History: Archives & Primary Source Databases

The African Online Digital Library (AODL) is a portal to multimedia collections about Africa.

Explore incredible photographs spanning over 100 years of African history, from the 1860s onward, taken from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office photographic collection.

Document collections spanning from the Ancient World to the 21st Century. From Yale Law School Library.

"British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles."

All C-Span programming since 1987

"Over the course of six centuries Cambridge University Library's collections have grown from a few dozen volumes into one of the world's great libraries, with an extraordinary accumulation of material. The collections cover every conceivable aspect of human endeavour, spanning most of the world's cultural traditions."

Search America's historic newspapers from around the 50 states. Dates range from 1789-1963, but vary for each individual newspaper. Includes 10 New Jersey newspapers, spanning from 1852 - 1923. Also features a searchable U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present, to help identify what titles existed and how to access them.

“This Civil War Era Digital Archive is a collaborative project of the Penn State Libraries and the Richards Civil War Center. Its mission is to promote research into the lived experience of Pennsylvanians between 1851 and 1874. The project website features a unique statewide bibliographic database of hidden collections, digitized manuscripts and contextual essays.“

"The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean."

Digital Public Library of America is a free-to-access digital access point for millions of books, documents, images, sound and video recordings, etc. from a network of partner organizations including libraries, archives, museums and cultural institutions. See Exhibitions, Primary Source Sets, and the new Black Women's Suffrage Portal.

"Epistolae is a collection of medieval Latin letters to and from women. The letters collected here date from the 4th to the 13th centuries, and they are presented in their original Latin as well as in English translation."

"Europeana provides access to millions of books, music, artworks and more, in cooperation with thousands of European archives, libraries and museums to share cultural heritage for enjoyment, education and research."

Established in 1997, Gallica is the digital library of the National Library of France (Bibliotheque Nationale de France), and its partner libraries. Includes over 6 million digital documents.

The Gertrude Bell Papers comprise Gertrude's personal correspondence, diaries and miscellaneous items, such as Review of the Civil Administration of Mesopotamia (1920), notebooks, obituaries, lecture notes and miscellaneous reports, memoranda and cuttings. Circa. 1,600 letters and diaries covering the years 1877-1879 and 1893-1900 (with some gaps reflecting where we do not have the hard-copy diary) can be found transcribed on this website, along with c.7,000 of her archaeological and travel photographs.”

Offers digital versions of historical texts. Types of texts include fragments and commentary, letters, speeches, witness narratives, court records, books, etc. Some texts are excerpts, while others are complete.

This website houses an enormous range of primary documents from a variety of eras and regions. There are databases focusing on ancient, medieval, and modern history, as well as a range of thematic subjects.

"The largest freely available archive of online books about religion, mythology, folklore, and the esoteric on the internet. The site is dedicated to religious tolerance and scholarship."

An extensive list of archives, both digital and non-digitized, concerning Latin America. From the University of Texas.

From Tulane University Library, "digital collections of over 1,700 images, individual digital items, and digitized materials from our Special Collections holdings."

“The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.” Many of the sources in the library are digitized."

"American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to documents, sound recordings, still and moving images, etc. that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity."

This is a branch of the Library of Congress that is worth mentioning as a separate source. The Library of Congress has an amazing collection of photographs, many of which are digitized and most of which are free of copyright restrictions. While the majority cover American historical events, there are plenty from around the world, too.

"Explore 800 medieval manuscripts of France and England," arranged by theme, authors, places, and centuries.

“The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you.”

Occupying a key position in the cultural and intellectual life of the nation, the National Archives holds the records of the modern Irish State which document its historical evolution and the creation of our national identity. The collection contains some digital material.

"Project Gutenberg seeks to preserve literary and other intellectual works, and make copies of or products based on those works available free of charge or at the lowest possible cost to the people of the United States and the rest of the world."

“The Qatar Digital Library (QDL) is making a vast archive featuring the cultural and historical heritage of the Gulf and wider region freely available online for the first time. It includes archives, maps, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs and much more, complete with contextualized explanatory notes and links, in both English and Arabic.”

“The Archives holds records that document the Smithsonian’s people, events, buildings, and research. The history of the Smithsonian is a vital part of the history of American experience, scientific exploration, and international cultural understanding.”

“The web-based archive of archival and secondary research presents documents that have previously only been available at the RGASPI archive in Russia. Digital versions of Yale’s Annals of Communism series supplement the RGASPI collection with additional scholarly commentary on selected documents concerning the history of Soviet and international communism from Russian state archives spanning the 75-year history of the USSR.”

“The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing fresh insights into the history of international relations and diplomacy. It collects the research of three Wilson Center projects which focus on the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation.”

"The WDL makes it possible to discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures and significant historical documents on one site, in a variety of ways. Content on the WDL includes books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, journals, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and films."

Digitized documents, records, and photos from Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Defines, then offers an example analysis of a primary source.

This guide from the University of Maryland Libraries offers questions to ask yourself, and describes the different forms of primary sources, with a sample interpretation of a primary source for the different types (e.g. correspondence, photos, newspapers, and diaries).

From History Matters, this page provides strategies for analyzing various types of primary sources. Also included are discussions from scholars regarding their interpretation of a primary source.

Offers a series of strategies and questions to use in examining primary sources. From Middle Tennessee State Univ. library, adapted from Sam Wineburg's article by the same name.