History Research Resources
Databases | Reference Books | Videos | Online Resources | Course Finding Aids
Databases
Subject Specific | General
Subject Specific
Access Newspaper Archive (on campus only)
Access NewspaperARCHIVE contains tens of millions of searchable newspaper pages, dating as far back as the 1700s.
AfricaBib
The site consists of two bibliographic databases covering Africana periodical literature (Africana Periodical Literature Bibliographic Database) and African Women's literature (African Women Bibliographic Database). You will also find a comprehensive bibliography on women travelers and explorers to Africa (Women Travelers, Explorers and Missionaries to Africa Bibliographic Database).
Ancestry Plus (on campus only)
Genealogy research database that provides access to more than 1 billion names in more than 3,000 databases. Ancestry Plus also includes Passenger & Immigration Lists Index-a reference guide to published lists of 500,000 passengers who arrived in America in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Archive Grid (on campus only)
Archive Grid provides online access to nearly a million descriptions of archival collections held by thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies and archives worldwide. Researchers can learn about the many items in each of these collections, contact archives to arrange a visit to examine materials, and order copies.
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
Digital facsimile of Foreign Relations of the United States beginning with the administration of Abraham Lincoln. Provides official documentary history of major foreign policy decisions in an incomplete run from 1863-1958, with missing volumes being added as they can be acquired and processed.
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
The official repository of domestic geographic names data, the official vehicle for geographic names use by all departments of the Federal Government, and the source for applying geographic names to Federal electronic and printed products.
HeritageQuest
Includes U.S. Federal Census records from 1790 thru 1930; over 24,000+ family and local history books; PERSI (database covering more than 2.1 million genealogy and local history articles); Revolutionary War Pension & Bounty Land Warrant Application files, Freednman's Bank files, and U.S. Serial Set files.
Historic American Newspapers
Provides access to U.S. historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922.
Historic Documents
Published annually since 1972, each volume includes approximately one hundred documents covering the most significant events of the year.
JSTOR
Provides access to scholarly journals in many social science disciplines. Coverage begins with volume 1 for each title. Depending on the publisher, the most recent three - five years may not be available via JSTOR.
Making of America
Digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
New York Times Historical
The Historical New York Times (1851-2006) with Index (1851-1993) provides search capability using subject terms and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable full text, full page, and article-level images from the Historical New York Times (1851-2006).
NYPL Digital Gallery (New York Public Library)
Provides free and open access to over 685,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
Pennsylvania Civil War Era Collection
A collection of newspapers from the civil war era dated from February 23,1831 to February 14,1877.
Perseus Digital Library
Digital library covering the history, literature and culture of the Greco-Roman world through 19th century American history.
Sanborn Maps Online - SD
Online database of Sanborn fire insurance maps for the state of South Dakota. Included maps date from 1884 to 1960.
WorldCat
(log-in required)
Wyoming Newspaper Project
A collection of newspapers printed in Wyoming between 1849 and 1922.
General
Academic Search Premier (EBSCOHost)(searching tips)
Academic Search Premier includes general interest and scholarly articles in a variety of areas including the social sciences.
EBSCO MegaFILE(searching tips)
EBSCO MegaFILE is a multi-disciplinary database providing full text for over 19,100 total publications and indexing & abstracting for nearly 24,000 publications. Thie database is comprised of EBSCO's Academic Search Premier,, Business Source Premier and Regional Business News databases.
Newsbank (on campus only)
Access to local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers. Paid advertisementss and newswire articles are excluded. This database includes the Aberdeen American News, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the New York Times.
ProQuest (searching tips)
ProQuest includes general interest and scholarly articles in a variety of areas including the social sciences.
SIRS Researcher
SIRS Researcher is a general reference database geared more towards grades 6-12. Curriculum pathfinders are a part of this database.
Reference Books
American Civil War Reference Library -- 2000
Offers comprehensive and wide ranging research options on American Civil War history.
Ancient Europe, 8000 BC to 1000 AD: An Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World -- 2004
Examines the diverse peoples of early European civilization.
Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History -- 2005
A five- volume encyclopedia of world history, covering 250,000 years of human history.
Cold War Reference Library -- 2004
Covers the Cold War period between the Western powers and the Communist bloc--from the end of World War II through 1989.
Colonial America Reference Library -- 2000
Provides comprehensive information on the Colonial American period.
Dictionary of American History -- 3rd ed., 2003
Covers wide range of topics in American history, from the well studied and familiar to the obscure.
Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict -- 2005
Covers the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the birth of Zionism at the end of the 19th century.
Encyclopedia of Terrorism -- 2003
Provides detailed discussions of the who, what, where, when, and why of terrorism, including definitions of key terms, famous cases, biographies, laws, and law enforcement techniques.
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa -- 2nd ed., 2004
Covers the modern history of the Middle East and North Africa, with major sections on Colonialism and Imperialism, the World Wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the United Nations involvement in the region.
Holocaust Encyclopedia
Produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Middle East Conflict Reference Library -- 2006
A comprehensive and objective overview of the people, events and documents that are key to understanding the region.
