Primary Source Databases

Search for articles from a collection of periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society that documents the life of people in the United States from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Note: The series included in this collection are Series 1 (1691-1820), Series 2 (1821-1837), Series 3 (1838-1852), Series 4 (1853-1865), and Series 5 (1866-1877). (EBSCO)

Search for articles from US newspapers that chronicle 150 years of the African American experience, including the Antebellum South, growth of the Black church, the Jim Crow Era, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement, and more. Note: UR has access to Series 1 only. (Newsbank/Readex)

Search an archive of thousands of fully searchable printed works from the beginning of Jim Crow to post-World War I. These works provide insights into African American culture and life during this period of segregation and disenfranchisement and include such topics as African American identity, relationships with peoples of other nations, and literature. (Newsbank/Readex)

The National Commission on AIDS was an independent body created in 1989 to advise Congress and the President on the development of a "consistent national policy" concerning the HIV epidemic. This database contains records connected to their work, including briefing books, hearing and meeting transcripts, reports, and press clippings. (Gale)

Cross-search Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker databases (as well as two other Civil War databases) and find scanned copies of primary sources from early American history. (Newsbank/Readex)

Search for information on archival materials housed in historical societies, libraries, museums, colleges, and universities across Virginia and West Virginia. The online finding aids help researchers discover primary source materials that document the history, culture, and people of these two states. (ARVAS)

Access archival finding aids for historical documents, personal papers, and family histories held in archives from thousands of libraries, museums, and archives from around the world. (OCLC)

Search for primary sources on the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. The content dates from the sixteenth century to the present. (Gale)

Access over 50 archival collections on a variety of topics, including FBI surveillance, law, literature, film, and civil rights. (Gale)

Search for information on the inhabitants and businesses in Richmond and other cities in Virginia. Find addresses, city/county officers, heads of families, firms, and names of those doing business in Virginia, lists of city residents, occupations, and street directories. (Gale)

Search a wide variety of primary source documents from the Civil War period, including newspapers, Congressional documents, broadsides and ephemera. (Newsbank/Readex)

Find primary source material covering the rapid revolution of the justice and penal system during the nineteenth century, as well as the rise of sensationalism around crimes and criminals that captured the public's imagination. On one end of the spectrum, you will find trial transcripts, court proceedings, and the development of the police and forensic techniques; on the other end, you will also find popular fiction and detective novels; and bridging the two are newspaper accounts, true crime literature, and related ephemera. (Gale)

Access the archives of the official newspaper for the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). (Brill)

This collection includes the proceedings of the 1832-1988 Democratic National Conventions and the 1856-1988 Republican National Conventions, as well as speeches, debates, votes, and party platforms. Also included are lists of names of convention delegates and alternates. Records of the earliest proceedings are based in part on contemporary newspaper accounts. (Gale)

Search for primary sources on the many actors and agencies whose efforts shaped modern policy and legislation in conservation and environmental protection in the US and the British Empire. Included are the papers of early environmentalists plus records from US agencies like the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Forest Service. On the British side, find records from the Colonial Office, Forest Office, and more. (Gale)

Under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI vigorously investigated and tracked the activities of communist groups, civil rights organizations, and Native Americans in the United States. Explore the archives and find files on Albert Einstein, Alger Hiss, Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, Whittaker Chambers, Freedom Riders, Howard Hughes, HUAC, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abbie Hoffman, Cesar Chavez, Weatherman, Malcolm X, NAACP, SNCC, SCLC, the American Indian Movement and many more. Also included are files on the Watergate scandal. (Gale)

Search across over 20 Gale Primary Sources archives, including Archives of Sexuality and Gender, Archives Unbound, The Making of Modern Law, and various historical newspapers and magazines. (Gale)

Search for statistics on topics related to American Indians, slavery, poverty, race, ethnicity, migration, health, crime, and more. Each are placed in historical context by a recognized expert in the field. (Cambridge)

Search for federal, state and local policy documents, academic theses and reports, and national strategy documents on topics related to homeland security. UR has access to everything but the restricted collection. (US Government)

Explore cases from the U.S. District and Circuit Courts in Springfield, Illinois where Abraham Lincoln was identified as legal counsel. These 122 case files from 1855-1861 include civil actions brought under both statute and common law, admiralty litigation, and a few criminal cases. (Gale)

Access primary source documents from the Federal Writers' Project, which employed thousands of people during the Great Depression to create state and city guides, local and oral histories, poems and plays, ethnographies, children's books, and more. (Gale)

Search several archives about the history of Native Americans in the 1800s-1960s. This includes correspondence in the Presbyterian Historical Society's Collection of Missionaries' Letters, FBI Files on the American Indian Movement, the Meriam Report, the Indian Trade in the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands, and the War Department's supervision of Indian Affairs. (Gale)

