Research Guides: A Guide to American History: Databases & Primary Source Collections (Digitized)

Databases

General

A primary source is defined as "a document or record containing firsthand information or original data on a topic, used in preparing a derivative work. Primary sources include original manuscripts, periodical articles reporting original research or thought, diaries, memoirs, letters, journals, photographs, drawings, posters, film footage, sheet music, songs, interviews, government documents, public records, eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings, etc." (Joan M. Reitz, Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, https://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_p.aspx). What is or is not a primary source can perhaps be better understood by comparison with the definition of a secondary source: "any published or unpublished work that is one step removed from the original source, usually describing, summarizing, analyzing, evaluating, derived from, or based on primary source materials, for example, a review, critical analysis, second-person account, or biographical or historical study. Also refers to material other than primary sources used in the preparation of a written work" (Reitz, https://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_s.aspx).

Historic Documents - excerpts from documents on the important events of each year for the United States and the world. Each volume includes approximately 70 events with well over 100 documents from the previous year, from official or other influential reports and surveys, to speeches from leaders and opinion makers, to court cases, legislation, testimony, and much more. Full-source citations are provided. Readers have easy access to material through a detailed, thematic table of contents and a cumulative five-year index that directs them to related material in earlier volumes.

America's Historical Imprints
Full-text books, pamphlets, and serials published in America, 1639-1819. Divided into two series: Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 and Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819. Search each of two series separately or together.
American National Biography
Portraits of more than 17,400 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation.
Ancestry.com - Library Edition
a new genealogy research tool created for the library market and provides patrons instant access to a wide range of unique resources for genealogical and historical research. With more than 1.5 billion names in over 4,000 databases, Ancestry Library Edition includes records from the United States Census; military records; court, land and probate records; vital and church records; directories; passenger lists and more! These collections are continuously expanding, with new content added every business day.
Historical Statistics of the United States
A standard source for quantitative facts of American history. Contains over 37,000 data series from over 1,000 sources
Legislative Insight (1929 - )
Contains over 18,000 federal legislative histories with digital full text publications covering laws from 1929 to present. For federal laws between 1969 and current, coverage will be similar to ProQuest Congressional. This database provides legislative histories for 10,000 laws passed between 1929 and 1968 that are not in ProQuest Congressional.
Statistical Abstracts, Historical
Links to .pdf versions of earlier editions of Statistical Abstract of the United States, and to the Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970.
American Men and Women of Science
Contains biographical entries on approximately 120,000 living scientists in the physical, biological, and related sciences
European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750
a comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750, based on "European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed in Europe Relating to The Americas, 1493-1750."

Archives

Research Centers Directory - in print and online

Archive Finder
A current directory which describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material housed in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Afghan-U.S. Relations

Afghanistan and the US, 1945-1963 (Archives Unbound)
Records of the U.S. State Department Central Classified Files. The collection contains 9,674 images from the U.S. National Archives, ranging from 1945-1963.

