Research Guides: Primary Sources: Research Databases

Databases for Primary Sources

General US History

19th-Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
This is a full-text searchable with facsimile images from 19th-century American newspapers.
America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Digitized full-text American newspapers. Coverage runs from the colonial era through Reconstruction.
Search hundreds of historical American newspapers from across the country, including niche publications such as abolitionist newspapers and ethnic newspapers. Limit search by year, president in office, historical era, place of publication, and type of article, including advertisements.
American Antiquarian Society Historical Collections This link opens in a new window
The AAS historical collection includes books, newspapers, magazines, graphics arts materials and other documents from the United States from the 1600s through 1912. This full-text collection is a great source for information about the early years of the U.S.
American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of the pages of over 1,100 historic American magazines, journals, and newspapers from the mid-18th to early 20th Centuries
Contains page images of more than 1,100 historic American magazines, journals, and newspapers. These resources illuminate the development of American culture, politics, and society across some 150 years. Articles can be searched by author, source, and words in the complete text.
The collection is arranged in three series: 1741-1800, the period of transition from British colony to emerging nation; 1800-1850, pre-Civil War and the era of debate over slavery; and 1850-1900, Civil War and Reconstruction. Magazines of these periods cover the literature, science, religion, arts, and history of the time.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Source for the quantitative facts of American history
The standard source for the quantitative facts of American history. HSUS provides data on social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade - quantitative facts of American History. The fully searchable and downloadable electronic edition permits users to graph individual tables and create customized tables and spreadsheets reflecting their own particular areas of interest.

Civil War

Civil War: Antebellum Period to Reconstruction This link opens in a new window
Index to resources on the Antebellum Period to Reconstruction, 1843-1877, including newspapers, Congressional documents, broadsides, and ephemera.
HarpWeek (Civil War and Reconstruction) This link opens in a new window
Scanned images of all the pages of Harpers Weekly from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, 1857-1871, together with a series of indexes
The electronic version of Harper's Weekly from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, 1857-1871. HarpWeek includes all the pages of Harper's Weekly as scanned images, together with a series of indexes. Harper's Weekly was a leading national weekly during the second half of the nineteenth-century, providing information and insights on political, military and social issues and events prior to and during the Civil War. HarpWeek includes news, editorials, stories, illustrations, book reviews, serialized novels, advertising and maps from the weekly. It also includes biographical information about period leaders.

Others

For a full list of the library's primary source databases, see:

Databases: Primary Sources
This guide provides a list of primary source collections in databases and on the web

Print Indexes

Before online databases, print indexes were the way that scholars discovered what articles and essays were written on a topic. While many things have been moved to databases, many news, magazine, and other popular sources from the early to mid-Twentieth Century, which could make great primary sources for topics in that era, are unlikely to be digitized. The way to discover these sources is still through print indexes.

The indexes are shelved together on the Second Floor of Beeghly Library.

New York Times Index
Call Number: HEIDELBERG PERIODICAL
Publication Date: 1851-1980
Organizes every article published in the Times by subject
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature
Call Number: HEIDELBERG PERIODICAL
Publication Date: 1901-2002
Covers articles published in magazines, journals, and other popular sources
International Index to Periodicals
Call Number: HEIDELBERG PERIODICAL
Publication Date: 1907-1955
Indexes articles in the humanities and social sciences
Essay and General Literature Index
Call Number: HEIDELBERG PERIODICAL
Publication Date: 1900-1984
Indexes works that were published in books and essay collections