Library Guides: United States History: Primary Sources: 1945-Present

Collections, archives, and databases

American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990 This link opens in a new window
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ACLU clippings, correspondence, subject files, case files and administrative documents covering major civil liberties issues of the 20th century.
American Music This link opens in a new window
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Audio tracks of songs illustrating American history, including political campaigns, Civil Rights, and war protests. (Music Online)
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century This link opens in a new window
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Collections related to the civil rights movement including records of federal agencies, organizations, and individuals. (ProQuest History Vault)
Black Life in America Series III This link opens in a new window
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The experience and impact of African Americans, as recorded by the news media from 1976 to today.
Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
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Collection of declassified US government documents. Includes primary documents, glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist, and Woman. This link opens in a new window
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Financial records, programs, photographs, newspaper articles, invitations, and other printed items of Fannie Lou Hamer, from 1966-1978.
Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) This link opens in a new window
A research collection of open-source resources related to homeland security policy, strategy and organizational management.
Labor and Employment: The American Worker [HeinOnline] This link opens in a new window
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Thousands of titles on the American workplace, covering the labor rights movement in the 19th century to the workplace of today.
NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window
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Internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. (ProQuest History Vault)
Queer Pasts This link opens in a new window
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Primary source exhibits for students and scholars of queer history and culture.
Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 - 1974 This link opens in a new window
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Memoirs, manifestos, memorabilia & more illustrating the history & culture of this pivotal period in history.
Television News Archive This link opens in a new window
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Archive of national television news broadcasts, 1968 to present.

Newspapers and magazines

Diversity Collection This link opens in a new window
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Ethnic, minority, and native presses, grassroots newspapers and magazines, and journals, news and newsletters focusing on gender and sexuality, from 1970-current. Encompasses Alt-PressWatch, Ethnic NewsWatch, and GenderWatch.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
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Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles written primarily by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian & Pacific Islander, and Jewish people, covering 1959-present.
Hispanic Life in America Series III This link opens in a new window
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The experience and impact of Hispanic Americans, as recorded by the news media from 2010 to today.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
US alternative press publications dating mostly from the 1960s-1990s; includes ethnic, feminist, underground, antiwar, etc.
LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
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26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering the history and culture of the LGBT community from 1954 - 2015.
News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive (feat. Newsweek) This link opens in a new window
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Newsweek (1933-2012) and 14 other magazines covering events, international relations, and public policy from 1918 to 2015.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
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Digital historical newspaper coverage from 1880s to 2000s. Includes Atlanta Constitution, Baltimore Afro-American, Boston Globe, Chicago Defender, Chinese Newspapers Collection, Globe & Mail, The Guardian and The Observer, Hindustan Times, Korea Times, LA Sentinel, LA Times, Le Monde, New York Amsterdam News, New York Times, Pittsburgh Courier, South China Morning Post, Spokesman Review, Times of India, Vancouver Sun, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
Twentieth Century Advice Literature: North American Guides on Race, Gender, Sex and the Family This link opens in a new window
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Fully searchable handbooks, manuals, textbooks, etiquette guides, self-help books, instructional pamphlets, and how-to books that illustrate both how Americans actually behaved and how they felt they ought to behave.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
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American & Canadian women's magazines including Essence 1970-2000, Good Housekeeping 1885-2005, Chatelaine 1928-2005 and more

All Centuries

American Memory
Major database: Historic photographs, film and other materials from the Library of Congress
American Social History Project
Ancestry
Genealogical records such as census, immigration & military records
Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
Diverse collection of documents dealing with US, international and diplomatic history
Digital Public Library of America
DPLA is a major portal to digitized collections ranging "from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science" that illustrate America’s history & culture
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Includes a database of digitized material as well as exhibits
North American women's letters and diaries
Full-text database of letters and diaries of women who lived in North America before 1950. Browsing and searching of both the bibliographic and full-text elements provided by PhiloLogic software
U.S. Immigration Laws
Short summaries, useful links, and the full text of relevant public laws
Women and Social Movements in the United States
Primary sources dealing with women's history from 1600 to 2000

American Indian Experience This link opens in a new window
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Reference content, primary documents, and images illustrating the histories and cultures of North American Native peoples.
Archival Research Catalog This link opens in a new window
The National Archives' nationwide holdings in the Washington, DC area, Regional Archives and Presidential Libraries
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America This link opens in a new window
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Covers all aspects of North America's aboriginal culture, history and life. Includes books, journals and government documents. Includes some links to full-text.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
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Scholarly and general interest sources and historical newspapers and other primary sources on the Black experience from ancient past to present day.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
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Non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Includes interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters and other fugitive material.
Census Reporter This link opens in a new window
Friendly interface for current U.S. Census data, including visualizations, data comparisons, tables, and GIS export.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
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Fully searchable and downloadable edition of the standard source for facts about American history. Allows customized tables and spreadsheets.
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Part 1 & 2 This link opens in a new window
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Digitized primary sources covering the cultural, political and social history of Native Peoples from the 17th through the 20th centuries.
Latino American Experience This link opens in a new window
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History and culture of Latinos living in the United States.
North American Indian Thought & Culture This link opens in a new window
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Compilation of biographies, auto-biographies, personal narratives, speeches, diaries, letters, and oral histories.