African Americana

Umbra Search African American History
22,286 items from more than 1,000 U.S. archives, libraries, and museums.
African American Communities
Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories, revealing the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity.
Black Studies Center
Includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more. Combines such invaluable resources as: Schomburg Studies on the Black Xxperience, International Index of Black Periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago Defender, and Black Literature Index.
Black Thought and Culture
Contains 1,297 sources with 1,098 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters and other fugitive material.
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th century (History Vault)
Primary source material from federal agencies, letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries. Module one consists of 37 collections of organizational records and personal papers, and the second module is comprised of 36 collections from federal government agencies.
Clotel, or The President’s Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States (Rotunda)
The first African American novel, Clotel was published when its author was still legally a slave. Presents the full extant texts of the novel’s four versions, published between 1853 and 1867. Imaged and coded, the fully searchable texts may be read individually or in parallel and are accompanied by biographical, critical, and historical commentary as well as line-by-line annotations and textual collation.
Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Enforcement of Federal Law in the South, 1871-1884 (Archives Unbound)
This AU collection on law and order documents the efforts of district attorneys from southern states to uphold federal laws in the states that fought in the Confederacy or were Border States. This publication 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.
Booker T. Washington & The National Negro Business League (Archives Unbound)
Booker T. Washington, founder of the National Negro Business League, believed that solutions to the problem of racial discrimination were primarily economic, and that bringing African Americans into the middle class was the key. In 1900, he established the League "to promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro," and headed it until his death.
African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress (Archives Unbound)
he National Negro Congress was established in 1936 to "secure the right of the Negro people to be free from Jim Crowism, segregation, discrimination, lynching, and mob violence" and "to promote the spirit of unity and cooperation between Negro and white people." It was conceived as a national coalition of church, labor, and civil rights organizations that would coordinate protest action in the face of deteriorating economic conditions for blacks.
Grassroots Civil Rights and Social Action: Council for Social Action (Archives Unbound)
The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches voted to create the Council for Social Action in 1934. The Council worked to focus on continuing Christian concern for service, international relations, citizenship, rural life, and legislative, industrial and cultural relations. The records in this collection trace the Council’s active participation in social action, its engagement in race relations, Indian relations, opposition to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, and the protection of the civil rights of war victims and Japanese-Americans during the Second World War.
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945 (Archives Unbound)
This new series contains a collection of essential materials for the study of the early development of the Civil Rights Movement-concerned with the issues of Lynching, Segregation, Race riots, and Employment discrimination. This new collection from FDR’s Official File provides insight into his political style and presents an instructive example of how he balanced moral preference with political realities.
Grassroots Civil Rights and Social Activism: FBI Files on Benjamin J. Davis, Jr. (Archives Unbound)
The FBI files on Benjamin J. Davis, Jr. that make up this collection were assembled by Dr. Gerald Horne, author of Black Liberation/Red Scare: Ben Davis and the Communist Party, and the breadth of issues addressed by these records is astounding. Davis served as a leader in local, district, and national leadership bodies of the Communist Party USA and thus concerned himself with a broad range of organizational, political, and theoretical questions. There is news of grassroots organizing successes and failures, minutes from meetings held on all the levels on which Davis engaged, and reports from member-informers on all the major political and theoretical debates.
Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party: Papers of James and Esther Cooper Jackson
Clippings, correspondence, lectures, research notebooks, speeches, and writings (published and unpublished), subject files, internal documents and printed ephemera. Contains over 45,000 images from 1932-2000.
Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress (Archives Unbound)
The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was established in 1946 to, among other things, "combat all forms of discrimination against…labor, the Negro people and the Jewish people, and racial, political, religious, and national minorities." The CRC arose out of the merger of three groups with ties to the Communist Party, the International Labor Defense (ILD), the National Negro Congress, and the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties. CRC campaigns helped pioneer many of the tactics that civil rights movement activists would employ in the late 1950s and 1960s. The CRC folded in 1955 under pressure from the U.S. Attorney General and the House Un-American Activities Committee, which accused the organization of being subversive.
James Meredith, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Integration of the University of Mississippi (Archives Unbound)
In the fall of 1962 the college town of Oxford, Mississippi, erupted in violence. At the center of the controversy stood James Meredith, an African American who was attempting to register at the all-white University of Mississippi, known as "Ole Miss." Meredith had the support of the federal government, which insisted that Mississippi honor the rights of all its citizens, regardless of race. Mississippi’s refusal led to a showdown between state and federal authorities and the storming of the campus by a segregationist mob. Two people died and dozens were injured. In the end, Ole Miss, the state of Mississippi, and the nation were forever changed.
Integration of Alabama Schools and the U.S.Military, 1963 (Archives Unbound)
The dramatic confrontation between the governor of Alabama and the president of the United States in June 1963 resulted in the federalization of the entire Alabama National Guard. The imposition of federal law allowed two black students admission into the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This archive details Operation Oak Tree, the codename for the Army’s plans to intervene in Alabama in the event of civil disturbances related to school integration in May 1963. Operation Palm Tree extended the operation over a wider area. The documents in this collection are sourced from the Records of the Department of the Army, in the custody of the National Archives of the United States.
We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death: Freedom Riders in the South, 1961 (Archives Unbound)
The Freedom Rides, and the violent reactions they provoked, bolstered the credibility of the Civil Rights Movement and called national attention to the violent disregard for the law that was used to enforce segregation in the southern United States. Riders were arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly, and violating state and local Jim Crow laws, along with other alleged offenses.
FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC (Archives Unbound)
This collection of FBI reports comprises the Bureau’s investigative and surveillance efforts primarily during the 1961-1976 period, when James Forman was perceived as a threat to the internal security of the United States. The collected materials also include Forman’s involvement with the "Black Manifesto" and the Bureau’s "COINTELPRO" investigations into "Black Nationalist - Hate Groups / Internal Security," which include information on the activities of SNCC.
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 (Archives Unbound)
Between the early 1920s and early 1980s, the Justice Department and its Federal Bureau of Investigation engaged in widespread investigation of those deemed politically suspect. Prominent among the targets of this sometimes coordinated, sometimes independent surveillance were aliens, members of various protest groups, Socialists, Communists, pacifists, militant labor unionists, ethnic or racial nationalists, and outspoken opponents of the policies of the incumbent presidents.
Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement (Archives Unbound)
The Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection from the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center is a unique resource for the study of the era of the American civil rights movement. Included here are transcriptions of close to 700 interviews with those who made history in the struggles for voting rights, against discrimination in housing, for the desegregation of the schools, to expose racism in hiring, in defiance of police brutality, and to address poverty in the African American communities.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political activist, and Woman (Archives Unbound)
Fannie Lou Hamer was an voting rights activist and civil rights leader. She was instrumental in organizing Mississippi Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and later became the Vice-Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, attending the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in that capacity. Her plain-spoken manner and fervent belief in the Biblical righteousness of her cause gained her a reputation as an electrifying speaker and constant activist of civil rights.
Black Liberation Army (Archives Unbound)
Interviews, articles, speeches, and FBI surveillance and informant reports, ranging from 1970-1983
Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: the papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Archives Unbound)
This collection of RAM records reproduces the writings and statements of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and its leaders. It also covers organizations that evolved from or were influenced by RAM and persons that had close ties to RAM.
Papers of Amiri Baraka, poet laureate of the Black Power Movement (Archives Unbound)
The collection consists of rare works of poetry, organizational records, print publications, over one hundred articles, poems, plays, and speeches by Baraka, a small amount of personal correspondence, and oral histories. The collection has been arranged into eighteen series. These series are: (1) Black Arts Movement; (2) Black Nationalism; (3) Correspondence; (4) Newark (New Jersey); (5) Congress of African People; (6) National Black Conferences and National Black Assembly; (7) Black Women’s United Front; (8) Student Organization for Black Unity; (9) African Liberation Support Committee; (10) Revolutionary Communist League; (11) African Socialism; (12) Black Marxists; (13) National Black United Front; (14) Miscellaneous Materials, 1978-1988; (15) Serial Publications; (16) Oral Histories; (17) Woodard’s Office Files.
Republic of New Afrika (Archives Unbound)
The FBI believed the Republic of New Afrika to be a seditious group and conducted raids on its meetings, which led to violent confrontations, and the arrest and repeated imprisonment of RNA leaders.
Liberation Movement in Africa and African America (Archives Unbound)
Composed of FBI surveillance files on the activities of the African Liberation Support Committee and All African People’s Revolutionary Party; this collection provides two unique views on African American support for liberation struggles in Africa, the issue of Pan-Africanism, and the role of African independence movements as political leverage for domestic Black struggles.
Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party (Archives Unbound)
This collection of FBI, local and state police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, shed new light on the motivations of the Communist organizers, the shootings, subsequent investigations, and efforts to heal the Greensboro community.
Bush Presidency and Development and Debate Over Civil Rights Policy and Legislation (Archives Unbound)
This collection contains materials on civil rights, the development of civil rights policy, and the debate over civil rights legislation during the administration of President George H.W. Bush and during his tenure as vice president. Contents of this collection includes memoranda, talking points, correspondence, legal briefs, transcripts, news summaries, draft legislation, statements of administration policy (SAP’s), case histories, legislative histories and news-clippings covering a broad range of civil rights issues.

American Indians / Native Americans / Indigenous People of North America

Indigenous Peoples: North America
Traces the history of Native Peoples in North America from colonial relations in the 1600s to twentieth-century issues such as civil rights. Includes manuscript collections, rare books and monographs, newspapers, periodicals, census records, legal documents, maps, drawings and sketches, oral histories, and photos. Also features video content from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Major partners include the National Archives, Library of Congress, Princeton University, University of Alberta, Moravian Archives, Gonzaga University, Wichita State University, and more.
War Department and Indian Affairs, 1800-1824 (Archives Unbound)
From 1789 until the Bureau of Indian Affairs was established in 1824, Indian affairs were under the direct control of the Secretary of War. This collection consists of the letters received by and letters sent to the War Department, including correspondence from Indian superintendents and agents, factors of trading posts, Territorial and State governors, military commanders, Indians, missionaries, treaty and other commissioners, Treasury Department officials, and persons having commercial dealings with the War Department, and other public and private individuals.
American Indian Correspondence: Presbyterian Historical Society Collection of Missionaries' Letters, 1883-1893 (Archives Unbound)
a collection of almost 14,000 letters written by those who served as Presbyterian missionaries to the American Indians during the years from 1833 to 1893.
American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism (Archives Unbound)
Formed in 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) expanded from its roots in Minnesota and broadened its political agenda to include a searching analysis of the nature of social injustice in America. These FBI files provide detailed information on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest and the development of Native American radicalism.

