Research Guides: Primary Sources: Finding Primary Sources

Primary Sources in the Catalog

African American Newspapers
Collection of publications offering coverage of African American history, culture and daily life in the 19th and 20th centuries. Coverage from 1827 to 1998.
America's Historical Imprints
Dates: 1639-1819
More than 100,000 early American monographs, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents, and rare printed materials.
America's Historical Newspapers
Dates: 1690-2000
Collection of newspapers from all over the United States.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Digital collection of historical American newspapers from the Library of Congress. Coverage from 1789 to present.
Life Magazine archive
Google Books' digital archive of the American weekly general-interest magazine Life Magazine. Coverage from 1936 to 1972.

New York Times
Includes all articles published in print editions of the New York Times. Coverage from 1980 to present.
New York Times, Historical
Includes all articles published in historical print editions of the New York Times. Coverage from 1851 to 2006.
Wall Street Journal
Dates: 1984 - present
Wall Street Journal articles.
Wall Street Journal, Historical
Dates: 1889-1993
Historical articles from the Wall Street Journal.
World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean
Collection of primary source documents, academic journal articles, news feeds, reference and analysis articles, maps, statistics, audio and video about Latin America and the Caribbean. Coverage from 1492 to present.

American History in Video
Largest collection of video available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles.

C-SPAN
This digital collection from the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) has over 246,000 hours of broadcast footage is available to watch online. It covers from 1987 to yesterday with a full transcript for each video. So whether you want to watch the latest government press release about Egypt, watch an author speak on Book-TV, or watch congressional committee footage about Iran-Contra, this is the resource to try.

Dance in Video
Contains 500 hours of dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Covers ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, improvisational dance, and many other forms.

Digital Public Library of America
Makes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 366 billion archived web pages.
Library of Congress
Photographs, film, sound recordings, manuscripts, maps, historical newspapers, the performing arts and more.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Library of Congress - Webcasts
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Site features lectures by notable authors, historians, politicians, and scholars.
LIFE photo archive hosted by Google
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"Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today."
Mediterranean Memory Project
more... less...

4000+ audiovisual documents available to the public free of charge, Med-Mem – co-funded by the European Union as part of the Euromed Heritage IV programme – is the largest online video archive library devoted to the historic, cultural and tourism heritage of the Mediterranean.

Opera in Video
Offers hundreds of hours of streaming video of and about the most important opera performances, including full staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. Coverage from 1933 to 2011.
Theatre in Video
Features streaming video of full theatre performances and behind-the-scenes documentary content. Coverage from 1936 to present.
Victorian Popular Culture
Archive of primary source materials related to popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Coverage from 1800 to 1928.

Open Vault from GBH
Repository of "unique and historically important content" available for streaming from the Boston-area public television and radio broadcaster GBH.

Newspaper Primary Sources

African American Newspapers
Collection of publications offering coverage of African American history, culture and daily life in the 19th and 20th centuries. Coverage from 1827 to 1998.
America's Historical Imprints
Dates: 1639-1819
More than 100,000 early American monographs, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents, and rare printed materials.
America's Historical Newspapers
Dates: 1690-2000
Collection of newspapers from all over the United States.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Digital collection of historical American newspapers from the Library of Congress. Coverage from 1789 to present.
LIFE Magazine Archives on Google Books
Google Books' digital archive of the American weekly general-interest magazine Life Magazine. Coverage from 1936 to 1972.

New York Times, Historical
Includes all articles published in historical print editions of the New York Times. Coverage from 1851 to 2006.
Wall Street Journal, Historical
Dates: 1889-1993
Historical articles from the Wall Street Journal.
New York Times
Includes all articles published in print editions of the New York Times. Coverage from 1980 to present.
Wall Street Journal
Dates: 1984 - present
Wall Street Journal articles.
World Scholar: Latin America & the Caribbean
Collection of primary source documents, academic journal articles, news feeds, reference and analysis articles, maps, statistics, audio and video about Latin America and the Caribbean. Coverage from 1492 to present.

Multimedia Primary Sources

American History in Video
Largest collection of video available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles.

C-SPAN
This digital collection from the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) has over 246,000 hours of broadcast footage is available to watch online. It covers from 1987 to yesterday with a full transcript for each video. So whether you want to watch the latest government press release about Egypt, watch an author speak on Book-TV, or watch congressional committee footage about Iran-Contra, this is the resource to try.

Dance in Video
Contains 500 hours of dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Covers ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, improvisational dance, and many other forms.

Digital Public Library of America
Makes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 366 billion archived web pages.
Library of Congress - Home
Photographs, film, sound recordings, manuscripts, maps, historical newspapers, the performing arts and more.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Library of Congress - Webcasts
more... less...

Site features lectures by notable authors, historians, politicians, and scholars.
LIFE photo archive hosted by Google
more... less...

"Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today."
Mediterranean Memory Project
more... less...

4000+ audiovisual documents available to the public free of charge, Med-Mem – co-funded by the European Union as part of the Euromed Heritage IV programme – is the largest online video archive library devoted to the historic, cultural and tourism heritage of the Mediterranean.

Opera in Video
Offers hundreds of hours of streaming video of and about the most important opera performances, including full staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. Coverage from 1933 to 2011.
Theatre in Video
Features streaming video of full theatre performances and behind-the-scenes documentary content. Coverage from 1936 to present.
Victorian Popular Culture
Archive of primary source materials related to popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Coverage from 1800 to 1928.

Open Vault from GBH
Repository of "unique and historically important content" available for streaming from the Boston-area public television and radio broadcaster GBH.