Library Guides: History: Primary Sources

Newspapers

Oregonian Collection with Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Full text articles from The Oregonian from 1861-present. Includes images (1861-1987; 2017-present), blogs (2005-2018) and web edition articles (2012-present).
Oregon Index This link opens in a new window
Provides citations for articles about Oregon topics in The Oregonian and 12 other Oregon newspapers. 1974-2004 (varies by title). Search for articles, then go to Interlibrary Loan (UP ILLiad) to request copies.

Historic Oregon Newspapers
Oregon newspapers that have been digitized as part of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program. Overall coverage 1846 to present.
The Skanner (1975-1988)
A major newspaper for Portland's African-American community.
The Skanner (1991-2009)

America's News This link opens in a new window
Full-text U.S. newspaper articles. 1978-
Black Life in America This link opens in a new window
The experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media. 1970-

California Digital Newspaper Collection
Article-level digital facsimiles of California newspapers published 1846 to present.

Catholic News Archive This link opens in a new window
Search the full text of Catholic newspapers.

Directory of Catholic Newspapers Online
A list of 200+ Catholic newspapers that are available online, from 1830 - present. (Most coverage is either pre-1900 or post-2000).

Chicago Tribune‎ (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the Chicago Tribune from 1849-1997.
Christian Science Monitor (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the Christian Science Monitor from 1908 - 2007.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Search and view newspaper pages from 1860-1922 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.

Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Full text collection of newspapers, magazines and journals from ethnic, minority and native presses written in English and Spanish. Includes the module Ethnic NewsWatch: A History™, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989. 1959-
Los Angeles Times‎ (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the Los Angeles Times‎ from 1881-2012.
New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the New York Times from 1851-2017.
Nineteenth (19th) Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of U.S. newspapers from 1800-1900.
ProQuest Historic Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full text of the historic New York Times, Chicago (Daily) Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Washington Post.
San Francisco Chronicle (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the San Francisco Chronicle from 1865 - 1922.
Washington Post‎ (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the The Washington Post‎ from 1877-2004.

Wikipedia: List of online newspaper archives
Includes both free and pay wall blocked digital archives. Most are scanned from microfilm into pdf, gif or similar graphic formats and many of the graphic archives have been indexed into searchable text databases utilizing optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

British Library Newspapers: 19th Century Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full-text of 19th-century British newspapers.
The Independent Archive This link opens in a new window
Full text archive of The Independent, a major British daily newspaper. 1986-2016.
International Herald Tribune: Historical Archive 1887-2013 This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the International Herald Tribune from 1887-2013.
The Sunday Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Search the full text of The Sunday Times of London from 1822-2006. For similar content, see The Times Digital Archive (full text of The Times from 1785-2014).
The Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Search the full text of The Times (of London) from 1785-2014. For similar content, see The Sunday Times Digital Archive (full text of The Sunday Times from 1822-2006).

Australian Newspapers (National Library of Australia)
Australian Newspapers from 1803 to 1954. Ongoing project of the National Library of Australia.
Les Principaux Quotidiens (Gallica)
French newspapers from the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, reflecting political, economic, literary, artistic and scientific thought of the times.
Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg - Zeitschriften und Zeitungen
A small collection of German-language 19th and early-to-mid 20th century newspapers from the University of Heidelberg.
Biblioteca Nacional de España
A large digital collection of Spanish 19th-century and early-to-mid 20th century newspapers from the National Library of Spain.
Wikipedia: List of online newspaper archives
Includes both free and pay wall blocked digital archives. Most are scanned from microfilm into pdf, gif or similar graphic formats and many of the graphic archives have been indexed into searchable text databases utilizing optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature
Covers 1802-1907.

Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
General interest periodicals reflecting a history of 20th century America. 1890-1982

Advertising

Internet Archive: Television
Contains several collections of TV commercials.
The Advertising Archives
Provides over 100,000 U.S., British, French, and Spanish advertisements dating from mid-19th-century to present. Register to view larger images, save picture searches, and create lightboxes.
John W. Hartman Center Advertising Collections
An extensive online database of over 7,000 print advertisements, over 16,000 outdoor advertisements, and over 240 television commercials from the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, & Marketing History at Duke University.
Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
Part of the Hartman Center Advertising Collections at Duke University, this collection provides over 3,300 advertising items and publications illustrating the rise of consumer culture and the birth of a professionalized advertising industry in the United States.
Vintage Ad Browser
This site aims to collect vintage ads from a variety of sources, including comic books, CD-ROMs, websites, APIs, books, magazines, and more.
Advertising
This Library Resources for Communication Studies page can help you identify sources for historical advertising; look for the "Historical Online" and "Historical Archives" lists. Some sources listed on this page are fee-based and not available at Clark Library.
Ad*Access
Created by Duke University, Ad*Access provides an online collection of U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda between 1911 and 1955.

Online Collections

In the First Person
An index to English-language oral history sources around the world, including audio, video, and text of interviews, diaries, letters, memoirs and more.
Medieval Links
A compilation of sources for students of medieval history, including the Internet Medieval Sourcebook.

Routledge Historical Resources: History of Feminism This link opens in a new window
Primary and secondary resources about feminism from 1776–1928.
Women and Social Movements Library This link opens in a new window
Full text documents, images, and primary sources about women's public activism globally from 1600-present. Includes collections covering: U.S. (1600-2000); International (1840-present); and Modern Empires (since 1820).

EuroDocs: Primary historical documents from Western Europe
Transcriptions, facsimiles and translations of Western European documents that shed light on key happenings within the respective countries.
International Women's Periodicals, 1786-1933: Social and Political Issues (Archives Unbound)
Periodicals reflecting the lives, roles, and concerns of women, published between 1786-1933.
Women, War and Society, 1914-1918 (Archives Unbound)
Documents showing British women's perspectives on World War I, including pamphlets, reports, photographs, magazines, correspondence, and more.