Search records related to the creation and activities of the temporary Emergency Court of Appeals, which was given exclusive jurisdiction to determine the validity of price control regulations created by the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942. This law was passed as a means of checking the inflation that accompanied America's entry into World War II. (Gale)

Search the records of district attorneys from southern states tasked with upholding federal laws in the states that fought in the Confederacy or were Border States. This database includes their correspondence with the attorney general as well all other letters received by the attorney general from the states in question during that period, including the correspondence of marshals, judges, convicts, and concerned or aggrieved citizens. (Gale)

Search large-scale plans of Virginia cities and towns, created to assist fire insurance companies assess the risk associated with insuring a particular property. Map information includes data such as the outline of each building, the size, shape, and construction materials, heights and function of structures, and location of windows and doors. The maps also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house numbers. (ProQuest)

Search primary sources from one of the most famous cases of the 20th century, also called the "Monkey Trial." Teacher John T. Scopes was accused of teaching evolution at a school in Dayton, TN in July 1925. Lawyer Clarence Darrow represented the defense and William Jennings Bryant prosecuted, in a trial that became a highly controversial spectacle and sparked debates across the country. (Gale)

Create reports and maps based on US Census data and demographic information. Create an account on the site to save your maps. (Social Explorer)

Search the papers of James E. and Esther Cooper Jackson, who are best known for their role in founding and leading the Southern Negro Youth Congress from 1937-1948. (Gale)

Search primary sources related to former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's resignation in 1973 following an investigation on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, bribery, extortion, and tax fraud. This collection contains the legal documents of the case, the correspondence surrounding the investigation and trial, Agnew's personal records, and related newspaper and magazine articles. (Gale)

Search for articles from the journal The Moving Picture World, which reviewed new film releases and published news, features, and interviews relating to all aspects of the silent film industry. (Gale)

Search previously classified federal records from the executive branch spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Types of documents include intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, and domestic surveillance and military reports. Learn more about what was happening behind the scenes at the highest level of American policymaking on issues of national security and foreign policy. (Gale)

Explore the US government archives relating to the use of federal troops in Oxford, Mississippi on the occasion of James Meredith's enrollment at the University of Mississippi in 1962-63. Also find information on President Eisenhower's use of federal troops and the Arkansas National Guard in the Little Rock integration crisis of 1957-1958. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents on the prosecution of witchcraft from the 15th century to the early 20th century. Documents include anti-persecution writings, works by penologists, legal and church documents, exposés of persecutions, philosophical writings, and transcripts of trials and exorcisms. (Gale)

Search for articles from historical women's periodicals published from the late 18th century to the early 1930s. Some of the titles were conceived and published by men, for women; others were conceived and published by male editors with strong input from female assistant editors or managers; while others were conceived and published by women, for women. These periodicals illuminate the lives of women, the role of women in society, and the development of the public lives of women as the push for women's rights—woman suffrage, fair pay, better working conditions—grew in the United States and England. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents focusing on the evolution of feminism and political activism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics covered include suffrage, abolition of slavery, alcohol and temperance movements, birth control, pacifism, civil rights, socialism, and more. Also included is a collection that focuses on "female forerunners," women who broke new paths in society through business, social reform, popular culture, health care, and more. (Gale)

Search a collection of British newspapers and pamphlets gathered by Rev. Charles Burney (1757-1817), which helps chart the development of the newspaper from published transcripts to coffee house newsbooks to the newspaper as we know it today. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents on history, culture, peoples, and societies of Latin American and the Caribbean. Documents include original manuscripts, signed letters, expedition records, reports, maps, diaries, descriptions of voyages, and ephemera. (Gale)

Search for primary sources on the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. The content dates from the sixteenth century to the present. (Gale)

Find and read French-language texts from the 12th-20th centuries. Genres include novels, verse, theater, journalism, essays, correspondence, and treatises. Subjects include literary criticism, biology, history, economics, and philosophy. (University of Chicago)
 

Search this primary source database for a window into radio broadcasts happening in the second half of the 20th century. At the start of WWII, trained specialists listened to radio broadcasts from around the world to help Britain and its allies gather open-source intelligence. Over the next 60 years, BBC expanded its scope and listened to radio broadcasts of all sorts of events. Transcripts were created, then translated into English, then read by experts, who then selected the critical content and compiled it into the daily reports that comprise this database. (Newsbank/Readex)

Search this primary source database for manuscripts dating roughly from 1120-1660. It includes letters, poems, stories, plays, chronicles, religious writings, and more. (Gale)

Find primary source material covering the rapid revolution of the justice and penal system during the nineteenth century, as well as the rise of sensationalism around crimes and criminals that captured the public's imagination. On one end of the spectrum, you will find trial transcripts, court proceedings, and the development of the police and forensic techniques; on the other end, you will also find popular fiction and detective novels; and bridging the two are newspaper accounts, true crime literature, and related ephemera. (Gale)

