The Library of Congress website for everybody. Use the search feature. There are millions (really) of Primary Sources available here. www.loc.gov
AMERICAN MEMORY
memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
American Memory provides spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
LOC WEBPAGE FOR KIDS
Library of Congress website for kids. Click on the “search” button on the bottom. A GREAT place to find a ton of information.
CHRONICLING AMERICA
Chronicling America by the Library of Congress has a digital collection of historic American newspapers from 23 states (from 1860 to 1922). Search by state, newspaper, dates, keyword, or use pre-determined search dates and keywords organized by topic, in “Topics in Chronicling America.”
CENTURY OF LAWMAKING
lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
The records of the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the United States Congress make up a rich documentary history of the construction of the nation and the development of the federal government and its role in the national life. These documents record American history in the words of those who built our government.
National Archives
The website for the National Archives contain records of all significant pieces of U.S. History. Millions of Primary Sources and good secondary sources as well. www.archives.gov
TOPIC IDEAS AND SOURCES
A great place to look for topics AND find great primary sources related to your topic.
RESEARCH THE COLLECTIONS
www.archives.gov/research/topics
A great place to search for primary sources related to topics as well as context.
DOCUMENTS 1754 TO NOW--NATIONAL ARCHIVES
http://docsteach.org/documents
“Docs Teach Documents” by the National Archives features documents from 1754 to the present (sorted into eras and document types). Lots of great stuff here in a very easy to use format!
The websites for the various Smithsonian Museums contain a tremendous number of Primary Sources and good secondary sources.
The United States Holocaust Museum is also a very good source of information for topics related to the Holocaust, resistance to the holocaust, and other global genocides www.ushmm.org/
Search tons of artifacts from the Newseum's collection of news sources (print, radio, television, web). https://newseumed.org
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY PROJECT & PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES
PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY WEBSITES
You'd be amazed at how many primary and secondary sources there are about your topic/context on the websites of the Presidents who were in power during the time of your topic:
- William McKinley Memorial Library and Museum
- Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
- Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Digital Archives
- Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Library
- John F. Kennedy Library and Museum
- Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
- Richard Nixon Library and Museum
- Richard Nixon Library Foundation
- Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum
- Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library
- George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
- William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum
- George W. Bush Presidential Library
- George W. Bush Presidential Center
MOUNT VERNON-GEORGE WASHINGTON RESOURCES
If you are doing anything to do with George Washington then this is the place to go. The Mount Vernon Library has resources related to slavery, US government, the Revolutionary War, French-Indian War and Washington's role in the founding of the United States.
FORD'S THEATRE PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTION
A tremendous online primary source collection of information related to Lincoln's assassination. More resources about Abraham Lincoln at this website as well: underhishat.alplm.org/
THE LIVING ROOM CANDIDATE
“The Living Room Candidate” by the Museum of the Moving Image has television commercials from presidential elections (1952 to 2008) including commercials from each year’s major candidates.
GILDER-LEHRMAN PRIMARY SOURCE STOREHOUSE
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/
This is a special website you have access to because you attend BLMS and we are an affiliate of the Gilder-Lehrman organization. They have a bunch of GREAT primary sources all piled in one place saving you a lot of searching. You will need the username/password for this site to log in:
username - BLMS
password - hornets
GILDER-LEHRMAN A.P. U.S. HISTORY RESOURCES
You don't have to be in A.P. United States History to put these resources to good use. Lots of awesomeness to be found!
SORTABLE LIST OF PRIMARY SOURCES
www.gilderlehrman.org/featured-primary-sources
Gilder Lehrman’s Featured Primary Sources draw from more than 60,000 American historical artifacts including letters, diaries, maps, pamphlets, printed books, newspapers, and photographs.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OPEN COLLECTIONS
The “Open Collections Program” by the Harvard University Library has extensive collections of primary sources in different categories:
THE AVALON PROJECT
“The Avalon Project” by Yale Law School has documents in law, history and diplomacy (ranging from 4000 BCE to the present). Documents are grouped by century and listed alphabetically. Full text for all documents and source of document listed at the end.
