Recommended web-based archive collections

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.

The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) have also collated a list of of open and free online materials to support your research.

Archives covering large spans of time and general topics are followed by resources of interest to specific research clusters within the School of History.

General resources relevant to many history specialisms

  • Cambridge Digital Library ― University of Cambridge: Digitised archive collections from the University of Cambridge, including Siegfried Sasson’s journals; a Waterloo collection; university, college and museum archives; medieval and early modern manuscripts, including Islamic and Hebrew collections; Royal Commonwealth Society; Royal Asiatic Society; and several history of science collections (Isaac Newton, Royal Greenwich Observatory, Board of Longitude, Cavendish Laboratory, Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker, map collection, Foreman and Napier astrological-medical casebooks, Joseph Needham). Recommended by Dr Rebekah Higgitt
  • Internet History Sourcebooks Project: Collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts for educational use. Primary sources are available here primarily for use in high-school and university/college courses. Contains information and primary sources on Byzantine, Islamic, Jewish, Indian, East Asian, and African history. Recommended by Dr David Rundle.
  • Yale Law School Avalon Project: The Avalon Project includes digital copies of documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government. The collection includes documents from ancient history to the 21st century. Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • The National Archives – Homepage: Over 5% of The National Archives’ records have so far been digitised. Recommended by Emma Furderer (librarian).
  • British Library Digital collections: The British Library Online Collections contains historical maps, digitised manuscripts, and ETHoS the online record of all doctoral theses awarded by UK HE institutions many who are available in full text plus many smaller collections. Recommended by Emma Furderer (librarian)
  • Prince Albert Collections: Manuscripts, images, and objects relating to Prince Albert, including personal, family, and official papers and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 [the Great Exhibition]. Recommended by Dr Rebekah Higgitt
  • Digital Bodleian: The digital archives of the Bodleian library and the Oxford colleges. A real treasure trove covering a wide range of subjects. Recommended by Sarah Field (librarian).
  • Legacies of British Slavery database traces slavery’s role in shaping British history and its lasting legacies that reach into the present.

History of science and medicine

  • Wellcome Library Digital collections: Digitised archives for the history of health, medicine, and sexuality. Recommended by Dr Rebekah Higgitt
  • Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics: Codebreakers’ is the entire digitised collection of the Wellcome Library’s papers in the history of genetics. It is a brilliant e-resource with thousands of archival documents covering the end of the 19th through to the end of the 20th century. It is ideal for students writing dissertations in the history of science and/or medicine, particularly those looking at areas such as eugenics, social Darwinism, history of psychiatry, genetics, and medical genetics. Recommended by David Peace.
  • Science History Institute Digital Collections: Offers highlights from their library, archives, and museum collections from the Roman Empire to the 21st century. Materials include everything from fine art, rare books to images of scientific objects. Recommended by Sarah Field (Librarian)

War, media, and society

  • The Cold War International History Project: Recommended by Dr Aurelie Basha I Novosejt.
  • World War Two People’s War was created in the early 2000’s when BBC asked the public to contribute their memories to a website which now contains 47,000 stories and 15,000 images supplied by the British public. Recommended by Kate Docking
  • National Army Museum Collections: The National Army Museum has a lot of their material digitised and on their websites. Recommended by Dr Timothy Bowman
  • Imperial War Museum Sound Archive: Recommended by Dr Timothy Bowman
  • The British Library’s First World War collection includes articles authored by historians and a broad range of primary sources including individuals’ experiences. Recommended by Kate Docking
  • Bureau of Military History (1913-1921): Has an enormous number of documents available online covering the Irish Revolution, 1912-21, including hundreds of witness statements by those who were in the Irish Volunteers or Irish Republican Army. Recommended by Dr Timothy Bowman
  • Wiener Holocaust Library, The Wiener Library is one of the world’s leading and most comprehensive archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. The Holocaust Explained  managed by the Wiener Library, is a very useful resource aimed at teachers; it provides a comprehensive introduction to the Holocaust and has a vast collection of primary sources from the Library’s archive. Recommended by Kate Docking
  • Frank Falla Archive:This is an important public outreach output of Dr Gilly Carr’s research into resistance in the Channel Islands during their Occupation by Nazi Germany, 1940-1945. It focuses particularly on those deported to concentration camps or continental prisons because of Nazi persecution. It contains detailed biographies of all affected individuals and archival material relating to them, as well as maps, blogs, and information on the commemoration of resistance in the Islands. This resource may be useful to students writing their dissertations on European Occupations during the Second World War, looking at the themes of resistance and persecution, and would be particularly helpful in the unlikely event of a student researching the Channel Islands’ Occupation itself! Recommended by Richard Guille.

American history

  • 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.

Medieval and early modern history