Appalachia

Mountain People: Life and Culture in Appalachia (Archives Unbound)
This collection consists of the diaries, journals, and narratives of explorers, emigrants, military men, Native Americans, and travelers. In addition, there are accounts on the development of farming and mining communities, family histories, and folklore. These accounts provide a view of the of the vast region between Lexington, Kentucky and Winchester, Virginia, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Birmingham, Alabama, and provides information on the social, political, economic, scientific, religious and agricultural characteristics of the region.

Chinese Civil War & U.S.-Chinese Relations

Records of the U.S. State Department's Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955 (Archives Unbound)
The U.S. State Department’s Office of Chinese Affairs, charged with operational control of American policy toward China, amassed information on virtually all aspects of life there immediately before, during, and after the revolution. Declassified by the State Department, the Records of the Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955, provide valuable insight into numerous domestic issues in Communist and Nationalist China, U.S. containment policy as it was extended to Asia, and Sino-American relations during the post-war period. This product comprises all 41 reels of the former Scholarly Resources microfilm product entitled Records of the Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955.
Amerasia Affair, China and Postwar Anti‐Communism (Archives Unbound)
Inside information on the first great spy case of the postwar era. Contains thousands of government documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Library from 1945-1973.
General George C. Marshall's Mission to China, 1945-1947 (Archives Unbound)
The mission of General George C. Marshall to prevent the renewal of the Chinese civil war and, as a consequence, prevent the growth of Soviet influence in both Manchuria and China proper must be viewed in the context of the emerging Cold War as well as the context of American perceptions of China that go back, at least, to the days of John Hay and the Open Door. This collection comprises the full set of records held by the National Archives in the State Department’s Lot File 54 D 270 and is subdivided into six parts: War Department records; Records of the Marshall Mission relating to Political Affairs; Records of the Marshall Mission relating to Military Affairs; Records of the Division of Chinese Affairs; Records of John Carter Vincent; and, Marshall’s Report.
Political Relations Between China, the U.S. and Other Countries, 1910-1929 (Archives Unbound)
This collection includes the microfilmed U.S. State Department records for 1910-1929 relating to the political relations between the United States and China and relations between China and other states. The collection includes instructions to and despatches from diplomatic and consular officials; the despatches are often accompanied with enclosures. Also included in these records are the correspondence, reports, and journals of the commissions concerned with extraterritoriality in China, as well as notes between the State Department and foreign diplomatic representatives in the United States, memoranda prepared by officials of the State Department, and correspondence with officials of other government departments and with private firms and individuals.
Records of the National Council for United States‐China Trade 1973-1983 (Archives Unbound)
Primary sources chronicle the formation of NCUSCT and its role in commerce.
Records of the U.S. Information Service in China: Chinese Press Reviews and Summaries, 1944-1950 (Archives Unbound)
This collection of essential U.S. Information Service collections on the Civil War period provides a unique opportunity to understand immediate post-World War II Chinese history, comparative revolution, and early Cold War history. This combination of smaller press collections weave together the strands of military, social, political, and free world history and includes an analysis of how the Chinese Communist Party achieved victory in the Chinese civil war of 1946-1950.
Records of U.S. State Department's Division of Chinese Affairs (Archives Unbound)
This collection consists of inter and intradepartmental memorandums, reports, position papers, summaries, maps, photographs, and despatches (from US Foreign Service officers and military personnel) relating to the internal political affairs of China and United States foreign policy toward China.
Subject Files of U.S. State Department's Office of the Republic of China Affairs, 1951-1978 (Archives Unbound)
This collection consists of briefing books, correspondence, memoranda, policy papers, reports, statistics, and other miscellaneous records from the Office of the Country Director for the Republic of China.
Tiananmen Square and U.S.-China Relations, 1989-1993 (Archives Unbound)
This digital collection reviews U.S.-China relations in the post-Cold War Era, and analyzes the significance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, China’s human rights issues, and resumption of World Bank loans to China in July 1990.

Civil War

Civil War in Words and Deeds (Archives Unbound)
These first-person accounts, regimental histories and personal narratives, compiled in the postwar period and early 20th Century period, chronicle the highs and lows of army life from 1861 through 1865.
American Civil War: Letters and Diaries
Contains 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs, Also includes biographies, an extensive bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long
Civil War Service Reports of Union Army Generals (Archives Unbound)
These generals’ reports of service represent an attempt by the Adjutant General’s Office (AGO) to obtain more complete records of the service of the various Union generals serving in the Civil War. In 1864, the Adjutant General requested that each such general submit "…a succinct account of your military history…since March 4th, 1861." In 1872, and in later years, similar requests were made for statements of service for the remaining period of the war.
Civil War: a Newspaper Perspective
Full text of major articles gleaned from over 2,500 issues of The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury and the Richmond Enquirer, published between November 1, 1860 and April 15, 1865, including articles about civilian life as well as the Civil War.
Confederate Newspapers: a Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama (Archives Unbound)
This collection is a mixture of issues and papers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama ranging from 1861-1865. These newspapers recorded the real and true history of public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the only really correct and indicative ’map of busy life, its fluctuations and its vast concerns in the South, during her days of darkness and of trial.

COINTELPRO

Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s (Archives Unbound)
The FBI Counterintelligence Program file contains details of the bureau’s attempts to "expose, disrupt, and neutralize" groups that J. Edgar Hoover perceived as threatening to national security. Dates range from 1956 to 1971.
Federal Surveillance of the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueno (Archives Unbound)
This collection highlights the FBI’s efforts to disrupt the activities of the largest of the Puerto Rican independence parties, Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, and compromise their effectiveness. In addition, these documents provide an insightful documentary history and analysis of why independence was the second-largest political movement in the island, (after support for commonwealth status), and a real alternative. These documents provide invaluable additions to the recorded history of Puerto Rico.

Dominican-U.S. Relations

Crisis in the Dominican Republic: Records of the U.S. State Department Central Files, February 1963-1966 (Archives Unbound)
This collection includes U.S. State Department, U.S. Embassy, and Dominican Republic governmental dispatches, instructions, and miscellaneous correspondence dealing with topics such as political affairs and government; public order and safety; military affairs; social matters (including history and culture); economic conditions (including immigration and emigration); industry and agriculture; communications and transportation; and navigation. The material is in English, making the information contained in these files particularly accessible.

