Research and Course Guides: History: Primary Sources (Databases)

What is a Primary Source?

"A primary source is a document,
image or artifact ... created
contemporaneously with the
event under discussion."

(Williams, Historian's Toolbox,
2nd ed., p. 56)

Primary sources are evidence from participants in or
eyewitnesses to an event.

Examples:

Diaries, letters, speeches, memoirs/autobiographies, oral interviews, newspaper & magazine articles...
Images: photographs, sound & video recordings, maps...
Artifacts: coins, receipts, schedules, tombstones, furniture, jewelry, DNA evidence...
Public records: birth, death, probate, census records; court cases, official government documents...
Creative works: paintings, movies, statues...

Formats:

Original manuscripts or records
Authoritative transcriptions in printed volumes or digital form
Reproductions--digital, microfilm, facsimile...

Find Primary Source Databases

South Carolina Inventors: 1796-1896 This link opens in a new window
search patents by inventor, invention, residence, and date
Documenting the American South This link opens in a new window
texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture
Civil War: a newspaper perspective This link opens in a new window
articles from issues of The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury, & the Richmond Enquirer, November 1, 1860- April 15, 1865
Reconstruction of Southern States (Pamphlets) This link opens in a new window
open-access collection provides pamphlets that document one of the most politically-contentious and violent periods in American History; 1865-1869, 1877; part of Accessible Archives

American Periodicals Series Online This link opens in a new window
digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century
Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1918-1935 This link opens in a new window
This archive consists of correspondence and telegrams received and sent by American diplomats, as well as records of American citizens and companies with relations to Liberia. It carries the story from the end of First World War into the interwar period.
Lincoln at the Bar: Extant Case Files from the U.S. District and Circuit Courts, Southern District of Illinois 1855-1861 This link opens in a new window
This collection consists of the extant files of cases from the records of the U.S. District and Circuit Courts at Springfield with which Abraham Lincoln has been identified as legal counsel, and date from 1855 to 1861. The 122 case files reproduced here include civil actions brought under both statute and common law, admiralty litigation, and a few criminal cases.
Price Control in the Courts: The U.S. Emergency Court of Appeals, 1941-1961 This link opens in a new window
In the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, Congress established a comprehensive system of administrative controls over prices, as a means of checking the inflation that accompanied America’s entry into World War II. This collection documents activities and events connected to the Act.
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
supports the investigation of problem areas in race relations and develops methods for educating communities and preventing conflict with the inclusion of essays, images, and related content.
Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Enforcement of Federal Law in the South, 1871-1884 This link opens in a new window
This collection documents the efforts of district attorneys from southern states to uphold federal laws in the states that fought in the Confederacy or were Border States. It includes correspondence of the attorney general, marshals, judges, convicts, and concerned or aggrieved citizens.
U.S. History in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
includes primary sources, full-text journal articles, encyclopedia articles, and audio and video clips
American State Papers, (1789-1838) This link opens in a new window
legislative and executive documents published 1789-1839

State Papers Online Part 2: The Tudors, 1509-1603 This link opens in a new window
original historical materials across the widest range of government concern, from high level international politics and diplomacy to the charges against a steward for poisoning a dozen or more people. The correspondence, reports, memoranda, and parliamentary drafts from ambassadors, civil servants and provincial administrators present a full picture of Tudor and Stuart Britain.
British Library Newspapers, Parts 1-5 This link opens in a new window
2 million newspaper pages from national and regional newspapers in Great Britain; 1746-1950
British Literary Manuscripts Online This link opens in a new window
images of literary manuscripts, including drafts and similar materials; includes Medieval, Renaissance, and 1660-1900 collections

