Databases by Subject Area: History

Research database covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. It includes hundreds of full-text history journals, plus useful features such as the ability to search by time period.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s archive of letters, diaries, maps pamphlets, printed books, newspapers and ephemera sheds light on the political, economic and social history of the United States up until the 20th Century. The majority of the collection is unique manuscript. It is an extensive resource for scholars, educators and students and is considered one of the finest archives for material on the revolutionary, early national, antebellum and civil war eras.

A digital archive collection of over 600 core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, business, basic science, life sciences, and physical and applied sciences. Often starts with the first issues (many of which date from the 1800s).

Wide variety of materials relating to American Indian history in the United States, Canada and Mexico, from the Newberry Library's Edward E. Ayer Collection. Covers pre-contact through the mid-20th century.

Digital archive of 14,000+ FBI documents detailing the development of the American Indian Movement and the rise of Native American radicalism. *When you are in the database, click "Collections."

American Periodicals Series Online™ (APS Online) includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal; regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking journals like The Dial, Puck, and McClure's.

Consists of a wide range of 19th and 20th century material. The modules available in this category include: Thomas A. Edison Papers; records of the immigration to the U.S. during the massive immigration wave from 1880-1930; legal collections from the Harvard Law School Library featuring the papers of three Supreme Court Justices, the first Black federal judge, and one of the most infamous criminal cases of the 20th century; and records on American Politics from the beginning of the Kennedy administration through the Nixon Administration.

From early topographical sketches and pioneers’ accounts, to photographs of Buffalo Bill and his ‘Wild West’ stars, explore the fact and the fiction of westward expansion in America from the early eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century.

This database reflects the full interdisciplinarity of contemporary study in the arts and humanities. Titles include both scholarly peer-reviewed journals and selected trade and consumer titles relevant to applied arts and cultural studies. Focused on, but not limited to, art, architecture, literature, music, theatre, and film.

Research materials on the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of the men, women, and sometimes even children who waged one of the most inspiring social movements in American history. Includes: NAACP Papers and federal government records, organizational records, and personal papers regarding the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century.

Contains 500 periodicals published from the 1680s to the 1930s. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the fine arts and the social sciences.

Collection of almost 30,000 documents gathered by William Cecil (1520-1598), Lord Burghley and his son Robert Cecil (1563-1612), First Earl of Salisbury. Collection includes many 16th- and 17th-century state papers, grants from the Crown, legal documents, treaties, correspondences and political memoranda. One of Elizabeth I’s closest advisors, William Cecil was both Lord High Treasurer and Secretary of State – a position also held by his son who continued to serve Elizabeth’s successor, James I.

Includes contemporary pamphlets, newspapers, and other primary source documents - 1000s of primary source materials that were previously unavailable digitally.

Millions of primary source documents related to life in the American colonies from the British National Archives in London.

This growing collection offers insight into the colonial history of North America and the West Indies. It includes the National Archives collection CO 1-- papers that were presented to the Privy Council and the Board of Trade during 1574-1757. More than 7,000 hand-written documents and more than 45,000 bibliographic records give fascinating insight into British trade, history and overseas expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries.

Coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy.

Reports on the world's most powerful legislative body completely and accurately every week. 1983-present

Full text and imaging of the Congressional Record, the official record of the debates and proceedings of the U.S. Congress. Covers 1789-2009. Current Congressional Record issues may be searched and browsed here: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=Record

Part of the Nineteenth Century Collections Online. Includes 9,000+ titles including a wide range of Romantic literature published in English, French, and German.

CQ Press Library - the place to search or browse resources on American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences.

60,000+ images and documents (both manuscripts and printed sources) of primary source material useful for investigations in many disciplines, including women’s and gender studies, history, literature, sociology and education. Includes a wide range of primary source material including ephemera, pamphlets, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, manuscript journals, poetry, receipt books and conduct and advice literature that reveal attitudes towards gender.

Hundreds of early American Newspapers, covering colonial Period through WWI (1690-1900).

This collection studies American social, cultural, and popular history during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.

119,000+ searchable documents, fully annotated, from the authoritative, federally funded Founding Fathers Papers project. Includes correspondence and other writings of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

Cross-cultural resource for information on women's history. It spans more than four centuries and 15 languages and includes over two million pages in full image. Users can trace the evolution of feminism within a single country, as well as the impact of that country's feminist movement on other countries and their movements.

Covers all types of U.S. government documents, including Congressional reports, hearings, debates, and records; judiciary materials; and documents issued by executive departments (Defense, State, Labor, Office of the President, etc.).

