Primary sources: archive collections

Primary sources will provide you with the raw material to analyse and interpret the topic you are researching.

  • Archive Explorer (from Adam Matthew): allows you to search 9 databases of topical primary source material with a single search box – Includes The American West a collection of manuscripts, maps, and ephemeral material.
  • Gale Primary Sources: allows you to search 18 primary source databases from Gale Cengage with a single search box, including historical, newspaper, and periodicals archives.
  • Colonial America: all 1,450 volumes of the CO (Colonial Office) 5 series from The National Archives, UK, covering the period 1606 to 1822. CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies.
  • Migration to New Worlds: unique primary source material recounting personal experiences of 350 years of migration
  • Black Thought and Culture: 100,000 pages of non-fiction writing by major American black leaders, teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers covering 250 years of American history.
  • Transatlantic Slave Trade Database: information on almost 35,000 slaving voyages, providing information about vessels, enslaved peoples, slave traders and owners, and trading routes
  • Presidential Recordings Digital Edition: Between 1940 and 1973, six consecutive American presidents (Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon) secretly taped thousands of their meeting and telephone conversations.

Recommended web-based archives

During the first Covid-19 Lockdown in Spring 2020 the following list of web-based archives were crowdsourced by library and academic staff in the School of History. These are the ones recommended for American studies.

  • Georgian Papers Online: Catalogued and digitised images from the Royal Collections from George I to William IV. This catalogue is the product of the Georgian Papers Programme, a partnership between the Royal Archives, Royal Library and King’s College London. The Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture and William & Mary are sharing in this work as primary partners for the US. Recommended by Dr Rebekah Higgitt.
  • Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS): The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • Presidential libraries: Each President has a presidential library (with a website). Many now have material available online, including special collections/websites, oral histories, recordings JFK Library website is especially good. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • American Presidency Project: This collection includes the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (PPUS) which collects all public statements of US Presidents. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • Central Intelligence Agency’s Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room: The CIA’s electronic reading room. In addition to the primary sources searchable here, their official histories are great. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • George Washington University National Security Archive: Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • PRIA (Primary Resources in International Affairs): A wide-ranging document collection provided by International Relations and Security Network in Zurich. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • The Online Speech Bank: Database of and index to 5000+ full text, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: These transcripts present a window into the lives of U.S. diplomats and the major diplomatic crisis and issues that the United States faced during the second half of the 20th century and the early part of the 21st. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • Founders Online: Federal compilation of the papers of seven biggest Founding Fathers – but ranges far beyond the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Hamilton, Madison, Jay. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Avalon Project from Yale: Constitution and political documents including major legislative acts relating to early and revolutionary America. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Peter Force’s American Archives: Eclectic mix of political miscellanea from 1774-1776 which is now being catalogued and more easily searchable. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Library of Congress ‘American Notes’: Journals from travelers in America from 1750-1920, with great insights on everyday life, transport, geography, etc. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Massachusetts Historical Society Online Collections: Huge range of digitized collections relating to Boston/Mass, including the Adams Family papers and newspaper collection of shopkeeper Harbottle Dorr, Jr. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Freedom on the Move: A massive project that brings together thousands of runaway advertisements for enslaved people. See also in the same vein North Carolina Runaway Slave Advertisements, 1750-1865. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • The Quill Project: A new digital tool tracking the draft text of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights from 1787. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800: Digital edition of the papers of this Federal Department (with pensions, indigenous relations, construction & engineering). Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Salem Witch Trials Papers: Collection relating to 1690s outbreak. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Colonial Albany Project: Digital collection documenting evolution of Albany, New York through colonial, revolutionary, & early republic. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Virginia Gazettes, 1736-1780: Rather crude but free online regional newspaper collection. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Documenting the American South: Strong portfolio of primary sources for southern history, literature & culture, including slave narratives, North Carolina colonial and state records, & maps. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution: Interactive explanation of the Constitution supported by scholars/jurists/historians’ annotations. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • MapScholar and New Map of Empire Atlas: Mapping resource for scholars, collecting existing visualization projects, great for environmental history. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Native Land: Updated topical remapping of North America to show Indigenous territories, treaties, linguistic ranges, etc. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Occom Circle Project:  Documents relating to c.1750-1790 missionaries and Indigenous histories (Occom was a Mohegan Indian, Presbyterian minister and missionary, intertribal leader, public intellectual). Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842: Around 2,000 documents and images relating to Native Americans in Southeast (esp. Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw & Choctaw talks, letters, treaties). Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.
  • Harvard’s Colonial North America project: Half a million pages of manuscript collections relating to North America pre-1800. Recommended by Dr Ben Marsh.