AFRICAN AMERICAN REGISTRY
A great resource with lots of solid information about African American history. Check out the "RESOURCES" tab for articles, references and links.
IN MOTION-AFRICAN AMERICAN MIGRATIONS
Created by the New York Public Library, this is an amazing collection of primary and secondary resources about the various migrations of African Americans from the 1400s to today. A MUST use for topics related to African Americans.
INDIAN AFFAIRS--LAWS AND TREATIES ONLINE
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/
If your topic has anything to do with American Indians then this is a great website to check out. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler, is an historically significant, seven volume compilation of U.S. treaties, laws and executive orders pertaining to Native American Indian tribes.
ZINN EDUCATION PROJECT
The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the use of Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States and other materials for teaching a people’s history in middle and high school classrooms across the country.
UMBRA SEARCH AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
More than 400,000 digitized materials from over 1,000 libraries and archives across the country. Preserving and making accessible valuable pieces of African American history and culture.
AUTHENTIC HISTORY CENTER
http://www.authentichistory.com/
The Authentic History Center is comprised of artifacts and sounds from American popular culture. It has a large audio archive of speeches and news broadcasts are presented for students to experience a level of historical authenticity distinct from written sources.
PICTURING U.S. HISTORY
Published by the American Social History Project and the Center for Media and Learning, this website has a TON of links to amazing collections. Definitely worth checking out and searching through the web resources.
FAMOUS TRIALS FROM HISTORY
www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
A law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has assembled documents and context about more than 50 famous trials, from the Trial of Socrates to the Trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.
AMERICAN JOURNEYS COLLECTION
http://www.americanjourneys.org/
This collection contains thousands of documents related to the exploration of America, from 1000 to 1844, including the journals of Lewis and Clark.
LOCAL LABOR HISTORY RESOURCES
THE FEDERAL DIGITAL SYSTEM
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action
The Federal Digital System provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. When Congressional aides do research this is where they go! Through FDsys, you are able to:
- Search for documents and publications
- Browse for documents and publications
- Access metadata about documents and publications
- Download documents and publications in multiple renditions or file formats.
C-SPAN HISTORIC SUPREME COURT CASES
http://landmarkcases.c-span.org/
Learn about 12 Supreme Court cases that represent some of the tipping points in our nation's story and our evolving understanding of rights in America. .
HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS
www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/index.html
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has been at the forefront of efforts by the Federal Government and state governments to examine and resolve issues related to race, ethnicity, religion and, more recently, sexual orientation. The Thurgood Marshall Law Library offers scholars an opportunity to examine the efforts of the Commission more closely.
BARTLEBY WORLD HISTORY ARCHIVES
An internet publisher of literature, reference and verse which provides students with access to historical documents, books and other resources.
MINNESOTA HUMANITIES CENTER VIDEO RESOURCES
Great narratives from Minnesotans that might relate to your topic or the historical context of your topic. Chances are there's nothing here, but if your topic is here this will be a fantastic source. Click on it, glance through it and find out if it's a gold mine for you. You'll wish you had if you don't!
ARMY HERITAGE CENTER FOUNDATION
The Army Heritage Center Foundation has developed interactive teaching tools that tell solider stories using collections found at the Army Heritage and Education Center.
OLD MAPS ONLINE
Imagine being able to see multiple layers of maps from thousands of places around the planet? Need maps for your project? Need maps to figure out your topic? This website is the place to visit.
FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/FRUS
If your topic has anything to do with the United States working with other countries, then this is a must visit. The Foreign Relations of the United States series is the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication. The series is produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian and printed volumes are available from the Government Printing Office.
MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT PRIMARY SOURCES
An amazing resource from a Montgomery newspaper with great articles, interviews, photos and interviews. GREAT stuff!
PHOTOGRAMMAR BY YALE
A 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).