Early Republic

American Founding Era
Includes thousands of papers from the collections of George Washington, James Madison, and John Adams
Papers of George Washington Digital Edition (Rotunda)
A landmark in historical scholarship, The Papers of George Washington Digital Edition encompasses five separate series and the complete diaries. Offers the complete Papers released through 2009 in one online publication. Search on full text and by date, author, or recipient across all volumes and series. The exceptional indexing of the individual print volumes is combined here into a single master index, and all internal document cross-references are linked.
Papers of Alexander Hamilton Digital Edition
Remembered above all as the nation’s first great fiscal voice, Alexander Hamilton is known for the range of his accomplishments, extending into the arenas of diplomacy, warfare, political strategy, and (via Hamilton’s primary authorship of The Federalist Papers) constitutional law.This digital edition of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton contains all twenty-seven volumes of the print edition—all the writings by and to Hamilton known to exist, some 12,500 documents—including all editorial annotations.
Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition (Rotunda)
Crucial to our nation’s history as author of the Declaration of Independence and third president, Thomas Jefferson was also a major figure in the Enlightenment, representing for Europeans the embodiment of the early nineteenth-century American mind. All thirty-seven print volumes published through 2010 are presented in one searchable online resource. In addition, it includes the first seven volumes of the Retirement Series sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which documents the time between Jefferson’s return to private life and his death in 1826. Includes all the illustrations and bibliographical content of the print edition, with the added convenience of linked cross-references and indexes.
Papers of James Madison Digital Edition (Rotunda)
The Papers of James Madison documents the life and work of one of the most important political and constitutional thinkers in our nation’s history. As chief author of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, secretary of state during the Louisiana Purchase, and the fourth president of the United States, Madison played a central role in the American founding and the growth of the early Republic. Contains all of the content of the print edition, with XML-based search functionality, linked cross-references, and the ability to navigate chronologically or by series volume.
Dolley Madison Digital Edition (Rotunda)
Dolley Payne Madison was the most important First Lady of the nineteenth century. The DMDE will be the first-ever complete edition of all of her known correspondence. As of May 2014 it is complete through 1845, with a total of 2035 documents.
Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution
This landmark work in historical and legal scholarship draws upon thousands of sources to trace the Constitution’s progress through each of the thirteen states’ conventions. Search the complete contents by date, title, author, recipient, or state affiliation.

The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age
primary documents and scholarly commentary covering such themes as race, labor, immigration, commerce, western expansion, and women’s suffrage during the decades between the end of the Civil War and the election of Theodore Roosevelt.

Hollywood & Censorship

Hollywood, Censorship, and the Motion Picture Production Code, 1927-1968 (Archives Unbound)
Documents forty years of self-regulation and censorship in the motion picture industry through The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Production Code Administration Files.

Indonesia - U.S. Relations

Sukarno and the Army-PKI Rivalry in the Years of Living Dangerously, 1960-1963 (Archives Unbound)
The records in this collection cover the internal and foreign policies, personalities, and events in a pivotal period of Indonesian history. The charismatic leader of Indonesia, Achmed Sukarno, steered his country between the political machinations of the Army Staff and the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). These records consist of essential memoranda, correspondence, telegrams, memoranda of conversations, reports, and news articles and cover all aspects of U.S. relations with Indonesia, Indonesian internal affairs, and Indonesia’s relations with its neighbors.

Iraq - U.S. Relations

U. S. and Iraqi Relations: U. S. Technical Aid, 1950-1958 (Archives Unbound)
Documents spanning 1950-1958 that follow the efforts of the U.S. Operations Mission (USOM) in Iraq.

Israel / Palestine

U. S. Middle East Peace Policy and America's Role in the Middle East Peace Process, 1989-1993 (Archives Unbound)
Correspondence, memoranda, coversheets, notes, distribution lists, newspaper articles, published articles, and reports from the public, the Congress, Bush administration officials, and other various federal agencies primarily regarding American Middle East peace policy.

Immigration

Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
A web-based collection of historical materials from Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums that documents voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression. Concentrating heavily on the 19th century, Immigration to the US includes over 400,000 pages from more than 2,200 books, pamphlets, and serials, over 9,600 pages from manuscript and archival collections, and more than 7,800 photographs. By incorporating diaries, biographies, and other writings capturing diverse experiences, the collected material provides a window into the lives of ordinary immigrants.
Immigrations, Migrations, and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941 - 1996
News and analysis from reports gathered every day between the early 1940s and 1996 by a U.S. government organization that became part of the CIA. These include translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals and government documents. Additionally, the archive contains one-of-a-kind analysis of the reports.
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (1996-2016)
A compendium of tables that provides data on foreign nationals who, during a fiscal year, were granted lawful permanent residence (i.e., admitted as immigrants or became legal permanent residents), were admitted into the United States on a temporary basis (e.g., tourists, students, or workers), applied for asylum or refugee status, or were naturalized. Also presents data on immigration law enforcement actions, including alien apprehensions, removals, and prosecutions.

Jewish Americana

American Israelite (1854-2000)
the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper still published in the United States. The newspaper's two goals were to spread the principles of Reform Judaism, and to keep American Jews in touch with Jewish affairs and their religious identity.
American Jewish Year Book (1899 - 2008)
This book, in its 113th year, provides insight into major trends in the North American Jewish community, examining Jewish education, New York Jewry, national and Jewish communal affairs, and the US and world Jewish population. It also acts as an important resource with its lists of Jewish Institutions, Jewish periodicals, and academic resources as well as Jewish honorees, obituaries, and major recent events. It should prove useful to social scientists and historians of the American Jewish community, Jewish communal workers, and the press, among others.
Jewish Life in America, 1654-1954
Materials from the American Jewish Historical Society, New York. Addresses key topics such as the immigration process and evolution of early Jewish Settlements; differing strands of Judaism in America; Jewish schools and charitable institutions; and civil rights and minority rights issues.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th POTUS

JFK's Foreign Affairs and International Crises, 1961-1963 (Archives Unbound)
Originally microfilmed as JFK and Foreign Affairs, 1961-1963, this collection provides insights into President Kennedy’s views on foreign affairs, U.S. leadership of the "West," and various worldwide crises. There are more than just documents on the Bay of Pigs, Berlin, and Cuba. There are documents that highlight American efforts to support Third World countries, balance of payments and foreign trade, Alliance for Progress and relations with Latin America, nuclear weapons and testing, NATO and the Multilateral Force in Europe, Southeast Asia and regional security, foreign aid and military assistance, and the international space race.

