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Pop Culture Resources
- 1980s Culture and Society
From zines, newspapers and ephemera, to oral histories, films and photographs, 1980s Culture and Society compiles materials from archival collections housed across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Capturing diverse perspectives, materials produced by grassroots organizations and under-represented groups are presented alongside government records and mainstream media to showcase the key social, cultural, and political concerns of the decade.
- Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790–1920Primary source collection of documents on the evolution of crime and punishment. The archive's focus is on the nineteenth century- the most rapid period of evolution for crime and its associated legal/penal systems.
- Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
Archival research resource containing US and UK trade magazines for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries. Issues scanned in high-resolution color. Coverage from 1880 to 2000.
- The March of Time
Newsreels historically shown in movie theatres and television produced by Time Inc. from 1935-1967.
- Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992
Full-text of popular British humor magazine.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982
Indexes the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States from 1890-1982.
Online Access - 2 simultaneous users - Victorian Popular Culture
Primary sources of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Britain and the U.S.
- Ad* AccessImages for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. From Duke University.
- Advertising ArchivesCollection of digitized advertisements from the United States and the United Kingdom ranging from the 1900's-2000's
- AdViewsCollection of televised commercials from 1950's-1980's. This collection covers a range of popular companies covering food, finance, tv shows, and more.
- Emergence of Advertising in American : 1850-1920Over 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.
- History of Advertising TrustLarge collection of print advertisements, ghost signs, and TV commercials documenting the history of advertising in the United Kingdom.
- Medicine and Madison AvenueCollection of advertisements for medicines, tonics, tinctures, and various other remedies from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
- Radio Shack CatalogsDigitized versions of yearly Radio Shack catalogs dating back to the 1930s. Shows the evolution of computers, cell phones, music players, and more.
- ARTstor
With more than 2 million images* (and growing), Artstor is a cross-disciplinary collection of rights-cleared images from around the world.
*Note: The number of images available varies by country due to copyright restrictions.
- Anna Catherine Wiley SketchesThis 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.
- Cartoon Drawing (Library of Congress)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.
- Cartoon Prints, American (Library of Congress)Offers access to a large collection of historic political art and cartoons in the form of caricature and satire.
- Charlie Daniel Editorial Cartoon CollectionCollection 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.
- Ed Gamble Cartoon CollectionAlthough 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.
- From Pi Beta Phi to Arrowmont Digital CollectionThis 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.
- Museum of Modern ArtEvolving collection containing almost 200,000 works of modern and
contemporary art. More than 78,000 works are currently available online
- London Low Life: Street Culture, Social Reform and the Victorian Underworld
Color digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 19th and early 20th century London. Also includes secondary sources such as maps and essays.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 : Rock and Roll, Counterculture, Peace and Protest
Explores the dynamic period of social, political and cultural change between 1950 and 1975 in Britain and the U.S. Full-text of documents, images, and video.
- The Sixties : Primary Sources and Personal Narratives 1960-1974.
Primary source material and personal narratives from 1960-1974 in the United States. Topics include the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the associated protest movement, radical movements, and counter-culture.
- CoPA : Commercial Pattern ArchiveProvides a unique tool for researchers and designers to recreate or date clothing from 1847 to present. Includes collections from the U.S., Canada, and the UK represented in the database which functions like a Union Catalog of pattern collections.
- Vogue ArchiveContains the entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition) from 1892 to current, reproduced in high-resolution color page images.
- Cashin (Bonnie) Collect of Fashion, Theater, and Film Costume Design, 1913-2000The collection includes fashion design illustrations, writings on design, contractual paperwork, photographs of clothing designs, and press materials including press releases and editorial coverage.
- America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894 to 1915 (Library of Congress)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.
- An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490 to 1920 (Library of Congress)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.
- Bain Collection (Library of Congress)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.
- Benjamin K. Edwards Baseball Cards Collection (Library of Congress)Provides access to digitized historic baseball cards, a popular American collecting habit from the late 19th-early 20th century.
- University of Tennessee Football ProgramsThe Volunteer Football Programs and Guides offer a unique glimpse into the history and traditions of the University of Tennessee football team.
- University of Tennessee Men's Swimming and Diving ProgramsFeatured 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.
- Music Online: American Music
A streaming audio collection of songs by and about Americans. Includes the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more.
- Billboard Archives in Google BooksSmall collection of Billboard magazine from various years. (1940, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 200, 2005, & 2010)
- Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Digital CollectionsDigitized collections from the historic Country Music Hall of Fame.
- David Van Vactor Music CollectionThe David Van Vactor Music Collection includes multiple drafts and final versions of compositions from all eras of Van Vactor’s long career.
- University of Tennessee Sheet Music CollectionA 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.
- American Archive of Public BroadcastingThis 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.
- The Interviews: An Oral History of TelevisionCollection of in-depth video conversations with key figures in television, both in front of and behind the camera.
- Entertainment Industry Magazine ArchiveAn archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to the 21st century. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles.
- Silent Film Online
Contains silent feature films, serials, and shorts from the 1890s to the 1930s that represent the foundation of modern cinematic technique and film theory.
- Royal Shakespeare Company ArchiveRoyal Shakespeare Company Archives provides a comprehensive record of the performance history of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its predecessor, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre from 1889 to 2013. The Archive features over a thousand prompt books representing the performance of not only the works of William Shakespeare, but also plays dating from Classical Greece to the modern day. These are accompanied by production records including costume bibles, sheet music, photographs and other materials relating to 53 groundbreaking or otherwise significant productions.
- Shakespeare's Globe ArchivePrimary source materials of the reconstructed Globe Theatre, including prompt books, wardrobe notes, publicity material, annual reports, show reports, photographs and architectural plans.
- Theatre in Context CollectionComprehensive reference works related to historical theatre productions including playbills, set designs, periodicals, and more.