Library of Congress Digital Collections
The Library of Congress portal is a gateway to primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States.
The Avalon Project
Yale University provides these primary source documents relating to law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States
Select primary source documents, provided by ProQuest, related to critical people and events in African American history.
Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African-American Newspapers
An archive of digitized African-American newspapers that explores the everyday lives of African Americans in the twentieth century.
Civil Rights Digital Library
Promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement through its three principal components: 1) a digital video archive of historical news film allowing learners to be nearly eyewitnesses to key events of the Civil Rights Movement, 2) a civil rights portal providing a seamless virtual library on the Movement by connecting related digital collections on a national scale, and 3) a learning objects component delivering secondary Web-based resources - such as contextual stories, encyclopedia articles, lesson plans, and activities--to facilitate the use of the video content in the learning process.
The Civil War in Words and Deeds (Archives Unbound)
Personal narratives and regimental histories from the Civil War era.
Civil War Service Reports of Union Army Generals (Archives Unbound)
Union generals reports of service during the Civil War.
Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama (Archives Unbound)
Newspapers published in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama between 1861-1865.
Digital Public Library of America
The Digital Public Library aims to "bring together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and make them freely available to the world."

Gale In Context: U.S. History This link opens in a new window
U.S. history journal articles, video, audio, images, reference book articles, primary documents, and more.

The International Women's Movement: The Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women's Association of the USA, 1950-1985 (Archives Unbound)
Conference proceedings, minutes, reports, photographs, and other materials created by the Pan Pacific Southeast Asia Women's Association of the USA between 1950-1985.
Japanese-American Relocation Camp Newspapers: Perspectives on Day-to-Day Life (Archives Unbound)
Digital collection of Japanese relocation camp newspapers.
Literature, Culture and Society in Depression Era America: Archives of the Federal Writers' Project (Archives Unbound)
Federal Writers' Project publications from 47 states from 1933-1943.
National Archives and Records Administration
Online access to NARA's collection, including the Access to Archival Databases, to search NARA's electronic records, and access to the Presidential Libraries.
Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880 (Archives Unbound)
Accounts from settlers based on The Plains and Rockies: A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure, and Travel in the American West, 1800-1865; and The Trail West: A Bibliography-Index to Western American Trails, 1841-1869.
Prices and Wages by Decade
Links to government documents and primary sources listing retail prices for products and services, as well as wages for common occupations.

The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text collection of primary sources such as diaries, letters, autobiographies, written and oral histories, and more about the 1960s.

State Digital Resources: Memory Projects, Online Encyclopedias, Historical & Cultural Materials Collections
A compilation of state and regional digital projects and collaborations.
The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas (Archives Unbound)
A collection of documents related to private armed vessels used during the War of 1812, including letters of marque for privateers, requests for permission to sail, agreements for the exchange of prisoners of war, and other correspondence.
Women's Issues and Their Advocacy Within the White House, 1974-1977 (Archives Unbound)
This collection documents Patricia Lindh’s and Jeanne Holm’s liaison with women’s groups and their advocacy within the White House on issues of special interest to women. It includes material accumulated by presidential Counselor Anne Armstrong and Office of Women’s Programs Director Karen Keesling.
Women Organizing Transnationally: The Committee of Correspondence, 1952-1969 (Archives Unbound)
Correspondence, records, minutes, and publications from The Committee of Correspondence, which advocated for women's involvement in foreign policy.

Women’s Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library This link opens in a new window
Searchable collection of primary sources from the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College focused on rights for women as well as women involved in national politics.

Portland (OR) Archives and Records Center
The City of Portland's archival records provide important historical evidence of the development of city government since 1851. Significant research subjects documented by the collection include, but are not limited to, urban planning, parks, land use, public works, economic development, public safety and social issues. The Archives' collections include an African American history guide which compiles photos and documents, as well as information about historical archives and special collections in Oregon that house relevant historical materials.

UP Library Search

UP Library Search is a useful tool for locating primary sources from UP, Summit, and beyond. UP Library Search FAQ

Add one of these terms to your UP Library Search keyword search. For example: Oregon pioneer sources

Bibliography
Charters, Grants, Privileges
Correspondence
Description and Travel
Diaries

Interviews
Pamphlets
Personal Narratives
Sources
Speeches

Magazines

American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection This link opens in a new window
Full text of American periodicals published from 1684 - 1912.
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Full text of American magazines and journals covering 1741-1940.
Life Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
An extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. Includes the front and back covers as well as all articles and advertisements.
The Nation Archive This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text archive of this publication with a liberal perspective, 1865-
News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Full text archive of Newsweek magazine (3/4/33 - 12/24/12), as well as several other publications.
Time Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
An extensive collection of the prominent weekly news magazine dating back to its first issue in March 1923 through December 2000, presented in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. Includes the front and back covers as well as all articles and advertisements.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Full text archive of 12 magazines: Better Homes & Gardens, Chatelaine, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, Parents, Redbook, Seventeen, Town & Country, WIN News, and Woman's Day. Coverage varies for each publication between 1846-2005.

Ebony
[Online] 1945 - present (PDF).
U.S. News & World Report.
[Microfiche] 1953 - 2010; [Microfilm] 1948 - 1953
Vanity fair : selections from America's most memorable magazine : a cavalcade of the 1920s and 1930s
Oversize PS536 .V3 1960

History: Primary Sources

What is a primary source?

Newspapers

Advertising

Online Collections

UP Library Search

Magazines