Primary Sources

Images for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. From Duke University.

Collection of digitized advertisements from the United States and the United Kingdom ranging from the 1900's-2000's

Collection of televised commercials from 1950's-1980's. This collection covers a range of popular companies covering food, finance, tv shows, and more.

Over 3,300 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920, illustrating the rise of consumer culture and the birth of a professionalized advertising industry in the United States.

Large collection of print advertisements, ghost signs, and TV commercials documenting the history of advertising in the United Kingdom.

Collection of advertisements for medicines, tonics, tinctures, and various other remedies from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Digitized versions of yearly Radio Shack catalogs dating back to the 1930s. Shows the evolution of computers, cell phones, music players, and more.

This digital collection comprises over 150 of Wiley’s early works, illustrating her development as an artist. The pieces include figure drawings, pencil sketches, and bookplate designs as well as her ink illustrations for the University of Tennessee’s yearbook, The Volunteer.

Offers more than 9,000 original drawings for editorial cartoons, caricatures, and comic strips spanning the late 1700s to the present, primarily from 1880 to 1980. The cartoons cover people and events throughout the world, but most of the images were intended for publication in American newspapers and magazines.

Offers access to a large collection of historic political art and cartoons in the form of caricature and satire.

Collection of hand-drawn, original cartoons from the well-known Knoxville editorial cartoonist. For best use, use the themes listed on the collection's introduction page to navigate.

Although Gamble refuses to label himself an editorial cartoonist, the majority of his cartoons illustrate his commentary on current events and personalities over the course of 40 years. Many of his cartoons depict political campaigns, foreign wars, political scandals, economic and social issues, and popular culture fads and icons. He lampooned U.S. presidents from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, as well as international political figures ranging from Margaret Thatcher to Osama bin Ladin.

This digital collection contains photographs of the early Settlement School, the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and the Gatlinburg community, as well as scrapbooks written and compiled by Settlement School teachers. Letters, diaries, and a collection of historical essays relate the Phi Beta Phi to Arrowmont story. Also featured are articles from The Arrow, curriculum documents, and examples of crafts from contemporary Arrowmont.

Evolving collection containing almost 200,000 works of modern and
contemporary art. More than 78,000 works are currently available online

The collection includes fashion design illustrations, writings on design, contractual paperwork, photographs of clothing designs, and press materials including press releases and editorial coverage.

Provides historic films from the years 1894-1915 documenting the work of a variety of blue collar professions as well as leisure sporting activities such as boxing, football, parades, and swimming.

Provides access to historic social dance manuals documenting social customs related to ballroom dance. Majority of the manuals provided by this resource originate from the United States and Europe.

Photographic collection documenting various aspects of American public life such as sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, political activities including the woman suffrage campaign, conventions and public celebrations.

Provides access to digitized historic baseball cards, a popular American collecting habit from the late 19th-early 20th century.

The Volunteer Football Programs and Guides offer a unique glimpse into the history and traditions of the University of Tennessee football team.

Featured in this digital collection are the University of Tennessee Men's Swimming and Diving media guides that were published in print from 1968 through 2011.

Small collection of Billboard magazine from various years. (1940, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 200, 2005, & 2010)

Digitized collections from the historic Country Music Hall of Fame.

The David Van Vactor Music Collection includes multiple drafts and final versions of compositions from all eras of Van Vactor’s long career.

A large collection of sheet music published between the early 1800s and the mid-1900s. The bulk of this collection was donated by local historian Ronald Allen and many of the works have ties to Tennessee.

This collection includes local news and public affairs programs, local history productions that document the heritage of local communities, and programs dealing with education, environmental issues, music, art, literature, dance, poetry, religion, and even filmmaking on a local level.

Collection of in-depth video conversations with key figures in television, both in front of and behind the camera.