Primary Sources
An A-to-Z list of links to Primary Sources:
100 Milestone Documents - from 1776-1995
African American Perspectives - materials selected from the rare book collection
The American Folklife Center – this collection includes extensive audiovisual documentation of traditional arts, cultural expressions, and oral histories, offering researchers access to the songs, stories, and other creative expressions of people from diverse communities
America's Founding Documents - Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Constitution
American Presidency Project – over 146,000 non-profit and non-partisan presidential and non-presidential records
American Rhetoric - online speech bank
Archiving Early America - newspapers, maps & writings from 18th century America
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School - documents in law, history, and diplomacy
Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley - over 60 million manuscript items and 600,000 volumes
British Library - unique collection items & expert commentary related to History, English, Religious Studies, Citizenship & a variety of other subjects
Child Labor in America - photographs and captions from 1908-1912
CivilWar.com - official records of the union and confederate armies; covers 1881-1900
The Coming of the American Revolution - from the Massachusetts Historical Society; 14 lessons include primary source documents
Digital Library on American Slavery - from the University of North Carolina at Greenboro
Documenting the American South - from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Documents for the Study of American History - from 1000-2000, this is a very extensive listing of pdf and audio files
EBSCO Database - the "Advanced Search" feature allows you to filter your publication type search to "Primary Source Documents"
Ellis Island & Immigration (1880-1920) Prints and Photographs Reading Room - from the Library of Congress
Eurodocs - selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations
Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives
Eyewitness to History - audio clips from people entitled "Voices of the 20th Century"
F.B.I.: The Vault – includes FBI files released to the public
The Great Depression - collection of photos including dust storms, farms for sale, migrant workers
Hanover Historical Texts Collection - Ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval Europe, Early Modern Europe, Modern Europe, Africa and Asia, America (17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century)
History Matters - includes documents, images, and audio interviews
History of Ireland - primary documents
The James Buchanan Resource Center - biographies, memoir, collected writings, original letters
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library – historical materials chronicling mid-20th century politics and the life and administration of John F. Kennedy
The Korean War - from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
Letters from an Iowa Soldier in the Civil War - written by Newton Robert Scott
Library of Congress Exhibitions - search from A to Z
Library of Congress – Primary Source Sets - plus classroom materials
Library of Congress Teachers' Page - classroom materials, themed resources, lesson plans, collection connections, professional development and more!
Life magazine photo collection - search by date or use the advanced search
The Lincoln Archives Digital Project - primary sources from / about President Lincoln
Maps - over 16,000 maps, searchable by location, dates, subject, language
Medieval Sourcebook - full-text sources on Medieval History
National Archives DocsTeach - create activities with the online documents
National Archives YouTube Channel
National Humanities Center - "historical documents, literary texts, and works of art – thematically organized with notes and discussion questions"
National Jukebox: Historical Sound Recordings from the Library of Congress
National Museum of American History - exhibitions
Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room - from the Library of Congress: includes historical collections from the 19th and 20th century
New York Public Library - documents, video, audio
Office of the Federal Register - public papers of the Presidents of the United States, federal laws, and administrative regulations and notices
Popular Songs in American History - from the 17th century – this is a huge collection of audio files!
Primarily History - primary sources blog written by a college librarian
Regional History - exhibits from the National Archives including the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Influenza Epidemic in 1918, the U.S. Southeast region
The Smithsonian Collections - museum exhibitions covering art, history, science, libraries
Talking History - from the University at Albany, an oral history site, including radio shows
Teaching with Documents (and how to analyze primary source documents) - from the National Archive; lesson plans
Thomas Jefferson Digital Archive - over 1700 items, (electronic texts, some color manuscript images; 9,000 quotations arranged by theme, date, topic recipient and place of publication)
TIME Magazine Vault Archives (since 1923) – search by year or subject
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database - over 35,000 slaving voyages
United Nations Treaty Collection
The Washington Papers - contains documents, articles, maps, and images in relation to President George Washington
World Digital Library - collection of cultural heritage materials from around the world
World War II in Color - gallery site full of photos for download
World War II Military Situation Maps - browse the collection by title, subject or date; from the Library of Congress