Here are alphabetical listings primary source collections that have been digitized and provided through subscription databases. These are typically organized around a central theme, time period, or geographic region.
Use the Primary Sources By Region tab above to view online primary sources organized by geographic area.
From 1936 to 1938, the Federal Writers' Project employed writers and journalists to interview ex-slaves in the United States. Nearly 4,000 interviews were ultimately collected and are presented in this database.
Access to documents that record the lineage of individuals from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and more. Ancestry.com delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more. Use Firefox or Chrome browser. IE not supported.
The Annual Register is a year-by-year record of British and world events, published annually since 1758. Includes every volume published and will be updated with the latest volume each year.
Offers original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the 1917 Balfour Declaration through to the Black September war of 1970-1971.
Digital collections of historical material on many topics. Includes manuscripts, printed books and periodicals, and government documents. Material comes from the U.S. National Archives, the U.K. National Archives, and many other libraries and archives.
Contains thousands of sources covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Where possible, complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters and other fugitive material.
Access full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late 17th century to the early 20th, comprising millions of high-resolution facsimile page images. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.
From 1940-1945, covers the political life in Occupied Western Europe available to the British Government during World War II from the original intelligence reports, photographs, posters, and film.
British government Confidential Print files, issued by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Collections by region include:
Africa, 1834-1966;
China, 1919-1929, 1949-1980;
India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, 1947-1980;
Middle East from Egypt to Afghanistan, 1839-1969;
North America (USA, Canada, the Caribbean), 1824 – 1961.
Comprehensive collection of historic and current congressional information, including bills & laws, hearings, CRS reports, committee prints, reports, and the Congressional Record.
The resource includes abstracts and indexing for congressional publications, and legislative histories. It also includes member biographies, committee assignments, voting records and financial data; and the full text of key regulatory and statutory resources.
Online access to previously classified government documents. Covering major international events from the Cold War to the Vietnam War and beyond, users can locate key information underpinning studies in international relations, American studies, United States foreign and domestic policy studies, journalism and more.
The Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts covers the religious and social upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries and provides access to an extensive range of seminal works from the Reformation and post-Reformation eras.
A uniquely exhaustive resource for historians, theologians, political scientists, and sociologists studying the religious and social upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation gives researchers immediate, Web-based access to an extensive range of seminal works from the Reformation and post-Reformation eras.
ProQuest, in partnership with The National Security Archive, produce the Digital National Security Archive, the most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. Collections cover the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post-World War II through the 21st century, with access to more than 150,000 indexed, declassified government documents. The DNSA is comprised of many database collections which can be searched individually or together.
The resource comprises the following databases; Afghanistan: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1973–1990; The Afghanistan War and the United States, 1998-2017; Argentina, 1975-1980: The Making of U.S. Human Rights Policy; The Berlin Crisis, 1958–1962; Chile and the United States: U.S. Policy toward Democracy, Dictatorship, and Human Rights, 1970–1990; China and the United States: From Hostility to Engagement, 1960–1998; CIA Covert Operations: From Carter to Obama, 1977-2010; CIA Family Jewels Indexed; Colombia and the United States: Political Violence, Narcotics, and Human Rights, 1948-2010; The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962; The Cuban Missile Crisis: 50th Anniversary Update; The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited: An International Collection, From Bay of Pigs to Nuclear Brink; Death Squads, Guerrilla War, Covert Ops, and Genocide: Guatemala and the United States, 1954-1999; Electronic Surveillance and the National Security Agency: From Shamrock to Snowden; El Salvador: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977–1984; El Salvador: War, Peace, and Human Rights, 1980–1994; Iran: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977–1980; The Iran-Contra Affair: The Making of a Scandal, 1983–1988; Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. Policy and the Prelude to the Persian Gulf War, 1980–1994; Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, 1960–1976, 1877-1992, and Part III, 1961-2000; The Kissinger Telephone Conversations: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977; The Kissinger Transcripts: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977; Mexico-United States Counternarcotics Policy, 1969-2013; The National Security Agency: Organization and Operations, 1945-2009; Nicaragua: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1978–1990; Peru: Human Rights, Drugs and Democracy, 1980-2000; The Philippines: U.S. Policy During the Marcos Years, 1965–1986; Presidential Directives on National Security, Part I: From Truman to Clinton; Presidential Directives on National Security, Part II: From Truman to George W. Bush; South Africa: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1962–1989; The Soviet Estimate: U.S. Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947–1991; Targeting Iraq, Part 1: Planning, Invasion, and Occupation, 1997-2004; Terrorism and U.S. Policy, 1968–2002; U.S. Climate Change Diplomacy: From the Montreal Protocol to the Paris Agreement, 1981-2015; U.S. Espionage and Intelligence, 1947–1996; U.S. Intelligence and China: Collection, Analysis and Covert Action; The U.S. Intelligence Community: Organization, Operations and Management, 1947–1989; The U.S. Intelligence Community After 9/11; U.S. Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction: From World War II to Iraq; U.S. Military Uses of Space, 1945–1991; U.S. Nuclear History: Nuclear Arms and Politics in the Missile Age, 1955–1968; U.S. Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy, 1945–1991; U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I (1954-1968) and Part II: (1969-1975); U.S. Policy toward Iran: From the Revolution to the Nuclear Accord, 1978-2015; and The United States and the Two Koreas, Part 1 (1969-2000) and Part II (1969-2010).
