HIS 100: Skills and Methods

Primary sources

OVERVIEW

Databases for primary sources can be arranged by subject, by format or by time period. They provide convenient access to materials that would otherwise be accessible only by visiting a physical archive. Select a variety of sources to add different perspectives in your study.

Selection of databases of primary sources and collections

Calisphere This link opens in a new window
Primary source images and documents from California libraries and archives.
History Vault from Proquest This link opens in a new window Proquest’s History Vault modules include Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle, Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War, Women's Studies, Workers, Labor Unions, Progressives, and Radicals, American Indians and the American West, American Politics and Society, International Relations and Military Conflicts, Latinx History and Revolutionary War and Early America (45 titles including NAACP papers, Plantation Records, American Indians and the American West).
Japanese-American relocation camp newspapers : perspectives on day-to-day life. This link opens in a new window An Archives Unbound collection. This collection, consisting of 25 individual newspaper titles, documents life in the internment camps
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926 This link opens in a new window
Through published pamphlets, tracts, memoirs, congressional legislation, correspondence, broadsides, biographies, histories, fiction and poetry, eulogies, sermons and innumerable other genres, Sabin opens a window onto the Americas through which few get to glimpse.
Global missions and theology This link opens in a new window An Archives Unbound collection. This collection documents the broad range of nineteenth century religious missionary activities, practices and thought in the United States by reproducing pivotal personal narratives, organizational records and biographies of the essential leaders, simple missionaries and churches. This collection includes materials on missionary activities among Native Americans and African Americans, both slaves and freed men. In addition, it highlights activities in far-flung regions and countries, such as Africa, Fiji and the Sandwich Islands, India, China, Southeast Asia, Japan and Hawaii. Covers 1800-1899.
U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Declassified documents from all the presidential libraries and numerous executive agencies, which span the 20th and 21st centuries.
Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960 - 1974 This link opens in a new window Key events and movements in 1960s America as documented in diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary.
Popular culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Music, Politics, Fashion, Youth Culture – the period from 1950 to 1975 witnessed dramatic changes in society. There was the onset of Rock & Roll; the introduction of computers and credit cards; the boom of radio and television; and campaigns for black power, civil rights and women’s liberation. All around the world there were challenges to authority.
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new window
Searchable index to archives, official publications, books, periodical articles, and newspapers published in the 19th century. Full text not included.

Newspapers, Magazines, and Books from the time period

News and Newspapers from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Newspapers, historic to current years of coverage. Use filters to refine your search. Requires login.
California Digital Newspaper Collection This link opens in a new window
California Newspapers from 1846 onward. Dates of coverage vary by newspaper.
Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Database with citations from 512 leading U.S. magazines. Covers 1890-1982.
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
eBooks from University Collections that are in the public domain.

Oral Histories

Oral histories can be found in print or in digital formats. Calisphere is a good resource for digital oral histories. A Google search would be an effective way to discover oral history projects on a topic.

UCSC Oral Histories in Audio
Some of the Regional Oral Histories are available to stream. To see an example go here and on the bottom left corner click on "Supporting Material." Information to stream or download will appear above.

Additional resources:

UC Library Search This link opens in a new window This searches across all 10 UC Library collections and beyond. Sign in using your CruzID Gold in order to find: books, e-books, articles, journals, films, maps, and more.