Latin America - U.S. Relations

Foreign Relations Between the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean States, 1930-1944 (Archives Unbound)
During the 1930s, U.S. relations with Latin America and the Caribbean Growing war clouds in Europe and Asia predicated the need for securing resources and allies in the Western Hemisphere. Giving up unpopular military intervention, the U.S. shifted to other methods to maintain its influence in Latin America: Pan-Americanism, support for strong local leaders, the training of national guards, economic and cultural penetration, Export-Import Bank loans, financial supervision, and political persuasion.
Nicaragua: Political Instability and U.S. Intervention, 1910-1933 (Archives Unbound)
The United States kept a contingent force in Nicaragua almost continually from 1912 until 1933. Although reduced to 100 in 1913, the contingent served as a reminder of the willingness of the United States to use force and its desire to keep conservative governments in power. This collection provides documentation on the almost continual political instability in Nicaragua.
Revolution in Honduras and American Business: the Quintessential "Banana Republic" (Archives Unbound)
In 1899, the first boatload of bananas was shipped from Honduras to the United States. The fruit found a ready market, and the trade grew rapidly. The American-based banana companies constructed railroad lines and roads to serve the expanding banana production. Perhaps even more significant, Honduras began to attract the attention of the U.S. government. Until the early twentieth century, the U.S. played only a very limited role in internal Honduran political clashes. With its investments growing, however, the U.S. showed increased concern over Honduras’s political instability. Although United States marines never occupied Honduras as they did neighboring Nicaragua, the U.S. frequently dispatched warships to waters near Honduras as a warning that intervention in Honduras was indeed a possibility if American business interests were threatened or domestic conflict escalated.
Revolution in Mexico, the 1917 Constitution, and its aftermath: records of the U.S. State Department (Archives Unbound)
This collection of U.S. State Department records consists of political and military documents relating to the Mexican Revolution and its aftermath -1910-1924. These unique and insightful records provide an unprecedented look at the Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910 and continued sporadically until the new Constitution was adopted in 1917, through to and including the election of Calles.

LGBTQIA+

Homophile Movement: Papers of Donald Stewart Lucas, 1941-1976 (Archives Unbound)
This collection documents the activist and professional activities of Donald S. Lucas. The vast majority of the collection dates from 1953 to 1969. The Lucas collection contains an abundance of material relating to the early homosexual civil rights movement (the homophile movement) and the San Francisco manifestation of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The strength of the collection lies in the administrative and work files of the Mattachine Society, the Mattachine Review, Pan-Graphic Press, and the Central City Target Area of the San Francisco EOC. The collection includes: correspondence, meeting minutes, constitutions and by-laws, newsletters, manuscripts, financial documents, reports, statistics, legal decisions, surveys, counseling records, funding proposals, and subject files.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life (LGBT Life)
Full text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens of full text monographs. Full text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens of full text monographs. Also includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage as well as a specialized LGBT Thesaurus containing over 6,400 terms.
LGBT Thought and Culture
Contains books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. Includes selections from The National Archives in Kew, activist and publisher Tracy Baim, the Magnus Hirschfeld and Harry Benjamin collections from the Kinsey Institute, among others.
Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin: Beyond the Daughters of Bilitis (Archives Unbound)
This collection documents many decades of Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin’s work for and leadership of, the LGBT movement and the women’s rights movement in both in San Francisco and nationally. Included are minutes, correspondence, and notes related to their work with the ACLU, the San Francisco Coalition for Human Rights, the Commission on Crime Control and Violence Protection, the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Lyon and Martin were also central to the struggle that pushed the National Organization for Women to an understanding of the centrality of the freedom to sexual expression.
Politics, Social Activism and Community Support: Selected Gay and Lesbian Periodicals and Newsletters (Archives Unbound)
This collection of periodicals focuses on newsletters issued by gay and lesbian political and social activist organizations throughout the country and on periodicals devoted to gay and lesbian political and social activist agendas—he "public" face of gay and lesbian activism. In addition, this collection includes serial literature on its "private" face, exploring the challenges and complexities of building gay and lesbian communities inside and outside of a "straight" world, the need for psychological reinforcement through support groups in an effort combat an often hostile environment, and the yearning for spiritual confirmation of one’s identity and life choices. Carefully selected for rarity from the thousands of titles in the GLBT Historical Society archives, the collection features more than 200 newsletter and periodical titles totaling nearly 8,000 issues. This product is strong in newsletters from organizations that began their work during the formative years of the gay and lesbian movement. Most of these organizations are now defunct and their newsletters are the only record of their history and contribution to the movement.

Liberia - U.S. Relations

Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-building in Africa, 1864-1918 (Archives Unbound)
This series consists of correspondence and telegrams received and sent by the United States’ diplomatic post in Liberia. The topics covered by these records include all aspects of relations with Liberia, and interactions of American citizens with the Liberian government and people

Moroccan - U.S. Relations

King and the People in Morocco, 1950-1959: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Morocco (Archives Unbound)
After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco made great strides toward economic and political liberalization. The sultan Muhammad V, ruling his newly independent nation, proclaimed his intention of turning it into a constitutional monarchy. His first act was to transform himself into a monarch and assume the title of king. The Moroccan government undertook a number of economic, social, and political reforms, including the drafting of a constitution.

Organized Crime

Mafia in Florida and Cuba: FBI Surveillance of Meyer Lansky and Santo Trafficante, Jr. (Archives Unbound)
Materials on Santo Trafficante, Jr., Meyer Lansky, and Lucky Luciano, including FBI surveillance and informant reports and correspondence from a variety of offices. Dates range from 1946-1977.

Political Parties

Electing the President: Proceedings of the Democratic National Conventions, 1832-1988 (Archives Unbound)
This collection includes the proceedings of the 1832-1988 Democratic National Conventions, providing gavel to gavel coverage, including 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.
Electing the President: Proceedings of the Republican National Conventions, 1856-1988 (Archives Unbound)
The collection includes the proceedings for 1856-1988 of the Republican National Conventions, providing gavel to gavel coverage of the conventions, including 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.

Richard M.Nixon, 37th POTUS

Papers of the Nixon Administration: the President's Confidential and Subject Special Files, 1969-1974 (Archives Unbound)
This publication consists of documents of an administratively-sensitive nature, arranged according to subject from President Nixon’s Special Files collection, comprising the Confidential and Subject Files. These documents provide an in-depth look into the activities of the President, his closest advisors, and the administration. These records support the behind-the-scenes historical inquiry into an administration that may well be the most significant one since World War II and one of the most important in the 20th century.