East India Company This link opens in a new window
Includes three modules with correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions pertaining to British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1599 to 1947.
Module I: Trade, Governance and Empire, 1600-1947
Module II: Factory Records for South Asia and South East Asia, 1595-1830
Module III: Factory records for China, Japan and the Middle East, 1596-1870
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)(Gale) This link opens in a new window
over 136,000 of the most significant English-language works published in the United Kingdom 1701-1800 plus many works in Dutch, French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and Welsh
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930 This link opens in a new window
This collection comprises correspondence, studies and reports, cables, maps, and other kinds of documents related to U.S. consular activities.
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies to League of Nations Mandates in Africa, 1910-1929 This link opens in a new window
This collection comprises correspondence, studies and reports, cables, maps, and other kinds of documents related to U.S. consular activities.
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Italian Colonies in North Africa and Aggression in East Africa, 1930-1939 This link opens in a new window
This collection comprises correspondence, studies and reports, cables, maps, and other kinds of documents related to U.S. consular activities.
European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750 This link opens in a new window
a comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. Access provided via Discus
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration, and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
includes manuscripts with printed and visual primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history with coverage spanning hundreds of years.
HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust contains millions of digitized publications from around the world, mainly from library, Google, and Internet Archive initiatives. To log in as a Clemson University member: click on LOG IN in the top right corner, select Clemson University from the dropdown menu, then Continue, and log in to the network using your CU username and password
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) This link opens in a new window
primary source materials covering British literature, theatre, and music, European literature, and religion and reform issues during the long nineteenth century
Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new window
bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
information and rare documents organized in four parts: "Debates over Slavery and Abolition", "Slave Trade in the Atlantic World", "The Institution of Slavery", and "The Age of Emancipation"
World History in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
includes primary sources, full-text journal articles, encyclopedia articles, and audio and video clips

More Primary Sources

Popular publications such as magazines are primary sources.

19th Century Masterfile This link opens in a new window
index to American and English periodical articles; 1786-1922
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals Digital Archive, Part 2 This link opens in a new window
This is a digital collection of British magazines published in the 19th century.
American Periodicals Series Online This link opens in a new window
digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century
British Periodicals Collection I & II This link opens in a new window
These collections contain hundreds of searchable full-text periodicals from 1681-1939.
Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
index to general-interest periodical articles published in the U.S.; 1890-1982
Limit: 2 simultaneous users
Fortune Magazine Archive (1930-2000) This link opens in a new window
searchable full text of all issues from this time period plus PDFs of items as they appeared

Better Homes and Gardens
Call Number: NA7100 .B56 (Off Site Shelving)
Publication Date: 1925-present

LIFE Magazine Photo Archive
millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to the 1970s
Life Magazine
This link takes you to Google Books' "About This Magazine" page for Life. Scroll down a bit for the "Browse All Issues" section, which allows you to select individual issues. Use Google Books' Advanced search page to do specific keyword searches. Here is a brief (and somewhat informal) screencast you might find helpful in navigating this resource.
Making of America
Digital versions of selections from Cornell University Library’s collection. Features monograph volumes and journal articles published in the nineteenth century. Focuses on the major journal literature of the period (e.g., Harpers, The Atlantic Monthly, The Living Age), ranging from general interest publications to those with more targeted audiences such as agriculture. Links to the University of Michigan’s collection by the same title.

Jet
Publication Date: 1951-2014
Ebony
Publication Date: 1945-2009

Time - The Vault
Access to digital versions of Time magazine from 1923-present

Gay Times (London)
Publication Date: 2008-present
Gay & Lesbian Times
Publication Date: Available from 01/04/2007 until 10/07/2010.
Native American Report
Publication Date: 2004-2006

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications This link opens in a new window
comprehensive index to historical information published by the U.S. federal government
American State Papers, (1789-1838) This link opens in a new window
legislative and executive documents published 1789-1839
Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
includes legislative histories, bills & laws, vote report, committee prints, congressional record, CRS reports, hearings, House & Senate documents, House & Senate reports, Serial Set (1789-present), and Serial Set maps (1789-present)
Congressional Serial Set (1817-1994) This link opens in a new window
reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
current and historical census and demographic data
Limit: 1 user at a time
Census Data This link opens in a new window
This provides population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Compiled since 1878, a comprehensive yearly handbook & data guide. Our collection at Fed Docs C 3.134: includes 1891-1926, 1928-2001, 2003-2011

Archives & Historical Societies

Archives preserve the documents and records of an organization and may contain unique or rare items. In general, they do not lend and have specific policies for using their facilities, making copies, etc.

American Memory This link opens in a new window
browse or search Library of Congress' vast collection of digitized materials
Ancestry Library This link opens in a new window

History