LibGuides: American History: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Definition 1: A report of original research written by the researcher

Definition 2: Original manuscripts, contemporary records, or documents created at the time an event occurred (including newspaper accounts of an event, diaries, correspondence, etc.)

Historical Resources

Accessible Archives
Coverage varies by database (Restricted to ODU)
Includes the following full text databases: Godey's Lady's Book, The Pennsylvania Gazette, The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, African American Newspapers, The Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue: Chester County and The Pennsylvania Newspaper Record: Delaware County.

AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History
Provides a full text electronic library of primary resources for the study of American History.

America's Historical Newspapers
1690 - 1998 (Restricted to ODU)
Contains U.S. historical newspapers, including titles from all 50 present states. This collection is made up of eleven series of Early American Newspapers (Series I, 1690-1876; Series II, 1758-1900; Series III, 1829-1922; Series 4, 1756-1922; Series 5, 1777-1922; Series 6, 1741-1922; Series 7, 1773-1922; Series 8, 1844-1922; Series 9, 1832-1922; Series 10, 1730-1900; Series 11, 1803-1899), and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998.
American Periodicals
1740 - 1940 (Restricted to ODU)
This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
ArchiveGrid
Coverage varies (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
Black Abolitionist Papers
1830 - 1865 (Restricted to ODU)
This primary source collection details the extensive work of African Americans to abolish slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War. Covering the period 1830-1865, the collection presents the international impact of African American activism against slavery, in the writings of the activists themselves.
Colonial State Papers
16th - 18th Century (Restricted to ODU)
Provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries from two collections: Privy Council and related bodies: America and West Indies and The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739.

Documenting the American South
Provides internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to Southern history, literature, and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century.

Early American Newspapers Series 1-11
1690 - 1922 (Restricted to ODU)
Contains U.S. historical newspapers, including titles from all 50 present states. This collection is made up of eleven series. Series I, 1690-1876; Series II, 1758-1900; Series III, 1829-1922; Series 4, 1756-1922; Series 5, 1777-1922; Series 6, 1741-1922; Series 7, 1773-1922; Series 8, 1844-1922; Series 9, 1832-1922; Series 10, 1730-1900, and Series 11, 1803-1899. And also, includes African American Newspapers.
HarpWeek: The Civil War Era and Reconstruction
1857 - 1877 (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Provides full-image reproduction of Harper's Weekly and a very elaborate index to the magazine. Includes illustrations, cartoons, news, literature, editorials, and ads.

Making of America
Contains 109 monographs (267 volumes) and 22 journals (955 volumes) documenting American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction, with imprints primarily between 1840 - 1900. Provided by Cornell University Library.

Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
19th Century (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
With digital facsimile images of both full pages and clipped articles for hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers and advanced searching capabilities, researchers will be able to research history in ways previously unavailable. For each issue, the newspaper is captured from cover-to-cover, providing access to every article, advertisement and illustration.

ODU Special Collections
The Special Collections department houses the University archives, manuscripts, books, and other printed material related to Virginia and Tidewater History.

