LibGuides: Primary Sources: Memoirs & Writings

Resources

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement
Eyewitness accounts of North American exploration. Includes books, original manuscripts, and classic travel narratives from the library and archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Dates: 1000-1844.
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project
2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of formerly enslaved people. Conducted by Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration. Dates: 1936-1938.
Frederick Douglass Papers
Includes diaries, speeches, letters, newspapers, memorabilia. Dates: 1841-1964, most from 1862-1895.

Indigenous Peoples of North America
Cultural, political, and social history of indigenous peoples from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Includes photographs, Bureau of Indian Affairs records, Indigenous-authored newspapers, books by European settlers about Native people, and more.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Find women's eyewitness accounts of historical events from 1675- 1950. Women's writings and primary sources.

PEN America Archive
Recordings and transcripts of authors, writers, and cultural and literary advocates. Includes interviews with figures such as Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Salman Rushdie. Select Author/Participant header to browse by author.
Rosa Parks Papers
Includes writings, notes, letters, photographs, and more. Dates: 1866-2006, most 1955-2000.
Susan B. Anthony Papers
Correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, and more from renowned suffragist. Dates: 1846-1934, mostly 1846 to 1906.
The West: PBS
Explore a selection of the memoirs, journals, letters, reports and images that went into the making of The West. Materials range from first hand accounts from Spanish colonists to court transcriptions of Indigenous people accused of murder.