Research and Course Guides: HIST 340 The Long Emancipation: Find Primary Sources

Find Primary Sources in Books

Search the library catalog CLICnet to find primary sources in books and other works. When searching the catalog, you will want to use specific subject headings in your searches to single out the primary source materials. These subject headings are specialized "tag" added to the records to books by catalog librarians to provide accurate descriptions of books. Using the following words in your search will help you find the source material you seek:

correspondence	personal narratives
literary collections	pictorial works
diary or diaries	songs and music
sources	documents

Primary Source Materials in Databases

The following full-text newspapers and periodicals may provide you with source documents:

Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926
Sabin Americana, 1500–1926 is digital archive of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean the from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s.
American Periodicals Series
With this database you have access to 1,500 magazines, newspapers and popular journal titles published in the United States dating 1741 through the 1930s.
Civil War Era
This database of Civil War materials provides you access to nearly 2,000 pamphlets and all articles from eight newspaper titles (3 from the North, 3 from the South and 2 from border states) dating from 1840 to 1865.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
In this database, you will find full-text content and images from numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. The collection encompasses the entire 19th century, with an emphasis on such topics as the American Civil War, African-American culture and history, Western migration and Antebellum-era life.
New York Times (historical)
Complete searchable content of The New York Times from 1851 to 2020 including articles, editorials, advertisements, and photographs.
Washington Post (historical)
Complete searchable content of Washington Post from 1877 to 2008 including all articles, editorials, advertisements, and photographs.

Selected Primary Source Materials on the Web

Hathi Trust
The HathiTrust Digital Library brings together the immense collections of partner institutions in digital form.
Digital Public Library of America
This resource brings digital collections from America’s libraries, archives, and museums together, and makes them freely available to the world.
Chronicling America
Digital versions of a variety of U. S. Newspapers
Documenting the American South