Primary Sources
1. Pravda Digital Archive
Persistent link: https://dlib-eastview-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/browse/udb/870
Citation: Pravda Digital Archive. (2017). Retrieved May 2, 2017, from https://dlib-eastview-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/browse/udb/870
Before it became the official paper of the Communist party in 1918, Pravda served as an underground newspaper for Russian workers and revolutionaries. East View’s Pravda Digital Archive provides all available issues of the paper from its founding in 1912 up through 2009. Over the course of 1917, the paper changed its name several times to evade censorship but each iteration of the paper is still available through this archive through high-resolution PDF images.
2. Izvestiia Digital Archive
Persistent Link: https://dlib-eastview-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/browse/publication/11265
Citation: Pravda Digital Archive. (2017). Retrieved May 2, 2017, from https://dlib-eastview-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/browse/udb/870
Founded in March of 1917, Izvestiia is one of Russia’s oldest contiguously printed newspapers and widely considered to provide balanced coverage. East View’s Izvestiia Digital Archive provides all available issues of the paper from 1917 up to 2010 through high-resolution PDF images.
3. Trotsky Papers
Hollis Permalink: http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/000602232/catalog
Finding Aid: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou00302
Citation: Trotsky, L. (1946). Leon Trotsky Soviet papers, 1904-1959. Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Leon Davidovich Trotsky (1879-1940) was a Russian revolutionary and Marxist who helped the Bolsheviks come to power in 1917. This collection of correspondence, works, and ephemera spans the years 1917-1929 and includes copies of telegrams exchanged between Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin as well as manuscripts, clippings, and transcripts of his speeches. The finding aid provides a guide to browsing and locating items within the location. Correspondence and works are arranged alphabetically. Researchers may also be interested in the Trotsky Exile Papers (1929-1940). See Houghton library's home page for their reading room hours.
4. John Reed Papers
Permalink: http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/000602043/catalog
Finding Aid: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou00070
Citation: Reed, J. (1988). John Reed papers, 1903-1967, (bulk) 1910-1920. Houghton Library, Harvard University. Retrieved from http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:22566734
John Reed (1887-1920) was an American Socialist and journalist who wrote for The Masses and Metropolitan Magazine. Reed moved to Russia just before the October Revolution took place and famously described the event in his book, Ten Days that Shook the World. This collection of papers includes correspondence, manuscripts, printed material, ephemera and photographs. Consult the finding aid to see how each series is arranged. While this collection contains the bulk of Reed’s papers, subsequent collections of papers were processed and archived separately. You can find them here, here, and here. See Houghton library's home page for their reading room hours.
5. Stalin Digital Archives
Link: http://www.stalindigitalarchive.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/frontend/node/1
Citation: Stalin Digital Archive. (n.d.). Yale University. Retrieved from http://www.stalindigitalarchive.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/frontend/node/1
Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was a Russian revolutionary and served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet union for thirty years. The Stalin Digital Archives provide digital access to over 400,000 documents from Stalin’s personal papers from 1889-1952. Users can browse the papers chronologically or use the site’s advanced search tool. Be sure to check out their handy SDA User Guide before getting started.
6. Grigorii Aleksinskii Papers
Presistent Link: http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/008883718/catalog
Finding Aid: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou00147
Citation: Aleksinskiĭ, G. (1964). Grigoriĭ Aleksinskiĭ papers, 1895-1913. Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Girgorii Aleksinskii (1879-1967) was a counter-revolutionary figure who opposed the Bolsheviks and served in the 1907 Duma. This small collection of papers contains correspondence with Vladimir Lenin and documents relating to the Russian Social Democratic Party. The finding aid lists the materials alphabetically. See Houghton library's home page for their reading room hours.
7. Shishkina-Iavein Digital Collection
Permalink: http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/013606912/catalog
Finding Aid: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:fun00004
Citation: Shishkina-Iavein, P. N. (2016). Poliksena Shishkina-Iavein digital collection, 1901-1917. Fung Library, Harvard University.
The Shishkina-Iavein Digital Collection is a completely digitized collection of photographs, postcards, clippings, and other materials from the personal papers of Poliksena Nesterovna Shishkina (1875-1947), a prominent women’s rights activist who played a pivotal role in gaining equal suffrage for women in 1917. The collection contains over 140 digital images which users can find through the finding aid.
8. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana papers on Soviet theater and film
Permalink:http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/005053121/catalog
Finding Aid: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou02773
Citation: Dana, H. W. L. (2016). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana papers on Soviet theater and film and university lecture notes, 1902-1955. Houghton Library, Harvard University. Retrieved from http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:4429635?buttons=y
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1881-1950) was the grandson of the beloved American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and also a prominent American socialist who traveled often to the Soviet Union. In his travels, Dana amassed a large collection of Soviet drama ephemera including playbills, photographs, set designs, and librettos. The collection also includes correspondence with friends in the Soviet Union. Most series are arranged alphabetically. Consult the finding aid for more information.
For advanced further research check out these two resources for finding primary source material in Russian archives:
9. ArcheoBiblioBase
Link: http://www.iisg.nl/abb/#archives
Citation: ArcheoBiblioBase: Archives in Russia. (2016, April). Retrieved May 3, 2017, from http://www.iisg.nl/abb/#archives
ArcheoBiblioBase is an open-access directory to Russia’s archives provided by the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam and which builds off the work of Patricia Kennedy Grimstead’s book, Archives of Russia: A Directory and Bibliographic Guide to Holdings in Moscow and St. Petersburg Volumes 1 and 2 ( 2000). The directory includes federal, regional, local, and municipal archives as well as non-state repositories such as academic institutions, libraries, and museums. The directory provides up-to-date contact information, as well as information on access to collections.
10. Russian Archives Database
Link: http://guides.rusarchives.ru/browse/browse.html?enc=eng
Citation: Russian Archives Database. (2012). Retrieved May 3, 2017, from http://guides.rusarchives.ru/browse/browse.html?enc=eng
The Russian Archives Database is an online guide in both Russian and English that provides access to over 135 reference guides to federal and regional archives. Think of it as a database of finding aids that help you locate archival materials across Russia. You can browse the guides or conduct advanced searches of text within the guides (since they have all been treated for optimal character recognition).