Users can access contemporary accounts and follow the detailed exchanges that shaped British foreign policy from the origins of the First World War and beyond. Content covering the rest of the century will be added before the end of 2008.
Covers every aspect of American life during the early decades of the United States, provides full-text access to the 36,000 American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the first nineteen years of the nineteenth century
Contains letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters from 1534-1850. Effective browsing and searching capabilities allow, for example, to identify all encounters between the French and the Huron between 1650 and 1700.
Contains full text of about 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement.
This project has been developed to encourage undergraduate work with rare primary documents. By using images of the texts rather than transcriptions, Empire Online enables students to connect with the past with greater immediacy. By retaining the look and feel of the original sources, we engender greater interaction with the material as students can understand better the circumstances in which sources were created and the ways in which the authors chose to present their arguments.
Contains images of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
The collection is especially rich in conduct of life and domestic management literature, offering vivid insights into the daily lives of women and men, as well as emphasizing contrasts in regional, urban and rural cultures.
The definitive cross-cultural resource for information on women's history (1543-1945). Trace the evolution of feminism within a single country, as well as the impact of that country's feminist movement on other countries and their movements.
Covers the cultural landscape of America during the decades between the end of the Civil War and the election of Theodore Roosevelt. Includes essays, songs, letters, photographs, cartoons, government documents, ephemera, and interviews.
Includes full text of reference books, encyclopedias, historical documents, biographies, photographs, and video. Database contains 58,000 historical documents; 43,000 biographies of historical figures; more than 12,000 historical photos and maps. and more than 80 hours of historical video.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) now includes over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present, with supplementary material back to 1688. We have access to the following: 18th century (1688-1834) , 19th century (1801-1900), 20th century (1901-2003/04 session).
Includes photographs detailing social, military, and political perspectives. Also includes graphical content such as envelopes, song sheets, recruiting posters, imprints, and cartoons. Formerly known as American Civil War: Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera.
Contains original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers. Iraq 1914-1974 offers the widest range of original source material from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers from the Anglo-Indian landing in Basra in 1914 through the British Mandate in Iraq of 1920-32 to the rise of Saddam Hussein in 1974.
Digital facsimile images of unique primary sources that track the development of the modern, western world through the lens of trade and wealth. Search full-text across millions of pages of works from the periods 1450-1850 (Part 1) to explore history, political science, social conditions, technology and industry, economics, area studies and more.
Collection of women's diaries and correspondence from Colonial times to 1950. Sources include journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings, much of the material is in copyright. Represented are all age groups and life stages, all ethnicities, many geographical regions, the famous and the not so famous.
Contains a full record of every debate and transaction for the entire duration of the Stormont administration, the devolved government of Northern Ireland. Separate files exist for each Cabinet Meeting and include minutes and memoranda. The discussions and decisions reflect the wide range of problems and activities involved in making the new administration work.
Online version of the first edition of Jacques-Paul Migne's Patrologia Latina, published between 1844 and 1855, and the four volumes of indexes published between 1862 and 1865. The Patrologia Latina comprises the works of the Church Fathers from Tertullian in 200 AD to the death of Pope Innocent III in 1216.
160 volumes of Greek material (with Latin translations) relevant to the study of the history of the Christian Church from its beginnings through the Council of Florence in 1439.
Perseus Digital LibraryOpen Access collection of eTexts concerning the ancient world. Major strengths include art and archaeology as well as guides for teachers.
ProQuest History Vault's Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle collection offers the opportunity to study the most well-known and also unheralded events of the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of the men, women, and sometimes even children who waged one of the most inspiring social movements in American history.
The resource comprises the following modules: Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records and Supplement ; Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Parts 1 and 2: NAACP Papers: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files; NAACP Papers: Branch Department, Branch Files, and Youth Department Files; NAACP Papers: Special Subjects; NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces; NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Legal Department Files; NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Scottsboro, Anti-Lynching, Criminal Justice, Peonage, Labor, and Segregation and Discrimination Complaints and Responses; and African American Police League Records (1961-1988).
Provides indexing of over three million articles from more than 550 leading magazines. Offers a wide range of researchers access to information about history, culture and seminal developments across nearly a century.
Full-text books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas. The collection is rich in original accounts of discovery and exploration, pioneering and westward expansion, the U.S. Civil War and other military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition, and religious history.
ProQuest History Vault's Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War resource consists of modules with a focus on Slavery and the Law; Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries; records focused on the Slave trade and other legal issues pertaining to slavery.
The resource comprises the following modules: Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Law and Order in 19th Century America (1636-1880); Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries (1700-1896); Slavery and the Law (1775-1867); and Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records, Parts 1-4.
A collection from the Imperial War Museum, London, which includes charity and international relief reports, pamphlets, photographs, and press cuttings, along with interpretative essays from leading scholars. Together these documents are useful for the study of 20th Century social, political, military and gender history.
The history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000. Seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding about U.S. history generally at the same time that it makes the insights of women's history accessible.
The collection currently includes 91 document projects and archives with more than 3,600 documents and 150,000 pages of additional full-text documents, and more than 2,060 primary authors.