Search this guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750, covering the history of European exploration. (EBSCO)

*Create an account and then request access to the videos. Watch video testimonies of individuals willing to share their stories of first-hand experience of Nazi persecutions, including those who were hiding, survivors, bystanders, those who resisted, and liberators. Testimonies were recorded in whatever language the witness preferred. Note: There is a collection that is restricted to Yale only; UR does not have access to this collection. (Yale)

Search for primary source documents on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed by Nazi concentration camp commandants and camp personnel. Documents include correspondence; trial records and transcripts; investigatory material, such as interrogation reports and trial exhibits; clemency petitions and reviews; photographs of atrocities; newspaper clippings; and pamphlets. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents from the time when there was a political and sectarian divide between the north and the south in Ireland, leading to sustained armed violence over several decades. Before imposing direct rule in 1972, the British government allowed for a separate parliament in Stormont Castle in Belfast to govern Northern Ireland. This database contains the complete archives of the Cabinet Conclusion files of the Northern Ireland Government, filed as CAB/4 at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). This cabinet was at the center of the decision-making process and discussion of policy matters throughout the period of devolved administration from 1921-1972. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents on plight of refugees and displaced persons across Europe, North Africa, and Asia from 1935 to 1950. Documentation offers a record of the response of governments to various crises and shifts in policy; a chronicling of the aid work undertaken by NGOs and charities seeking to provide relief and aid in resettlement; and a recognition through individual narratives of the daily reality of the refugee experience. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents from the British government. This database includes the papers of the Secretary of State from Henry VIII's accession in 1509 to 1714. Topics covered include internal English/British affairs, administration of the country, foreign affairs, marriage alliances, treaties, and wars. (Gale)

Search a collection of thousands of formerly classified government documents that provide a comprehensive survey of the U.S. intelligence community’s activities in Europe, including Eastern Europe, Turkey and Cyprus, during the latter half of the 20th century. (Brill)

Search for primary source documents on the prosecution of witchcraft from the 15th century to the early 20th century. Documents include anti-persecution writings, works by penologists, legal and church documents, exposés of persecutions, philosophical writings, and transcripts of trials and exorcisms. (Gale)

Search for articles from historical women's periodicals published from the late 18th century to the early 1930s. Some of the titles were conceived and published by men, for women; others were conceived and published by male editors with strong input from female assistant editors or managers; while others were conceived and published by women, for women. These periodicals illuminate the lives of women, the role of women in society, and the development of the public lives of women as the push for women's rights—woman suffrage, fair pay, better working conditions—grew in the United States and England. (Gale)

Search for primary source documents focusing on the evolution of feminism and political activism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics covered include suffrage, abolition of slavery, alcohol and temperance movements, birth control, pacifism, civil rights, socialism, and more. Also included is a collection that focuses on "female forerunners," women who broke new paths in society through business, social reform, popular culture, health care, and more. (Gale)

Search for articles from journals that publish feminist research in areas of sociology, history, political science, public policy, international relations, arts and humanities, business, and education. (EBSCO)

Search for primary source documents that illuminate the broad scope of British women's activities during World War I. The database includes materials from the Imperial War Museum in London, such as charity and international relief reports, pamphlets, photographs, press cuttings, magazines, posters, correspondence, minutes, records, diaries, memoranda, statistics, circulars, regulations and invitations, and interpretative essays from leading scholars. (Gale)

Search a collection of British newspapers and pamphlets gathered by Rev. Charles Burney (1757-1817), which helps chart the development of the newspaper from published transcripts to coffee house newsbooks to the newspaper as we know it today. (Gale)

Search for articles from US newspapers that chronicle 150 years of the African American experience, including the Antebellum South, growth of the Black church, the Jim Crow Era, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement, and more. Note: UR has access to Series 1 only. (Newsbank/Readex)

Search broadcasts and news of selected non-U.S. media sources translated into English by the CIA. (Newsbank/Readex)

Access archival collections created by the University of Richmond hosted on the JSTOR platform. Includes various image collections and a set of World War I pamphlets. (ITHAKA)

Access a massive collection of streaming videos, including documentaries, interviews, performances, newsreels, field recordings, commercials, and raw footage, among others. Most topics are represented in this database. (Alexander Street Press)

Search this primary source database for a window into radio broadcasts happening in the second half of the 20th century. At the start of WWII, trained specialists listened to radio broadcasts from around the world to help Britain and its allies gather open-source intelligence. Over the next 60 years, BBC expanded its scope and listened to radio broadcasts of all sorts of events. Transcripts were created, then translated into English, then read by experts, who then selected the critical content and compiled it into the daily reports that comprise this database. (Newsbank/Readex)

Conduct genealogical research through this database. Most content is from the United States and the UK and includes census, vital, church, court, and immigration records. Note: The "Library Edition" does not contain all of the content found in a personal Ancestry.com subscription. (ProQuest)