1917 Research Guide

This pathfinder serves as a guide to doing research on the 1917 Russian revolution through Harvard University Library (HUL). HUL has over 850,000 volumes on Russia and the former Soviet sphere in its holdings, as well as journals, microforms, posters and ephemera, and electronic databases with Slavic-related content. A majority of these materials are housed at HUL’s main library, Widener Library. However, significant collections related to Russian history can also be found at Fung Library, Houghton Library, the Harvard Law School Library, the Fine Arts Library, Tozzer (Anthropology) Library, and the Loeb Music Library. HUL employs nearly nine hundred staff members, five of which can assist with Slavic-related research questions. You can find their names and contact information here.

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the 1917 Russian revolution. This anniversary provides an excellent opportunity to survey materials available at HUL related to one of the most exciting events of the 20th century. This pathfinder highlights a selection of resources that will enable students to get started, or even execute from start to finish, a research project on the Russian revolution. The guide includes background reference material, primary source material found in Harvard’s archival collections, and several excellent databases for finding scholarship on Russian history. This guide also includes a few open source resources found on the web which don’t require any Harvard credentials, but which Harvard students may still find helpful in their research. Use the topics at the top right corner of the page to navigate this site.

This guide was created and is updated by Christine Jacobson, a library assistant at Harvard Kennedy School Library in Cambridge, MA. To send corrections or suggestions for the research guide, please e-mail Christine at christine.ejacobson@gmail.com