Military History Encyclopedia on the Web
This online encyclopedia of military history features nearly 3,500 entries, along with more than 1,300 pictures and 370 maps.
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas -- 2005
Survey of the history of Western thought and culture.
New Encyclopedia of Africa -- 2nd, ed., 2008
Addresses the entire history of African cultures from the pharaohs and the ancient civilizations of the south through the colonial era to the emergence of 53 independent countries, some of them newly emergent in world commerce and others deep in conflict.
Revolutionary and Dissident Movements of the World -- 4th ed., 2004
Covers the whole range of illegal political activity worldwide, ranging from terrorist and secessionist organizations to dissident groups operating clandestinely in authoritarian states.
World Factbook --
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States -- 7th ed., 2007
Details current geographical, social, and political data, historical narrative, and statistical information on the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Caribbean and Pacific dependencies of the U.S.
Videos
- America: the Story of Us (2010) -- DVD 412
- American Black Journal -- American Black Journal, originally titled Colored People's Time, went on the air in 1968. Detroit Publis Television and Michigan State University have digitized 36 years of ABJ shows, creating an important archive of African American history.
- Films On Demand (Select "History" or "Archival Films & Newsreels" or "Geography" under Subjects)
- Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies -- a collection of over 4,400 videotaped interviews with witnesses and survivors of the Holocaust.
- Open Vault: Social Sciences -- "Provides online access to unique and historically important content produced by public television and radio station WGBH for individual and classroom learning."
- The Reckoning (2009) -- DVD 365
- U.S. National Archives YouTube Channel
- World War II: a Military and Social History (2007) -- DVD 371-373
Online Resources
General | American | Digital Collections | World | Images and Maps
General
American History
- Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide
- Africans in America -- Chronicles the history of racial slavery in the United States
- American Civil War Homepage
- American President: An Online Reference Resource -- A comprehensive collection of material about the Presidents of the United States and the history of the presidency.
- American Women's History: A Research Guide -- Provides tips on how to research women's history, links to digital online collections, and bibliographies of selected materials.
- The Antislavery Literature Project -- The project's goal is to increase public access to a body of literature crucial to understanding African American experience, US and hemispheric histories of slavery, and early human rights philosophies.
- The Becker Collection: Drawings of the American Civil War Era -- The Becker Collection contains some 650 drawings of the American Civil War era.
- Center for Western Studies, Augustana College -- Preserving and Interpreting the History and Cultures of the Northern Plains.
- Civil War Photos.Net -- Over 1,200 Civil War Images, Photographs and Cartes de Visites.
- The Cold War International History Project
- Colonial Williamsburg -- Walk through time in this reconstructed colonial capitol.
- Feeding America -- An online collection of American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century.
- History of the Supreme Court -- Presents the institution's history thematically.
- Intelligence in the War of Independence -- History of the use of intelligence by the United States during the Revolutionary War. From the CIA, includes primary documents.
- Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia -- Uncovers, chronicles, and transmits the rich history of American Jewish women.
- Life Magazine Photo Archives -- Photo archives of Life Magazine from the 1750s to date.
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) -- The nation's record keeper.
- National Archives Experience: Digital Vaults
- North American Slave Narratives -- Documents the individual and collective stories of African Americans struggling for freedom and human rights in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries.
- Pictures of the Civil War -- Select photos from the National Archives and Records Administration.
- Presidential Libraries
- Presidential Recordings Program -- Between 1940 and 1973, six American presidents from both political parties secretly recorded just under 5,000 hours of their meetings and telephone conversations.
- Scripps Library and Multimedia Archive -- Serves as a research facility for scholars of U.S. public policy.
- Texas Slavery Projec -- examines the spread of American slavery into the borderlands between the United States and Mexico in the decades between 1820 and 1850.
- Today in History -- Produced by the Library of Congress.
- The U.S. Army Center of Military History
- Valley of the Shadow -- Details life in two American communities during the Civil War period.
- WestWeb -- A topically-organized website about the study of the American West.
Digital Collections
- CONTENTdm collection of collections -- CONTENTdm supports rich and diverse collections for over 1,000 organizations worldwide. This site provides the ability to search or browse a sampling of the thousands of collections created by the CONTENTdm community.
- American Centuries: Views from New England -- Digital collection of approximately 2000 objects and transcribed document pages from Memorial Hall Museum and Library.
- Army Heritage Collections Online -- Provides access to materials drawn from the archival collections of the United States Army Military History Institute.
- Boston African Americana Project -- Digitized materials relating to African Americans fall broadly within the categories of slavery, the abolition movement, free blacks, the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, rural life, urban life, social life, advertising, and depictions of men, women, and children, and consist of broadsides, caricatures, illustrations, manuscripts, pamphlets, political cartoons, portraits, and views.
- Bracero History Archive -- "Collects and makes available the oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964."
- Calisphere -- Digital collection of more than 150,000 digitized items revealing the history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.
- A Chronology of US Historical Documents -- From the University of Oklahoma, this site has primary source documents organized by time period, including speeches, treaties, charters, and personal papers.
- Civil Rights Digital Library -- Promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement by helping users discover primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale.
