United States History: Primary Sources on the Web
Overview
Many libraries, museums, and archives have digitized their historic documents and put them online in digital libraries. Here are some large collections (and links to other large collections) you may want to explore.
This map, Map of Battles on Bull Run at Manassas, was created by the Office of the Chief of Engineers in the US War Department. The scanned image comes from the US National Archives via Flickr Commons. The US National Archives has an extensive collection of scanned historical documents and photographs on Flickr.
Finding Digital Collections
The web is filled with interesting primary source collections. But how do you find them? You can ask your professor and librarian. You can also try Google. Try searches that combine the term "digital library" with a geographic location or theme. You can also visit the library websites of universities and see if they feature any digital collections.
Primary Sources on the Web
Do you know of a great, online digital library we should add to this list? Please contact Joan Petit.
The photo on the right, Two 7 Year Old Newsies, circa 1910, is from the US National Archives on Flickr.
- American Memory Project from the Library of CongressAmerican Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersDigitized historic American newspapers pages from 1836-1922.
- United States Historical MapsDigitized maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library
Map Collection at the University of Texas-Austin. - The Avalon Project : Documents in Law, History and DiplomacyThe Avalon Project mounts digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government.
- Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition: Digital ResourcesThe Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, a part of the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, is dedicated to the investigation and dissemination of knowledge concerning all aspects of chattel slavery and its destruction.
- Documenting the American SouthFrom the University of North Carolina, a digital collection of texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture.
- New York Public Library Digital GalleryOver 700,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
- Flickr CommonsOffers public domain photographs and other photographs from national and international libraries, museums, archives, and cultural institutions.
- LIFE Magazine Photo ArchiveSearch millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
- Ad*AccessImages and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II. The Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment "Library 2000" Fund, presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II, providing a coherent view of a number of major campaigns and companies through images preserved in one particular advertising collection available at Duke University. The advertisements are from the J. Walter Thompson Company Competitive Advertisements Collection of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History in Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.