Guide to Primary Sources

Database of and index to 5000+ full text, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events, and a declaration or two.

The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, the collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. Broadsides (newspapers) are the bulk of the collection, but it also includes pamphlets, advertisements, programs, timetables, and more.

Documents in law, history, and diplomacy, ranging from ancient to modern times. Emphasis on US and Western European documents but not exclusive.

This 13,000 page reference center is dedicated to providing information to the general public on African American history and on the history of the more than one billion people of African ancestry around the world. Includes full text primary documents, and major speeches of black activists and leaders from the 18th Century to the present.

Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.

Interviews, images, and documents preserving the testimonies of Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps in the US during WW2.

This database provides access to digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that document the history of women in the United States. These diverse collections range from Ancestral Pueblo pottery to interviews with women engineers from the 1970s.

UNC's digital collection of texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture.

Includes documents from ancient and medieval times, plus some 20th century voice & video recordings. Mostly Western civilization, US & Europe (England, especially).

Thousands of digitized FBI documents from throughout the organization's history, including profiles of prominent figures. Browse by topic or search for keywords.

A collection of documents covering the Reformation and early modern life through the 21st century and a variety of geographic areas.

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1860s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

American presidential campaign commercials from 1952-2004, search by year, political issue, presidential candidate, and more.

Search the National Archives for images, documents, videos, and more.

Free and open access to over 800,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.

Web-based platform for organizing, searching, and visualizing the 170,000 photographs from 1935 to 1945 created by the United States Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information (FSA-OWI). Browse by county, photographer, and date.

Included are films produced by and for many hundreds of important US corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, community and interest groups, and educational institutions" Available through the Internet Archive

The Scripps Library, through cooperation with various presidential libraries, has been collecting some of the most important presidential speeches in American history. These speeches all have transcripts, and some are available in their entirety in audio or video.

Archive of Terkel's interviews with major figures in 20th century history from his 45 years of being a radio host.