Right-Wing Movements

Minutemen, 1963-1969: Evolution of the Militia Movement in America, Part I (Archives Unbound)
The Minutemen was a militant anti-Communist organization formed in the early 1960s. After a period of protracted surveillance and counterintelligence, the FBI and the Federal Judiciary moved against Robert DePugh, founder, and the Minutemen organization.

Russian-U.S. Relations & The Cold War

Russian Civil War and American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20 (Archives Unbound)
This collection reproduces important letters, reports, memorandums, cablegrams, maps, charts, and other kinds of records relating to the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia (hereafter, AEF in Siberia), 1918-20.
Commercial and Trade Relations Between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the U.S.,1910-1963 (Archives Unbound)
This collection of U.S. State Department Central Classified Files relates to commercial and trade relations beginning in the Tsarist Russia period and extending through Khrushchev period in Soviet history. It contains a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats including materials on treaties, general conditions affecting trade, imports and exports, laws and regulations, customs administration, tariffs, and ports of entry activities
Country Intelligence Reports on USSR
This series consists of reports, studies, and surveys on various topics of interest to the Department of State. The reports vary from short memorandums to detailed, documented studies. The topics range from individual commodities or countries to the economic and political characteristics of whole regions. This collection consists of research and intelligence reports prepared during 1941-1947 on USSR.
Cold War: Voices of Confrontation and Conciliation (Archives Unbound)
This collection will provide a unique opportunity to read the recollections of many of the players in the Cold War. These transcripts of oral recollections will assist scholars in understanding the motivations for conflict and conciliation
De-Classified Documents Reference System (DDRS)
Selected previously classified government documents ranging from the years immediately following World War II, when declassified documents were first made widely available, through the 1970s. Search by name, date, word, or phrase, or focus on document type, issue date, source institution, classification level, date declassified, sanitization, completeness, number of pages, and document number. Nearly every major foreign and domestic event of these years is covered: the Cold War, Vietnam, foreign policy shifts, the civil rights movement, and others.
Czechoslovakia from Liberation to Communist State, 1945-63 (Archives Unbound)
This collection documents the creation of the Third Republic, which was established after World War II, and differed markedly from the First Republic of 1918. The Third Republic was created as a result of a compromise between pre-war Czechoslovak Republic leaders and the Czech Communist Party (KSC). The Republic’s hopes were subverted by the KSC, which at the time had considerable popular support and the backing of the Soviet Union.
East Germany from Stalinization to the New Economic Policy 1950-1963 (Archives Unbound)
Originally microfilmed as Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of East Germany, this digital collection provides an in-depth look into the creation of the East German state, living conditions, and its people. Documents included in this collection are predominantly instructions to and despatches from U.S. diplomatic, and consular personnel regarding political, military, economic, social, industrial, and other internal conditions and events in East Germany.
World War II, Occupation, and the Civil War in Greece, 1940-1949 (Archives Unbound)
Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files. The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the pro-Western Greek governmental army and the Communist Democratic Army of Greece. It was the result of a highly polarized struggle between leftists and rightists which started in 1943 and targeted the power vacuum that the German-Italian occupation during World War II had created.

Saudi (& Arab Peninsula)- U.S. Relations

U. S. Operations Mission to Saudi Arabia, 1950-1955 (Archives Unbound)
This collection is a record of the U.S. Operations Mission’s experiences in Saudi Arabia. In it are outlined the programs that were initiated, the problems encountered, and the results of the five year effort in the Point Four program. In Saudi Arabia, there were two chief aims that guided the International Cooperation Administration (ICA) effort and the Point Four Program. The first was to promote the acceptance and support of ICA by cooperating and integrating the efforts of local and regional governments and bureaucrats. The second was to initiate projects that would reach as many people as possible, especially the common people who desperately needed opportunities and help.
Persian Gulf States and Yemen, 1950-1959 (Archives Unbound)
These documents highlight the structure and activities of the Persian Gulf States’ and Yemen’s political system, government, judiciary, laws, military, customs, economy, finance, agriculture, natural resources, industry, communications, and media. Because of the broad scope of these records, they both supplement and complement the coverage offered by the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States series.

Savings & Loan Crisis

Savings and Loan Crisis: Loss of Public Trust and the Federal Bailout, 1989-1993 (Archives Unbound)
Studies, analyses, testimony, talking points and news clippings which detail the origins of the S&L crisis and outlined solutions to the growing crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

U.S. Supreme Court

Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs
Approximately 11 million pages and more than 350,000 separate documents. Approximately 150,000 Supreme Court cases are featured, the majority consisting of those for which the Court did not give a full opinion.

Turkey - U.S. Relations

Turkey - U.S. Relations, 1950-59
This collection of State Department documents provides access to unique primary source materials on the political, economic and social development of Turkey during a period of democratization in the 1950s.

Unions / Organized Labor

Union Label and the Needle Trades: Records of the United Garment Workers of America (Archives Unbound)
This collection consists of two full series and one partial series from the Records of the United Garment Workers of America—Series I: Time and Motion Studies; Series III: Office Files, 1899-1994—Meeting Minutes of the General Executive Board subseries; and, Series VIII: Index Card Files for plants and/or locals in. The Time and Motion Studies are made up of time study/ time and motion research files for the garment industry, as well as files relating to industry research and information from the first half of the twentieth century.
National Farm Worker Ministry: Mobilizing Support for Migrant Workers, 1939-1985 (Archives Unbound)
This collection reproduces correspondence, reports, speeches, minutes; included are materials relating to the farm workers, poverty programs, Public Law 78, Braceros, labor camps, the United Farm Workers Union and the Delano Grape Strike.
Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union, 1965-1979 (Archives Unbound)
The collection consists of records of the United Domestic Workers Union (U.S) from 1965-1979. The correspondence (1965-1979) reflects efforts in organizing the Union and includes such correspondents as Julian Bond, Senator Sam Nunn, Senator Herman Talmadge, Allen Williams, Andrew Young, and other Georgia and national political figures. The subject files (1967-1979) cover a myriad of topics illustrating the Union’s involvement in the Black community, the Manpower Program, the Career Learning Center, the Homemaking Skills Training Program, Maids Honor Day, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), and various federal agencies. The collection contains minutes of the Union, the Citizen’s Advisory Committee on Transportation, the Citizens Neighborhood Advisory Council, and MARTA. The collection also contains selected files relating to Equal Opportunity Atlanta, which funded many of the Union’s projects.

