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Primary Sources: American History

Find historical primary sources for your research, both online and in print

Finding Primary Sources for Research in US History

On this page you can find primary source material - both websites and books in the WSA Library - on American History.

Look for primary sources in WSA databases.  

For WSA library books and websites covering a multiple time periods and geographical locations, see:

Primary Source Books and Websites for US History Research
Harriet Tubman, (c1823-1913), American abolitionist, photographed with former slaves late in her life, Britannica ImageQuestUS Government Websites
Presidents of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States

Primary sources on specific time periods:

US History - 18th Century and Earlier
US History - 19th Century
          US Civil War and Reconstruction
           Gilded Age - 1878 - 1899
           US Imperialism (Spanish-American War, 1898)
US History - 20th and 21st Centuries
           Suffragettes in Brooklyn, 1910, Britannica ImageQuest Progressive Era (1900-1920)
           World War I
           Roaring Twenties
           Great Depression
          New Deal
           World War II
           Harry S. Truman and the Cold War
           Dwight Eisenhower and the Fifties
           Suburbia
           Beat Generation
           Demonstrators outside the White House demanding a reprieve for the Rosenbergs, 1953, Britannica Image QuestKorean War
           Cold War
           McCarthyism and Anti-communism
           John Fitzgerald Kennedy
           Civil Rights
           Vietnam
           1960s
           Watergate
           Richard Nixon
           Jimmy Carter
           Ronald Reagan

Primary sources on specific topics

African Americans
Ephemera
Labor History
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Persons' History

Native Americans
Political Cartoons

Women's Rights / Women's History

Primary Source Books and Websites for Research in US History - Multiple Time Periods and Geographical Locations

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library books with primary sources

US Government Websites

Websites with primary sources

Presidents of the United States

Websites with primary sources

Websites with primary sources on specific presidents

Supreme Court of the United States

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library book with primary sources

US History - Eighteenth Century and Earlier

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library books with primary sources

US History - Nineteenth Century

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library books with primary sources

US Civil War and Reconstruction

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library books with primary sources

Websites with primary sources on Presidents of the United States from 1861-1877.

Gilded Age (1878 - 1899)

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Websites with primary sources on Presidents of the United States from 1878-1899.

US Imperialism (Spanish-American War, 1898)

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library book with primary sources

US History - Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries

Websites with primary sources

WSA Library books with primary sources

Progressive Era (1900 - 1920)

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

Websites with primary sources on Presidents of the United States from 1901-1921.

World War I

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

WSA Library book with primary sources

Roaring Twenties

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Websites with primary sources on Presidents of the United States from 1921-1929.

Great Depression

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

WSA Library books with primary sources

Websites with primary sources on Presidents of the United States during the Great Depression.

New Deal

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

Websites with primary sources

World War II

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

WSA Library books with primary source material

Harry S. Truman and the Cold War

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

Websites with primary sources

Also see the Cold War box below.

Dwight Eisenhower and the Fifties

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Websites with primary sources

Suburbia

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Where Are Those Primary Sources?

On this page you can find primary source material - both websites and books in the WSA Library - on American History.

Look for primary sources in WSA databases.  

For WSA library books and websites covering a multiple time periods and geographical locations, see:

Primary Source Books and Websites for US History Research
Harriet Tubman, (c1823-1913), American abolitionist, photographed with former slaves late in her life, Britannica ImageQuestUS Government Websites
Presidents of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States

Primary sources on specific time periods:

US History - 18th Century and Earlier
US History - 19th Century
          US Civil War and Reconstruction
           Gilded Age - 1878 - 1899
           US Imperialism (Spanish-American War, 1898)
US History - 20th and 21st Centuries
           Suffragettes in Brooklyn, 1910, Britannica ImageQuest Progressive Era (1900-1920)
           World War I
           Roaring Twenties
           Great Depression
          New Deal
           World War II
           Harry S. Truman and the Cold War
           Dwight Eisenhower and the Fifties
           Suburbia
           Beat Generation
           Demonstrators outside the White House demanding a reprieve for the Rosenbergs, 1953, Britannica Image QuestKorean War
           Cold War
           McCarthyism and Anti-communism
           John Fitzgerald Kennedy
           Civil Rights
           Vietnam
           1960s
           Watergate
           Richard Nixon
           Jimmy Carter
           Ronald Reagan

Primary sources on specific topics

African Americans
Ephemera
Labor History
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Persons' History

Native Americans
Political Cartoons

Women's Rights / Women's History

WSA Databases with Primary Sources

You can use this list of WSA databases with primary sources as a starting point for your research. See the box below for suggestions on what keywords to use when searching WSA databases for primary sources.

What Keywords Should I Use?

Using the General Keyword search box - type in your topic plus one of the following words or phrases:

     Archive Source*  
     
Correspondence
     Diar
* (this retrieves both
         Diary and Diaries)
     History Archive*

     History Document*
     History Source
*
     Interview*
     Letter*
     
Personal Narrative*
     Primary source*

      Speech*
 

Note: Use of the * at the end of a word will search for both singular and plural forms.

Gale History eBook Collection

Beat Generation

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Korean War

Websites with primary sources

Cold War

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

WSA Library books with primary sources

McCarthyism and Anti-communism

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

Civil Rights

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library books with primary source material

WSA Library books with primary source material

Vietnam

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

WSA Library book with primary source material

1960s

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

WSA Library books with primary source material

Watergate

Website with primary sources

Richard Nixon

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Jimmy Carter

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Ronald Reagan

Websites with primary sources

Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

African Americans

WSA Databases with Primary Sources

Ephemera

Labor History

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Primary Sources

Website with primary sources

WSA Database with Primary Sources
Gale Virtual Reference Library book with primary source material

Native Americans

Websites

Artstor

Political Cartoons

Women's Rights / Women's History

Websites with primary sources

         

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