A Guide to Primary Sources: Databases

An archive of periodicals that document the history of African American religious life and culture between 1829 and 1922. It includes newspapers and magazines, plus reports and annuals from African American religious organizations, including churches and social service agencies.

This collection consists of FBI reports dealing with various aspects of antiwar work carried out by the VVAW. The collection also includes surveillance on a variety of other antiwar groups and individuals, with an emphasis on student groups and Communist organizations. Covers 1967-1975.

These collections include digitized images of American magazines and journals documenting the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Includes content published between 1684 and 1912. Access to collections 1-5 is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).

These FBI files provide detailed information on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest and the development of Native American radicalism. Covers 1968-1979.

This collection brings together hundreds of newspapers published within prisons over the past 200 years. When complete, the collection will contain newspapers from prisons in every state, representing a variety of penal institutions, including women-only institutions.

An archive focused on U.S. Hispanic history, literature, and culture from colonial times until 1960. Series 1 focuses on the creative life of U.S. Latinos and Hispanics. Content is written, indexed and searchable in Spanish and English. Includes historical articles, complete texts of historical books of Hispanic literature and culture, plus hundreds of political and religious pamphlets and broadsides. Content is written in Spanish (80%) and English (20%).

An archive of rare manuscripts, newspapers and books by Latino-Hispanic Americans. Features manuscript collections of both individuals and organizations. Presents books and newspapers in their original form. Content is written in Spanish (80%) and English (20%).

A curated selection of primary sources on African American history and movements against racial injustice. Sources include legislation, legal cases, and documents about leaders and organizations. The collection is organized into six areas: Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860); The Civil War and the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877); Jim Crow Era from 1878 to the Great Depression (1878-1932); The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945); The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975); The Contemporary Era (1976-2000)

This primary source collection covers African American history and experience as recorded by the news media. Sources include a variety of American and global news sources, including current and historical Black publications. NOTE: The library subscribes to Series 3 (1976-current).

A compilation of primary source documents, books, and images. Search by author, topic, or event.

Civil War Primary Source Documents includes letters, diaries, administrative records, photographs, illustrations, and maps chronicling the American Civil War as it was experienced.

Contains digital facsimile images of nearly 100,000 books in English printed between 1473 and 1700 - virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America, plus works in English printed elsewhere. Texts range from the first book printed in English by William Caxton through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the English Civil War. Included are works by Malory, Bacon, More, Erasmus, Boyle, Newton, Galileo; musical exercises by Henry Purcell; novels by Aphra Behn; prayer books, pamphlets, and proclamations; almanacs, calendars, and many other primary sources.

This collection of FBI files provides source materials for major social movements and key figures in early twentieth century black history and it provides a window into the development of America’s first systematic domestic surveillance programs.

This digital collection of Japanese relocation camp newspapers records the concerns and the day-to-day life of the Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.

This multidisciplinary database provides full text for more than 2,000 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1922. It covers subject areas of general interest and contains full text for more than 1,000 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an image collection of over 502,000 photos, maps & flags.. Note: To limit your search to primary source documents, select "Primary Source Document" in the "Publication Type" box. Access provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).

This collection, from the library of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco, documents the work of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, founders in 1955 of the first lesbian rights organization in U.S. history, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). They also were instrumental in the formation and growth of other related social movements, including the contemporary women’s rights movement. Covers 1955-1984.

This collection, from the library of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco, documents decades of Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin’s work for the LGBT movement and the women’s rights movement in both in San Francisco and nationally. Included are minutes, correspondence, and notes related to their work with the ACLU, the San Francisco Coalition for Human Rights, the Commission on Crime Control and Violence Protection, the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, and the National Organization for Women. Covers 1966-1984.

Makes available online works captured from Joseph Sabin's bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from Its Discovery to the Present Time. Contains information about North, Central and South America, the Arctic and Antarctica and the West Indies. Offers original accounts of exploration, pioneering, settlement, the western movement, military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition. Provides access to 33,000 titles, with over 8 million pages of text.

Includes collections from the United States and Europe on the worldwide movement for the abolition of slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Contains 1.5 million cross-searchable pages, including over 7,000 books, 79 serials, 16 manuscript collections and 377 Supreme Court records and briefs.

The collection covers state and federal statutes, judicial cases, and pamphlets and books about slavery.

Student Activism is a primary source collection of material related to student activism in the 20th and early 21st century. It includes fliers, newsletters, event documentation, and more. When complete, the collection will contain over 75,000 pages of documents.

Indexing and selected full text access to over 350 newspapers from around the world. Archival coverage begins in 1985 for some titles. Access is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).