Vietnamese-U.S. Relations & the Vietnam War

Indochina, France, and the Viet Minh War, 1945-1954 (Archives Unbound)
Comprising records of the State Department’s Central Classified Files, this collection contains records relating to the internal affairs of Indochina, during the period 1945-49. The records include instructions sent to and correspondence received by the State Department; the State Department’s internal documentation, as well as correspondence between the Department and other federal departments and agencies, Congress, and private individuals and organizations; telegrams, airgrams, instructions, inquiries, studies, memoranda, situation reports, translations, special reports, plans, and official and unofficial correspondence.
Ambassador Graham Martin and the Saigon Embassy's Back Channel Communication Files, 1963-1975 (Archives Unbound)
Consists of State Department telegrams and White House backchannel messages between U.S. ambassadors in Saigon and White House national security advisers, talking points for meetings with South Vietnamese officials, intelligence reports, drafts of peace agreements, and military status reports. Subjects include the Diem coup, the Paris peace negotiations, the fall of South Vietnam, and other U.S./South Vietnam relations topics, 1963 to 1975.
Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975 (Archives Unbound)
Primarily Department of State cables and CIA intelligence information cables concerning South and North Vietnam. Topics include the Vietnam War, U.S.-South Vietnam relations, South Vietnam’s political climate, opposition groups, religious sects, ethnic groups, labor unions, corruption, press censorship, the North Vietnam’s military and economy, peace negotiations, and events in Cambodia and Laos.
America in Protest: Records of Anti-Vietnam War Organizations, The Vietnam Veterans Against the War (Archives Unbound)
FBI reports dealing with every aspect of antiwar work carried out by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) Contains over 20,000 pages between 1967-1975.
Observer: News for the American Soldier in Vietnam, 1962-1973 (Archives Unbound)
The Observer was a weekly newspaper published by the Command Information Division of the U.S. Military Assistance Command’s Office of Information. It was the official organ of the Military Assistance Command, and it carried official news about and for American troops in Vietnam. As such, it goes without saying that it was carefully edited to make certain it did not print news articles favorable to the communist enemy. The Military Assistance Command spread more than 80,000 weekly Observers among all points in Vietnam in which American troops were domiciled.
U. S. Civilian Advisory Effort in Vietnam: U.S. Operation Mission, 1950-1954 (Archives Unbound)
This collection consists of unique records of U.S. agencies established to intervene in Vietnam-the country U.S. foreign policy deemed a lynchpin in the free world’s fight against communism. The Subject Files from the Office of the Director, U.S. Operations Missions, document the myriad concerns and rationales that went into the control and direction of U.S. economic and technical assistance programs, as well as the coordination of mutual security activities, with respect to Vietnam.
U. S. Civilian Advisory Effort in Vietnam: U.S. Operations Mission, 1954-1957 (Archives Unbound)
This collection consists of unique records of the U.S. Operations Mission established to intervene in Vietnam-the country U.S. foreign policy deemed a lynchpin in the free world’s fight against communism. The Classified & Subject Files of the Executive Office, document the myriad concerns and rationales that went into the control and direction of U.S. economic and technical assistance programs, as well as the coordination of mutual security activities, with respect to Vietnam.
U. S. Military Advisory Effort in Vietnam: Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam, 1950-1964 (Archives Unbound)
The United States decision to provide military assistance to France and the Associated States of Indochina was reached informally in February/March 1950, funded by the President on May 1, 1950, and was announced on May 8, 1950. The decision was taken in spite of the U.S. desire to avoid direct involvement in a colonial war, and in spite of a sensing that France's political-military situation in Indochina was deteriorating. This collection consists of unique records of U.S. agencies established to intervene in Vietnam-the country U.S. foreign policy deemed a lynchpin in the free world's fight against communism. The Subject Files from the Office of the Director, U.S. Operations Missions, document the myriad concerns and rationales that went into the control and direction of U.S. economic and technical assistance programs, as well as the coordination of mutual security activities, with respect to Vietnam.
U. S. Relations and Policies in Southeast Asia, 1944-1958 (Archives Unbound)
This collection identifies the key issues, individuals, and events in the history of U.S.-Southeast Asia relations between 1944 and 1958, and places them in the context of the complex and dynamic regional strategic, political, and economic processes that have fashioned the American role in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975 (History Vault)
Covers U.S. involvement in the region from the early days of the Kennedy administration, through the escalation of the war during the Johnson administration, to the final resolution of the war at the Paris Peace Talks and the evacuation of U.S. troops in 1973.

War of 1812

War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas (Archives Unbound)
During the War of 1812 Congress authorized the Secretary of State to issue commissions of letters of marque and reprisal to private armed vessels permitting them to "cruise against the enemies of the United States." Collection contains over 5000 images up through 1814.

Westward Expansion

American West
Documents drawn from the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library, Chicago. Includes contemporary newspapers and posters, records of key railroad companies, papers of early pioneers, explorers and hunters, manuscript travel journals, store catalogues, maps, illustrations, and literary and historical works.
American Fur Company (Archives Unbound)
The papers include original letters received from factors, foreign and domestic agents, mainly to Ramsey Crooks, president of the Company; copies of letters sent by the Company; records of furs received from the Indians, and orders for goods to be shipped to the factors in exchange for furs.
Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880 (Archives Unbound)
Western settlers created what we think of as the American West. Explorers came and went, soldiers came and went, miners and others came and went. But the settlers came to stay. For settlers, the ways of reaching a destination in the frontier country were either wretched ordeals or wondrous adventures. Fortunately, many of these men and women recorded daily events and their thoughts with such picturesque zest that some accounts of westward journeys have elements of great literature within them.