- Civil War Letters of the Christie Family -- Letters written by three brothers from Minnesota during the Civil War in digitized format, from the Minnesota Historical Society.
- The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA) -- A core electronic collection of agricultural texts published between the early nineteenth century and the middle to late twentieth century.
- The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: A Political Perspective After 40 Years (The National Security Archive) -- An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
- Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project -- The site's goal is to preserve and make accessible primary source materials on the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.
- Digital Library of South Dakota -- DLSD is a collaboration of the libraries of six Board of Regents colleges and universities in the state of South Dakota, plus Dakota Wesleyan University.
- Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection
-- Selected documents on Afghan history from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection, housed in the University of Nebraska at Omaha Library.
- Dred Scott Case Collection -- Documents the Scotts' early struggle to gain their freedom through litigation and are the only extant records of this significant case as it was heard in the St. Louis Circuit Court.
- Duke Collection of American Indian Oral History -- provides access to typescripts of interviews (1967 -1972) conducted with hundreds of Indians in Oklahoma regarding the histories and cultures of their respective nations and tribes.
- The Early Americas Digital Archive (EADA) -- A collection of electronic texts and links to texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820.
- Expeditions and Discoveries -- provides selective access to Harvard's multidisciplinary records of pace-setting expeditions around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930 -- a web-based collection of selected historical materials from Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums that documents voluntary immigration to the US from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression.
- The King Center Archive -- digitized works and papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Nebraska Memories-- a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet.
- Papers of the War Department, 1784 to 1800 -- An innovative digital editorial project making some 55,000 documents of the early War Department, many long thought irretrievable but now reconstructed through a painstaking, multi-year research effort, available online to scholars, students, and the general public.
- The Thomas Jefferson Papers -- The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress.
- The Torture Archive -- Compiled by The National Security Archive at George Washington University, the Torture Archive provides the public with access to thousands of documents highlighting the abuse and torture of detainees in facilities such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib Prison.
- United States Military Academy Library's Digital Collections --Documentation of the history of West Point, the U.S. Military Academy, and Academy alumni in its Special Collections and Archives.
- University of Washington Digital Collections -- This site showcases some of the online multimedia collections built under auspices of the University of Washington Libraries' Digital Initiatives Program.
- The Vietnam Center and Archive -- Authoritative primary source archive from Texas Tech University.
- Vivarium -- The home of digitized manuscripts, art, rare books, photographs, and other resources from two Benedictine monastic and educational communities in central Minnesota..
- Women Working, 1800 - 1930 -- focuses on women's role in the United States economy and provides access to digitized historical, manuscript, and image resources selected from Harvard University's library and museum collections.
- The Writings of George Washington -- Full text from University of Virginia's Electronic Text Center.
World History
- Africa Research Central -- Gateway to the archives, libraries, and museums with important collections of African primary sources.
- The Avalon Project -- Documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government dating as far back as 450 BC.
- The Canadian Letters and Images Project -- An online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves.
- Constitution Finder -- Links to constitutions, charters, amendments, and other related documents of nations of the world.
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History -- The Division of Anthropology is dedicated to the study of human culture and biology. The site present high-quality images and detailed information about collections of the museum.
- Early Canadiana Online -- Digital library featuring works published from the time of the first European settlers up to the early 20th Century.
- EuroDocs -- Online sources for European history.
- Europeana -- Providing access to Europe's cultural and scientific heritage.
- Galileo Galilei's Notes on Motion
- Global Gateway: World Culture & Resources -- A unified portal to the Library of Congress's digital international collections and resources.
- Government Views of D-Day 1944 -- Links to D-Day collections around the world.
- Gutenberg Bible -- The first real book to be printed using the technique of printing which Gutenberg invented in the 1450s.
- Historical Monographs Collection
- The Internet Modern History Sourcebook -- Documents supporting courses in modern European history and American history, as well as in modern Western Civilization and World Cultures.
- The Joseph Berry Keenan Digital Collection -- Manuscript materials and photographs from the Japanese War Crimes Trial.
- LANIC: The Latin American Network Information Center -- Provides access to noncommercial Internet sources about Latin America.
- The Medici Archive Project -- Dedicated to revealing the astonishing story of the most influential family dynasty in Western civilization: the Medici.
- National Library of Scotland -- Digitised material from the National Library of Scotland's collections.
- Nuremberg Trials Project
- Parchments Digital Images Archive -- The Library of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (LLAS) collection of 1412 parchments covering the period from the eleventh century to the beginning of the twentieth century.
- The Proceedings of the Old Bailey -- Accounts of trials which took place at the Old Bailey, London's central criminal court, 1674-1913.
- The Soldier in Later Medieval England -- A database containing service records of some 250,000 soldiers who fought for the English crown in the second and third phases of the Hundred Years War.
- The Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection -- A window on the medieval world of the Mediterranean area.
- The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database -- Contains information on almost 35,000 slaving voyages.
- The World War I Document Archive -- Primary documents from World War One.
- World War II Links on the Internet -- Annotated list of web sites relating to WWII.
Images and Maps
Course Finding Aids
|
