History Primary Source Databases
- Black Thought and Culture
Non-fiction works written by African Americans. SUNY Empire Login Required
- HarpWeek
Full-text of Harper's Weekly (a well-known magazine) from the Civil War period. SUNY Empire Login Required
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Letters & diaries from North American women from colonial times to 1950. SUNY Empire Login Required
Historical Newspapers
Thanks to state libraries, special collections, museums, and historical societies, and also to genealogists and local history buffs, some newspaper content in the public domain that used to exist only on microform has been uploaded to the web and made available.
These are often, but not always, topically specific collections of articles rather than a chronological sequence of entire newspapers.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersFull-text of American newspapers from 1897-1910. From the U.S. Library of Congress.
- Independent VoicesFree online access to independent press full-text newspapers.
- Internet Archive - NewspapersA pilot project that involves scanning historical microform newspapers and making them publicly available online.
- New York State Historic NewspapersFree online access. Organized geographically.
- State Archives contact informationFrom the National Archives' Archives Library Information Center.
Microform newspapers in library basements
The old fashioned and still incredibly useful way to get old newspapers is to go to a local library and look it up on microfilm or microfiche (slightly different kinds of microform machine.)
How does microform work?
These machines enlarge tiny scans of the original back to readable size, and you can usually print off pages. They are rarely indexed except for the title of the newspaper and the date. So you need to know what you're looking for or be prepared to skim a lot.
How do I find what I'm looking for?
Search the web archives of newspapers with a long history for article titles, click them, and get the exact date to look for. Search on the web for newspaper title keywords year to get started. For example, New York Times shipping san francisco 1959. Only major national newspapers will be indexed online - smaller ones can't afford to do it.
Where do I go?
- You can of course use any public library where you live, and once you've gotten a library card there, you can usually get an access card for other library systems in the region by asking at the circulation desk.
- As Empire State University faculty, staff, or students, you are entitled to use any SUNY or New York state community college library. You will need your SUNY Empire photo ID. You can also call CUNY libraries to see what arrangements they require for you to use their facilities - usually they require confirming your identity and adding a barcode to your SUNY Empire photo ID. Many other academic libraries also allow community members to come in and use their resources on site.
- All New York State residents are entitled to use the New York State Library in Albany and branches of the New York Public Library in New York City - bring your driver's license or government photo ID.
Always call ahead if you want to use microform because the person who knows how to use the machine will have to set it up and instruct you.
US and Canada primary resources on the web
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersFull-text of American newspapers from 1897-1910. From the U.S. Library of Congress.
- Discovering American Women's History OnlinePrimary sources in women's history. From the Middle Tennessee State University.
- Documenting the American SouthEspecially strong collection of slave narratives. Also Southern literature.
- Library of Congress > American Memory ProjectCollections include the Haymarket Affair, America at Work, Inside an American Factory, and the National Child Labor Committee. Search the Ephemera Collection for pamphlets by various organizations.
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online CatalogHuge collection of historical prints and photographs. Most are in the public domain.
- Making of AmericaPrimary sources in 19th century American social history. From Cornell University.
- National Archives and Records AdministrationScanned text and images. "All of the digital images that are available on our website are in the public domain."
- National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)This site provides access to summary tables and time series of population, housing, agriculture, and economic data, along with GIS-compatible boundary files, for years from 1790 through the present and for all levels of U.S. census geography, including states, counties, tracts, and blocks.
- National Security ArchiveFrom George Washington University.
- Smithsonian InstitutionCheck out the Folkways Collection, the Photography Initiative, and the Archives of American Art.
- Vincent Voice LibraryClips of American political speeches.
- Women Working, 1800-1930Digitized primary source documents in women's involvement in the US economy between the Civil War and the Great Depression. From Harvard University.
