Finding Archival Collections
Think about who would create the documents. Who would collect and preserve them? Once you've identified potential libraries, look for finding aids on their archives/special collections web sites to discover what they have in print or digital collections. They may also offer help through chat and email to help get you started.
- Archive FinderA current directory of collections of primary source material housed in repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Includes the entire collection of the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC) from 1959-2009.
- Digital Public Library of America
Primary sources provided by libraries, archives, museums, and cultural heritage institutions from around the United States.
- Umbra Search African American History"Brings together hundreds of thousands digitized materials from over 1,000 libraries and archives across the country."
Primary Source Databases
The links below allow you search across several primary source collections at once. Consider deselecting databases that may not be relevant to your topic (e.g., British collections).
- Readex AllSearchSearches across Newsbank primary source databases, including America's Historical Imprints (1639-1819) and America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1993).
- AM ExplorerSearch several primary source databases published by Adam Matthew in the areas of history, literature and popular culture.
- Gale Primary SourcesSearch multiple primary source databases focusing on American and British history.
- ProQuest History VaultPrimary source materials on topics such as civil rights, Southern life and African American history during the Civil War, Vietnam War, and women's rights.
These history guides group primary source databases and other resources by time period.
Government documents are a rich source of information. Congressonal hearings, documents, and reports can contain analysis, background information, statistical data, and more.
- ProQuest CongressionalComprehensive index to the U.S. Congress. Provides full-text of congressional publications including bills, laws, hearings, and more. Also includes members and committees information.
Search Tips
- Do some background research to learn more about people, events, and the political and socioeconomic environment of the time.
- Find journal articles, books, and reference sources on your topic, and look in the footnotes and bibliography to see what primary sources the author(s) used.
- Google your topic, and add words like archives, digitized, oral history, letter, papers, speech, or transcript. Be sure to evaluate the web site for authority and bias.
- Think of words that reflect the language of the time (e.g., the Great War instead of World War I).
- Remember that institutions may have changed their names.
- Finding aids describe the contents of a collection. They can be very detailed, but they can also have minimal information if the collection has not been fully processed. Try doing broad searches for names and places within the finding aid.
- Use words to describe primary sources, such as correspondence, interviews, manuscripts, personal narratives, pamphlets, or speeches.
- If you get too many search results from a database, consider limiting by dates, material type, or source.
- When using newspaper sources, broaden your desired day and month ranges to take into consideration that news traveled more slowly in that time period.