Library Guides: Explorers, Travelers, and Tourists: Primary Sources: Online

Databases of Travel Writing

Found a citation of a published travel narrative? We may have a print copy at Howard-Tilton, but also try Google Books in case there's a keyword-searchable copy online.

Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
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.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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.
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new window
Choose "Advanced Search" and select "Travel" in the Subject Area.
Includes published pamphlets, tracts, memoirs, congressional legislation, correspondence, broadsides, biographies, histories, fiction and poetry, eulogies, sermons and other genres.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
From the everyday to the extraordinary, these rare diaries and the supporting correspondence describe the travel experiences, destinations and desires of nineteenth and twentieth century American women.
The project has wide ranging interdisciplinary appeal, offering first hand accounts of major historical events as reported by eye witnesses, detailing key interests and themes in women’s lives, providing snapshots of cities, cultures and customs, and charting the rise of modern tourism and the travel industry. Topics covered include: Emigration and daily life, Missionary Work, World War I, World War II, Boxer War in China, Frontier Life in America, Personal Enlightenment through travel, Education and Finishing School, Sightseeing, Holidays and Tourism, Customs, culture and leisure.

Women & Gender

The following are databases that include primary source material on women. Diaries and letters may describe their experiences traveling abroad.

British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries includes the immediate experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters.
Everyday Life & Women in America This link opens in a new window
Resource for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history, providing immediate access to rare primary source material from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History, Duke University and The New York Public Library. It comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) 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.
Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new window
Digital facsimilies of more than 4,700 publications concerning women's history from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, dating from 1543-1945.
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Contains the personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, displayed as images of the original manuscripts. The collection is drawn entirely from the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
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.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
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.

The Press

Newspapers and popular magazines may provide a window into popular impressions of foreign lands and peoples. Consider news, advertising, and perhaps even a travel section when searching these resources.

American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
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.
Harper's Weekly This link opens in a new window
Full text of this American political magazine from 1857 to 1912. Features foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays, humor, and illustrations. Extensive coverage of the American Civil War, including illustrations. Includes artwork of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

News & Newspapers Library Guide
Your guide to local, national, and international news sources, both recent and historical

Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
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.

Other Collections

These collections contain a wide range of material types and subject coverage.

Gallica This link opens in a new window
The open access digital library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Offers all types of media: print (monographs, periodicals and press) in image and text mode, manuscripts, sound recordings, graphic material, maps and plans. The gateway to digital collections in French.

Library of Congress Digital Collections
Access online collections: view maps & photographs; read letters, diaries & newspapers; hear personal accounts of events; listen to sound recordings & watch historic films. Highlights include:
Discovery and Exploration;
Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training ;
The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures.
Making of America
Collection contains approximately 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints

Governments Abroad

Official government documents may also serve as primary sources for studying travelers. How did colonial administrators describe the people and cultural practices of the colonies they goverened? How are the observations of security officials different from the perceptions of diplomats?

Confidential Print: Records of the British Foreign and Colonial Offices
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.

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive collection of historic and current congressional information, including bills & laws, hearings, CRS reports, committee prints, reports, and the Congressional Record
Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Contains the most comprehensive collection of primary documents available. The database includes more than 60,000 of the most important declassified documents regarding critical U.S. policy decisions.

Foreign Relations between Latin America and the Caribbean States, 1930-1944
As recorded by the U.S. Department of State.
Part of the Archives Unbound database. Click "Browse Collections" to specify this online collection.
Foreign Relations of the United States (1861-1960)
The Foreign Relations of the United States series is the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication.
Digital access provided by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.
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The series is produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian and printed volumes are available from the Government Printing Office.
Foreign Relations of the United States (1945-1976)
Initial volumes document the origins of the modern intelligence establishment, followed by detailed coverage of foreign relations from 1952 through 1980.
Online versions of the FRUS volumes provided by the Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.