to locate them.

Selected Online Collections

Gale Primary Sources.
Enormous collection of digital primary sources from 18th century, 19th century, and 20th century.
Accessible archives primary source material from 18th & 19th century periodicals
Includes collections such as The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, November 1860-April 1865; The Charleston Mercury; The New York Herald; Richmond Enquirer.
African American Newspapers: The 19th Century; Freedom's Journal, March 16, 1827-March 28, 1829; The Colored American (Weekly Advocate), January 7, 1837-December 25, 1841; The North Star, December 3, 1847-April 17, 1851; Frederick Douglass' Paper, 1851-1856; The National Era, January 7, 1847-March 12, 1860; Provincial Freeman, 1854-1857; The Christian Recorder, 1861-1898.
Periodicals Index Online
Covers 1770-1993. Provides comprehensive indexing to the contents of 4,250 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues (some as far back as the 18th and 19th centuries) to 1993. The scope is international, including journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other Western languages.
Cornell The Making of America
The Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the Antebellum period through Reconstruction. A joint effort of the University of Michigan and Cornell University.
University of Michigan Making of America
Making of America Collection 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.
Freedmen's Bureau Records (Freedman's Bank)
During Reconstruction, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen's Bureau) provided assistance to tens of thousands of the formerly enslaved and impoverished whites in the Southern States and the District of Columbia.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial to 1950

Official U.S. Government Documents

ProQuest Congressional
Indexes information produced by or pertaining to the United States Congress from 1789 to the present. Provides full text for many titles, generally from the early 1990’s to the present. Includes bills, laws, legislative histories, committee prints, House and Senate documents and reports, the Congressional Record, Code of Federal Regulations, and Federal Register. Includes full text of Congressional Research Service reports, 1916-present; full text of Congressional hearings, 1824-2003; full text of Committee Prints, 1830-2003; and full text of the Serial Set Collection with Maps, 1789-1969. For a complete description of contents, coverage, and update frequency, consult the online Help section.

More: A guide to finding U.S. Government Documents at Cornell

Rare & Manuscripts

The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections is Cornell’s principal repository of rare books, manuscripts and archival materials in history, literature, music, the arts, science, natural history, and technology. Collections include more than 500,000 printed volumes, more than 80 million manuscripts, and another million photographs, paintings, prints, and other visual media.

Finding Materials