HeritageQuest® Online is a comprehensive database of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids. It delivers an essential collection of genealogical and historical sources—with coverage dating back to the 1700s.

Full-text database covering world history (excluding the United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present. It includes hundreds of history journals and books, plus useful features such as the ability to search by time period.

Contains millions of primary source documents in these History Vaults: American Politics & Society from Kennedy to Watergate; Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century; Slavery and the Law; Southern Life and American History, 1775-1915; Struggle for Women's Rights; World War II (Documents in Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes, and Refugees); and Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975

Digital collection of 25 newspapers documenting daily life in Japanese internment camps during WWII. * When you are in the database, click on "Collections."

The Cornell University Library Making of America Collection is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. This site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. The project represents a major collaborative endeavor in preservation and electronic access to historical texts.

Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history primarily from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The book collection currently contains approximately 8,500 books with 19th century imprints.

Digital primary source archive on American market research. Formerly known as American Consumer Culture, 1935-1965.

Letters and manuscripts from the 15th century

The Montana Memory Project provides access to digital collections and items related to Montana's cultural heritage and government. These collections and items document the Montana experience. Many of these items are digitized copies of historic material, some items are contemporary. All serve as a resource for education, business, pleasure, and lifelong learning.

Montana Newspapers is a freely accessible web resource by the Montana Historical Society. This full-text searchable database contains 352,797 pages from 44 Montana newspapers dated 1885-2014.

This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage: 1851 - 2013

Full-text access to over 150 digitized newspapers from the Western states (and Arkansas!)

Digital archives of maps, photographs, newspapers, manuscripts, books, and other primary sources in both Western and non-Western languages documenting the history of the 19th century. Covers topics in science, technology, politics, society, literature and the arts, among others.

The resource offers thousands of colour images of manuscript and rare printed material as well as photographs, ephemera and memorabilia from this exciting period in our recent history.

Fold3 provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.Original documents including The Papers of the Continental Congress, Revolutionary War Pensions, George Washington Correspondence, and Constitutional Convention Records

This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage: 1865 - 1922

An archive of books, pamphlets, court records, and manuscript materials consisting of debates on slavery and abolition. Includes records from the American Colonization Society, from Oberlin's Anti-Slavery collection, from the American Missionary Society (Tulane), and records from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, Yale, Oxford, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, and other archives.

This resource is designed as an important portal for slavery and abolition studies, bringing together documents and collections covering an extensive time period, between 1490 and 2007, from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. Close attention is given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social-justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.

The Women's Studies modules in History Vault consist of records of suffrage organizations and other women's rights organizations as well as personal papers of women's rights advocates, many of whom were involved in the suffrage movement. There are two modules in this category. The first module consists of the records of the National Woman's Party, League of Women Voters, and the Women's Action Alliance. The second module is consist of manuscript collections from the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College. These collections focus on voting rights, national politics, and reproductive rights.

Fully searchable accounts of life in Nazi Germany, along with photographs, propaganda materials such as school textbooks, limited circulation publications and rare serials in a uniquely flexible format, enabling detailed research into the domestic policies of Nazi Germany, Jewish life in Germany from 1933 to after the war, propaganda, life in concentration camps, in hiding, emigration and refugee life. *When you are in the database, click on "Collections."

The Time Magazine Archive consists of cover to cover processing dating back to issue number one in 1923 of the American popular magazine Time, published by Time Inc.

An archival research resource containing a vast collection of rare magazines by and for servicemen and women of all nations during the First World War. Over 1,500 periodicals written and illustrated by serving members of the armed forces and associated welfare organisations published between 1914 and the end of 1919 are included.

The Serial Set contains House and Senate Documents as well as House and Senate Reports. The reports are typically from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. The documents include all other papers printed by the House or Senate. Documents cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.

Digital primary source archive containing modules on spiritualism, magic, circuses, sideshows, movies, and other popular entertainment.

Archival and primary source material.

Digital primary source archive of documents, manuscripts, and other materials related to the Virginia Company.

Entire run of Vogue from the first issue in 1892 to the present. Entire issues reproduced, including articles, advertisements, covers, and fold-outs. Perfect for art, fashion, history, advertising, and design research.

Contains millions of primary source documents in the areas of American Politics/Society from Kennedy to Watergate;

Founded in 1982 as a result of a collaboration between the French government and the University of Chicago, the ARTFL Project provides access to North America's largest collection of digitized French resources. ARTFL-FRANTEXT is the main ARTFL Database, comprising more than 3,500 French language texts spanning from the 12th through the 20th centuries. Additional databases can also be searched including multiple French dictionaries and Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie.

An excellent resource for historical primary texts in French.