Research Guides: Primary Sources: Finding Primary Resources in History

Primary History Resources on the Jerry Falwell Library Website

AM Explorer This link opens in a new window
Full-text, primary sources from the portfolio of Adam Matthew Digital spanning social sciences and humanities from the 15th to the 21st centuries, including handwritten text recognition, data visualization, and video and oral histories.

For more information, here is a brief tutorial on using AM Explorer
America's Historical Imprints (Evans & Shaw-Shoemaker) This link opens in a new window
Index of books, pamphlets, broadsides, and other scarce printed material covering American history, literature, culture, and daily life from 1639-1819
American Indian Experience: The American Mosaic This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents and media covering historical and contemporary issues of Native American tribes from all regions of North America, including captivity narratives, traditional stories, treaties, speeches, maps, images, and videos as well as articles and essays from Native American authors and contributors
American History Collection (Formerly “Papers of …” collections) This link opens in a new window
Primary sources tracing the Constitution’s progress through each of the thirteen states’ conventions
Daily Life Through History This link opens in a new window
Reference collection of primary and secondary sources as well as journal articles, including peer-reviewed essays, covering daily life from 10,000 BC to the present

Gale Primary Resources
Full-text, multidisciplinary primary source materials available through a single search of Gale’s digital archives, including archival newspapers, magazines, journals, and other serials; rare documents; books; legal documents; and government documents

Gilded Age This link opens in a new window
Primary documents and scholarly commentary on the social and cultural history of the late nineteenth century in America, including rare materials such as songs, letters, photographs, cartoons, government documents, and ephemera
Latino American Experience: The American Mosaic This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents and media as well as peer-reviewed essays covering the heritage and culture of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and other Hispanic groups in the United states from pre-16th century to the present, including speeches, maps, songs, audio clips, interviews, and photographs
MEMSO (Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online) This link opens in a new window
Repository of state papers, chronicles, accounts, and correspondence from the archives of Britain, Ireland, and continental Europe as well as books and manuscripts related to the study of Britain and its place in the world during the medieval and early modern period (c. 1100-1800) (Updated weekly)
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Articles from reference works along with primary source documents, images, maps, charts and tables, and commentaries that focus on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture
ProQuest Civil War Era This link opens in a new window
Primary source materials, including regional newspapers, pamphlets, and other documents, covering Manifest Destiny through the end of the Civil War and a vast range of topics including the formative economic factors and other forces that led to the abolitionist movement, the 600,000 battle casualties, and the emancipation of nearly 4 million slaves

Primary Online Resources in History

British History Online

This is a digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. It is created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust.

Digital Public Library of America

A vast trove of primary source material from libraries, archives, and museums around the U.S. and related to every country and era.

Hanover Historical Texts Collection

Digital versions of historical texts for use in history and humanities courses. These are not photos of the original documents, but transcriptions of the contents.

Making of America

Making of America (MoA) 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.

National Archives Catalog

This resource is a gateway to all sorts of documents and information related to the United States. It includes guides to help you find what you need. One interesting feature is their Online Exhibits.

Our Documents

The Our Documents initiative is a cooperative effort among National History Day, The National Archives and Records Administration, and USA Freedom Corps. It contains resources pertinent to the important documents of United States history. To get the most out of this website you will want to download Adobe Flash.

Women Working

Primary source material related to women's roles in the U.S. economy in the 19th and early 20th century.