LibGuides: Primary Sources: Getting Started

Beginning Your Research

The following digital collections are great places to start your research. They are large collections with a wide variety of subject matter and material formats. You can browse or keyword search these collections to narrow down your topic.

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History
"AMDOCS is part of the University of Kansas' digital library. It contains links to the full text of over 400 primary source documents relating to the study of American history which have been digitized by a variety of academic institutions. The documents, which cover the 15th century through the 21st century, are easily accessible from a straightforward chronological listing of the events that inspired them." -Library of Congress
American Yawp
"The American Yawp offers a free and online, collaboratively built, open American history textbook designed for college-level history courses."
Digital Public Library of America
Primary source collections from the Digital Public Library of America filterable by subject and time period.
DocSouth: Documenting the American South
Documenting the American South (DocSouth) includes sixteen thematic collections of primary sources for the study of southern history, literature, and culture. From the University of North Carolina.
HathiTrust Digital Library
Access millions of digitized books and publications from academic and research institutions. Includes many historical works from 1800's and 1900's.
History Matters: Many Pasts
This feature contains primary documents in text, image, and audio about the experiences of ordinary Americans throughout U.S. history. All of the documents have been screened by professional historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context.
Keywords for American Cultural Studies
Keywords for American Cultural Studies, Third Edition is a hybrid print-digital publication that includes 150 essays, each focused on a single term such as “America,” “culture,” “diversity,” or “religion.”
Library of Congress Collections
Access online collections: view maps & photographs; read letters, diaries & newspapers; hear personal accounts of events; listen to sound recordings & watch historic films.
Making of America (Cornell - Hathi Trust)
The Cornell University Library Making of America Collection is comprised of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. Collection is searchable and users can limit by subject, date, and format.
PBS American Experience
"American Experience" combines dramatic re-enactments with commentary by historians and authors to present an absorbing look at the personalities, events and resources that have had a profound impact on the shaping of America's past and present. Many of the program's documentaries have received major honors in the broadcasting community, including Emmy, Peabodys and duPont-Columbia University awards.
Slave Voyages
The SlaveVoyages website is a collaborative digital initiative that compiles and makes publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history. Search these records to learn about the broad origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people who were sent across the Atlantic in slave ships, and hundreds of thousands more who were trafficked within the Americas. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the horrific loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators, and much more.