The following library databases contain extensive collections of historical newspapers, images, and other primary sources. The American Antiquarian Society collections include a wide array of magazines from the 19th century and earlier. They are a great source of news and opinions from the early Republic. The other databases are more specialized in their content. If you need help working with any of these databases, don’t hesitate to contact a librarian for help.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina, this collection highlights the challenges of racism, discrimination, and integration, as well as African American culture and identity. Includes pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, correspondence, oral histories, and a rich selection of visual material.
1691–1820. Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
The first of five collections created from the American Antiquarian Society’s periodical holdings. Includes print culture from early colonial imports to titles published in America during the American Revolution and early Republic.
1821–1837. Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
The second of five collections created from the American Antiquarian Society’s periodical holdings. Covers agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics during the Jacksonian Democracy era.
1838–1852. Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
The third of five collections created from the American Antiquarian Society’s periodical holdings. Explores American life and covers a period of growth through subjects like industrialization, regional political differences, and life on the western frontier.
1853–1865. Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
The fourth of five collections created from the American Antiquarian Society’s periodical holdings. This collection focuses on the Civil War battlefront, plus diverse facets of American life.
1866–1877. Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
The fifth of five collections created from the American Antiquarian Society’s periodical holdings. This collection explores American life and covers the aftermath of the Civil War, including the incorporation of recently freed African Americans and expansion into the Western territories.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Covers American history from the times of the earliest settlers until the end of World War II. Contains documents sourced from the 2Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the finest archives available for the study of American history.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Explores interactions between American Indigenous peoples and Europeans. Contains archival material and spans early contact, the American Civil War, government legislation, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Offers a robust collection of print journalism from Indigenous peoples of the US and Canada. Contains national, local, and student publications, as well as bilingual and Indigenous-language editions.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Explores westward expansion in America from the early eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Covers a wide range of documents, including books, journals, historic maps, broadsides, periodicals, ads, photos, artwork, and more.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
This digital collection provides a unique window on western U.S. history. Comprised of historical documents and images from microfilm collections.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Focuses on the cultural and trading relationships between America, China, and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries. Features manuscripts, rare print sources, photos, and maps.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Curated by the New York Historical Society, this database explores the pre- and post-Civil War periods. Contains historical documents, manuscript material, and other primary sources.
Non-peer reviewed. No full-text content.
This bibliographic database indexes European works related to the Americas, as well as portrayals of Native American peoples. Includes thousands of primary sources.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Focuses on 19th and 20th century political, social, and gender issues. Comprised of searchable images of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals, and more.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Illustrates the deep links between food and identity, politics, power, gender, race, and socio-economic status, charting key issues around agriculture, food production, advertising histories, and cuisine evolution. Includes primary source material.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Dedicated to the study of gender history, women’s suffrage, the feminist movement, and the men’s movement, as well as labor, education, legislation, and more. Includes records and primary sources.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Focuses on social, cultural, political, scientific, and religious perspectives in Europe from the 12th to early 18th centuries. Includes primary source documents.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Specializes in European travel writing from the later medieval period, especially journeys to central and eastern Asia. Includes the most influential prose works of the late Middle Ages, plus lesser-known works.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Dedicated to political and cultural change in the U.S. and Britain between 1950 and 1975. Contains manuscripts, photographs, video footage, memorabilia, and more.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Highlights responses to the challenges of overcoming prejudice, segregation, and racial tensions. Includes interviews, statistics, educational pamphlets, administrative correspondence, photographs, and more.
Partially peer reviewed. Some full-text content.
This resource is dedicated to Revolutionary War records. Includes British and American orderly books, manuscript journals, plus records of essential military operations.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
Specializes in slavery and abolition studies, including the varieties of slavery, legacy of slavery, social-justice perspectives, and modern slavery. Includes documents and collections from 1490 to 2007.
Non-peer reviewed. Full-text content.
This collection offers access to the works and legacy of many both influential and lesser-known women. Contains printed and manuscript sources.