Women

Everyday Life and Women in America, c.1800-1920
Sources are drawn from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, Duke University and the New York Public Library. Contains monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
International Women's Periodicals, 1786-1933 (Archives Unbound)
Historical women’s periodicals provide an important resource to scholars interested in the lives of women, the role of women in society and, in particular, the development of the public lives of women as the push for women’s rights—woman suffrage, fair pay, better working conditions, for example—grew in the United States and England. Some of the titles in this collection were conceived and published by men, for women; others, conceived and published by male editors with strong input from female assistant editors or managers; others were conceived and published by women, for women. The strongest suffrage and anti-suffrage writing was done by women for women’s periodicals. Thus a variety of viewpoints are here presented for study.
International Women's Movement: The Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women's Association of the USA, 1950-1985 (Archives Unbound)
Formerly known as the Pan Pacific Women’s Association of the U.S.A., the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women’s Association was founded in 1930 to strengthen international understanding and friendship among the women of Asia and the Pacific and women of the U.S.A. The group promoted cooperation among women of these regions for the study and improvement of social, economic, and cultural conditions; engaged in studies on Asian and Pacific affairs; provided hospitality to temporary residents and visitors from Pacific and Asian areas; and presented programs of educational and social interest, dealing with the customs and cultures of Asian and Pacific countries.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial-1950
Published letters and diaries from women writing from Colonial times to 1950, plus 7,000 pages of previously unpublished materials.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
79 document projects with more than 2,400 documents, 32,000 pages of additional full-text documents, and 1,700 primary authors. It includes as well book, film and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.
Women Organizing Transnationally: the Committee of Correspondence, 1952-1969 (Archives Unbound)
The records include extensive official correspondence as well as hundreds of letters to and from correspondents throughout the world documenting the work of the organization. In addition there are official records; minutes; complete files of multi- lingual publications entitled "Community Action Series" and "Meeting Community Needs;" miscellaneous publications; conferences and workshop material; oral history transcripts, 1988-89, with related biographical material and writings by individuals; and card files on individual participants, filed by country.
Women's Issues and their Advocacy Within the White House, 1974-1977 (Archives Unbound)
This collection documents Patricia Lindh’s and Jeanne Holm’s liaison with women’s groups and their advocacy within the White House on issues of special interest to women. Includes material accumulated by presidential Counselor Anne Armstrong and Office of Women’s Programs Director Karen Keesling. Topics include liaison activities with over 300 women’s organizations, agency women’s groups and program units, advisory committees on women and women appointees; public policy; and legislation and regulation of women’s civil rights in the government and the economy.
Women, War, and Society, 1914-1918 (Archives Unbound)
The First World War had a revolutionary and permanent impact on the personal, social and professional lives of all women. Their essential contribution to the war in Europe is fully documented in this definitive collection of primary source materials brought together in the Imperial War Museum, London. These unique documents - charity and international relief reports, pamphlets, photographs, press cuttings, magazines, posters, correspondence, minutes, records, diaries, memoranda, statistics, circulars, regulations and invitations - are published here for the first time in fully-searchable form, along with interpretative essays from leading scholars.

World War I

First World War: Personal Experiences & Propaganda and Recruitment
“The First World War: Personal Experiences,” drawn from archival collections around the world, provides an intimate glimpse into daily life in the army and auxiliary services, battles, trench warfare, weapons and equipment, and thoughts on the enemy, as seen through the eyes of the men and women who served in the First World War. Rather than official publications or newspaper accounts, this collection includes diaries, letters, scrapbooks, sketches, and photographs. Key features include interactive maps, 360° views of personal items and objects, and a virtual trench experience.

World War II & the Holocaust

Holocaust and the Concentration Camp Trials (Archives Unbound)
Documents from the investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed by Nazi concentration camp commandants and camp personnel. Over 27,000 pages, collected from the US National Archives. Dates range from 1944-1949.
Holocaust Encyclopedia
A project of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Provides links to images, documents, bibliographies, personal stories, historical film footage and other resources. Also contains nearly 300 brief articles which are searchable from the home page.
National Security and the FBI (Archives Unbound)
The FBI’s Custodial Detention Index (CDI), or Custodial Detention List formed in 1939-1941, provides insight into the recent history of the surveillance of aliens and national security during World War II and the early postwar period.
Japanese-American Relocation Camp Newspapers: Perspectives on Day-to-Day Life (Archives Unbound)
One of the darker chapters in American history and one of the lesser discussed events of World War II was the forced internment, during the war, of an important segment of the American population-persons of Japanese descent. This collection, consisting of 25 individual titles, documents life in the internment camps.
Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949: U.S. State Department Records on the International Affairs of Japan (Archives Unbound)
During the 1920s and early 1930s, Japan progressed toward a democratic system of government. However, parliamentary government was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the 1930s, during which expansionism and militarization became increasingly influential in government and society.
Psychological Warfare and Propaganda in World War II: Air Dropped and Shelled Leaflets and Periodicals (Archives Unbound)
This publication collection consists of over 1,000 air dropped and shelled leaflets and periodicals created and disseminated during the Second World War. The majority of items in this collection were printed by the Allies then air or container dropped, or fired by artillery shell over German occupied territory. Many leaflets and periodicals have original publication codes and were printed in over 10 languages. Only shelled leaflets, Germans to Allies (115 items), are in English.
Nazism in Poland: the Diary of Governor-General Hans Frank (Archives Unbound)
This collection reproduces the Tagebuch or journal of Dr. Hans Frank (1900-1946), the Governor-General of German-occupied Poland from October 1939 until early 1945.
U. S. Relations with the Vatican and the Holocaust, 1940-1950 (Archives Unbound)
Much has been published chronicling the role of Pope Pius XII regarding refugees, the Holocaust and relations with America during the war years and the immediate post-war period. This publication provides a wealth of unique correspondence, reports and analyses, memos of conversations, and personal interviews exploring such themes U.S.-Vatican relations, Vatican’s role in World War II, Jewish refugees, Italian anti-Jewish laws during the papacy of Pius XII, and the pope’s personal knowledge of the treatment of European Jews.
Nazi Bank and Financial Institutions: U.S. Military Government Investigation Reports and Interrogations of Nazi Financiers, 1945-1949 (Archives Unbound)
This publication comprises two collections related to Holocaust Era Assets. The first includes Records Regarding Bank Investigations and Records Relating to Interrogations of Nazi Financiers, from the records of the Office of the Finance Division and Finance Advisor in the Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone(Germany) (OMGUS), during the period 1945-1949. The second comprises Records Regarding Intelligence and Financial Investigations, 1945-1949, from the Records of the Financial Intelligence Group, Office of the Finance Adviser.
Personal Justice Denied: Public Hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment, 1981 (Archives Unbound)
The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) was established by act of Congress in 1980. Between July and December 1981, the CWRIC held 20 days of public hearings in Seattle, WA; Alaska; Washington, D.C; New York, New York; Chicago, Ill Cambridge, MA; and, San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA. This publication consists of the testimony and documents from more than 750 witnesses: Japanese Americans and Aleuts who had lived through the events of WWII, former government officials who ran the internment program, public figures, internees, organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League, interested citizens, historians, and other professionals who had studied the subjects of the Commission’s inquiry. Many of the transcripts are personal stories of experiences of evacuees. Documents include publications, reports, press releases, photographs, newspaper clippings, etc. related to the hearings.

Government Documents

govinfo - govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO). Govinfo replaced its predecessor, GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys), in December 2018. By law (U.S.C. Title 44, Sections 1710 and 1711) GPO aims to provide a comprehensive index of every document issued or published by a department, bureau, or office not confidential in character. GPO administers this program and provides public access to this index through the online bibliographic records contained in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP). The CGP is available at as a finding tool for Government publications, containing records with information about publications in many different file formats. When you search the CGP for a publication, you will find a record that tells you where you can find the publication, whether at a physical library or through a link to the full-text electronic version when available, including records for content available on govinfo and links to govinfo for access to these publications.