Black Life in America
1704 – Present (Restricted to ODU)
This primary source collection offers an expansive window into centuries of African American history, culture and daily life—as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent.
Caribbean History and Culture, Imprints from the LCP (1535-1920)
1535-1920 (Restricted to ODU)
Covers the diverse history of Caribbean islands over nearly 400 years. The collection includes books, pamphlets, almanacs, broadsides and ephemera. Compiled by the curators of the Afro-Americana Imprints collection.
Disability in the Modern World
Historic and Current (Restricted VIVA/ODU)
This content is essential for teaching and research not only in the growing discipline of disability history and disability studies, but also in history, media, the arts, political science, education, and other areas where the contributions of the disability community are typically overlooked. Includes primary sources, supporting materials, archives, documentaries, and interviews.
Gale Primary Sources
Coverage varies (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Search or browse across the following Gale historical newspaper and periodical collections: 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, 19th Century British Library Newspapers, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, and the Times Digital Archive.
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part I
16th Century – 20th Century (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
A comprehensive collection of primary source documents from American and Canadian government sources and institutions, tribal publications, and documents from Indian-related organizations, including a selection of indigenous-language materials. The collection covers topics such as Indian removal, Indian wars and the frontier army, Indian delegations and Indian-federal relations, treaty policies, government boarding and missionary schools, dances and festivals, Indian languages and linguistics, water and fishing rights, civil rights, and more. Together, these primary sources enable in-depth study of the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples from the sixteenth century well into the twentieth century.
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part II: The Indian Rights Association, 1882-1986
1882-1986 (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part II, provides a near complete record of the efforts of the first organization to address Native American interests and rights. It contains around 350,000 pages of incoming and outgoing correspondence, organizational records, and printed material, including early pamphlets and publications both by the Indian Rights Association and other American Indian and Indian-related organizations. The papers of Herbert Welsh, founder of the Indian Rights Association, are also included.
Making of the Modern World
1450 - 1850 (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
The Making of the Modern World provides digital facsimile images of unique primary sources that track the development of the modern, western world through the lens of trade and wealth. Full-text searching across millions of pages of works from the period 1450-1850 provides unparalleled access to this vast collection of material for research in the areas of history, political science, social conditions, technology and industry, economics, area studies and more.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO)
19th Century (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Includes a multi-year global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the long 19th Century. This collection contains Archive 1: British Politics and Society; Archive 2: Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange; Archive 3: British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture; and Archive 4: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection.
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500 - 1926
1500 -1926 (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts ofexploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice
1490-2007 (Restricted to ODU)
Provides a portal for slavery and abolition studies, bringing together documents and collections covering an extensive time period 1490-2007, from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. Close attention is being given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive
Coverage varies (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Includes documents from the United States and Europe, as well as other parts of the world. In addition to newspaper collections and books published in the antebellum era, Slavery and Anti-Slavery contains documents from several archives originally available only on microfilm.

U.S. Government Documents

A Century of American Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congresstional Documents
Contains laws, inaugural speeches, treaties, constitutional amendments, and other documents that have influenced the course of United States history from 1776 to 1965. Compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration.

ProQuest Congressional
Coverage varies by collection (Restricted to VIVA/ODU)
Contains full text for U.S. Congressional publications, bills, legislative histories, laws, etc. The ODU Library has purchased the following retrospective collections, Committee Prints (1830-present), Congressional Research Service Reports (1916-present), Congressional Hearings (1824-Present), and Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection (1789-present). The database also includes House and Senate Unpublished Hearings, Part A (1973-1979).

Newspapers

Afro-American Churchman (Petersburg, VA)
1887
Electronic
The American Beacon
1815 to 1855
in ODU Libraries Print and Micro Journal Collection 01/18/1816 to 12/30/1820
in Early American Newspapers, Series I
American Beacon and Commercial Diary (Norfolk, VA: 1815:Triweekly)
08/07/1815 to 01/17/1816
in Early American Newspapers, Series I
American Beacon and Norfolk and Portsmouth Daily Advertiser
Norfolk, VA: Shields & Ashburn, 1827-1851
Special Collections
American Beacon and Virginia and North Carolina Gazette
1821 to 1834 in ODU Libraries Print and Micro Journal Collection
American Commercial Beacon and Norfolk & Portsmouth Daily Advertiser
Norfolk, VA, 1818
American Gazette, and Norfolk and Portsmouth Public Advertiser
1795 to 1796 in ODU Libraries Print and Micro Journal Collection
The Commercial Register
Norfolk [Va.] : Published by W.W. Worsley for M. Jones and himself, 1802-1803.
Daily advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.)
08/30/2004 to present in Access World News
Daily Index
1865 to 1865 in ODU Libraries Print and Micro Journal Collection
Daily National Intelligencer
1813 to 1820 in ODU Libraries Print and Micro Journal Collection
01/01/1813 to 12/30/1820 in Early American Newspapers, Series I
01/01/1821 to 06/23/1869 in Early American Newspapers, Series VI
Daily National Journal
01/02/1826 to 12/31/1831 in Early American Newspapers, Series II
Daily press (Newport News, Va. : Final ed.) (2163-7156)
01/01/1989 to present in Access World News
08/27/2002 to present in Access World News
12/11/2003 to present in LexisNexis Academic
03/10/2008 to present in Access World News