Primary Sources, Newspapers, and More
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African Americans and Jim Crow, 1883-1922 This link opens in a new window
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)
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African Americans and Reconstruction, 1865-1883 This link opens in a new windowSearch an archive of thousands of printed works from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of Jim Crow. It includes documents related to African Americans and citizenship, voting rights, literacy, land rights, and employment. (Newsbank/Readex)
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American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Find primary source documents (mostly manuscripts) that illuminate American history from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century. (AM)
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American West This link opens in a new window
Find primary source documents on the westward expansion of the United States. Topics covered include exploration by early pioneers, the Gold Rush, evolution of Western towns, the growth of the railroad, agricultural transformation, Texas/Mexico history, and Native American history and culture. (AM)
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Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS) This link opens in a new window
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)
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Colonial State Papers This link opens in a new windowSearch thousands of hand-written primary source documents and indexes that document colonial history from the earliest English settlements in North America, piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean, slave trade, and English conflicts with the Spanish and the French. (ProQuest)
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East India Company This link opens in a new window
Access primary sources related to the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent from 1599-1947. Documents include royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings, reports of expeditions, and more. Please note: UR only has access to modules 1-3. (AM)
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HistoryMakers Video Archive This link opens in a new windowWatch videos of thousands of oral history interviews that highlight the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements. (HistoryMakers)
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Literature, Culture and Society in Depression Era America: Archives of the Federal Writers' Project This link opens in a new window
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)
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North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowSearch a collection of letters and diaries written from colonial times to 1950 by famous and not-so-famous women from all age groups, life stages, ethnicities, and geographical regions. (Alexander Street Press)
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Political Extremism and Radicalism This link opens in a new windowSearch primary sources on peripheral groups deemed "extreme" or "radical" by contemporaries on both the right and the left from the early 1900s to the present. Find sources on anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-war, communist or socialist, creationist, environmentalist, hate, holocaust denial, new left, survivalist, and white supremacist/nationalist groups. Most materials come from the US and Great Britain, but a few are from Australia and other countries in Europe. (Gale)
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Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement: Forced Migration and World War II This link opens in a new window
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)
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Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019 This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from the archives of the Times of London newspaper, which covers general news, culture, fine arts, politics, history, and more. (Gale)
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19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSearch an archive of newspapers published in the 1800s by a variety of groups, including political parties, African Americans, Native Americans, women's rights groups, labor groups, and the Confederacy. This collection includes newspapers from every one of the 50 modern-day US states. (Gale)
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Access World News (Historical and Current) This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from thousands of US and global news sources. It includes some audio and video news sources, as well as traditional newspapers. (Newsbank/Readex)
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African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
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)
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Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from 7 national papers (Atlanta Constitution, Barron's, Christian Science Monitor, LA Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post) and 13 historically Black papers (Atlanta Daily World, Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Cleveland Call and Post, Kansas City Call, Los Angeles Sentinel, Louisville Defender, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, Norfolk Journal and Guide, Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier and St. Louis American). Full-text dates vary for each newspaper. (ProQuest)
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Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from this fully-illustrated weekly British newspaper. It covers topics such as the arts, discovery and exploration, fashion, industry and trade, military history, politics, science and medicine, social history, sports, transportation, and travel. (Gale)
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International Newsstream This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from news sources outside of the US and Canada, such as newspapers, newswires, transcripts, and digital-only news sites. (ProQuest)
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Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowSearch for newspaper articles and legal materials such as court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews, and more. (Lexis-Nexis)
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Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019 This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from the archives of the Times of London newspaper, which covers general news, culture, fine arts, politics, history, and more. (Gale)
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Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
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)
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Foreign Born Population, 1850 – 2020At all points in its history, a significant proportion of the population of the United States had been born in other countries and regions. This being the case, American history can never be understood by just looking within its borders. The culture and politics of the US have always been profoundly shaped by the material and emotional ties many of its residents have had to the places where they were born. This map will allow you to begin to explore those connections at the basic level of demographic statistics. Created by the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab.
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The Overland Trails, 1840-1860During the 1840s tens of thousands of American migrants made long journeys through the American West seeking land in Oregon, gold in California, and religious liberty in Utah. Created by the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab.
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Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
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)
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Kanopy This link opens in a new windowSearch this streaming video collection of documentaries, educational films, classic Hollywood movies, and world cinema. Note: Not all Kanopy films are immediately available for streaming. For any that are unavailable, please fill out the request form in Kanopy with as much information as possible to convey your teaching or research needs. The library will only unlock videos used for courses and assignments. (OverDrive)
Online Primary Source Collections
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American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and SettlementAmerican Journeys contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later. From the Wisconsin Historical Society.
*NOTE: This website's UI is a bit outdated, so if you find relevant sources through this site, be sure and download local copies to your device. -
American Notes: Travels in America, 1750 to 1920Comprises 253 published narratives by Americans and foreign visitors recounting their travels in the colonies and the United States and their observations and opinions about American peoples, places, and society from about 1750 to 1920. Hosted through the Library of Congress.
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The Negro Motorist Green BookCollection of ten digitized editions of "The Negro Motorist Green Book" (1937-41; 1947-51) accessible via the New York Public Library
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Shrinking the World: Pan American Airways in the Postwar EraCollection of assorted archival and cultural sources that highlight "the seemingly symbiotic relationship between commercial aviation and globalization" as seen through Pan Am's expansion in the post-WWII era. Hosted by the Digital Public Library of America.
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Southeast Asia VisionsSoutheast Asia Visions is a collection of European travel accounts of pre-modern Southeast Asia from Cornell University Library's John M. Echols Collection. The site provides online access to more than 350 books written in English and French. Hosted through Cornell University Library's Digital Collections.
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TIMEA - Travelers in the Middle EastTIMEA provides online access to texts, maps, and images documenting travel to the Middle East (primarily Egypt) between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These materials range from travel guides, travel narratives, and museum catalogs to stereocards, advertisements and postcards. Hosted through Rice University's Fondren Library Woodson Research Center.
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Travelogue CollectionThe Travelogue Collection contains historical, social and and anthropological information dating from 1936 through 1980 and were shot mainly in the United States but also include extensive footage of Europe and Asia as well. The collection comprises both the private histories of home movies and the public record of travel films and is an important source of information for the researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Hosted by UC San Diego Library's Digital Collections.