Databases Available Through Milne Library
Below are some databases that may be helpful for primary source research. Some databases only list sources, whereas others include the full text of sources. All of the following databases are listed on the library website alphabetically by title under the Databases tab.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 1 This link opens in a new windowConsists of over 850,000 pages including the full-text of almost every seventeenth- and eighteenth-century American title published before 1821. Areas covered include Afro-Americana, children's literature, education, eighteenth-century imprints, leisure and hobbies, medicine, religion, the trades, and women's literature.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 2 This link opens in a new windowPresents over 1000 full-text titles dating from 1821 through 1837. Areas covered include agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 4 This link opens in a new windowProvides a diverse record of life leading up to and during the Civil War, from 1853-1865. News from the battlefront can be found in addition to science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women’s fashion, family life, and religion.
- American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography This link opens in a new windowEbook series that includes written transcriptions of interviews with over 2000 former slaves from seventeen states, including those collected by the Federal Writers' Project. Many of the interviews occurred in the 1930s and 1940s.
Can be used for course content: Authoritative primary source materials. - Archives of Latin American & Caribbean History, 16th-20th Century This link opens in a new window
Search and analyze the history of Latin America and the Caribbean from the sixteenth through twentieth century through primary source documents.
- China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980 This link opens in a new windowEnglish-language sources relating to China and the West, 1793-1980. Manuscripts encompassing events from the earliest English embassy to the birth and early years of the People’s Republic. Sources describing the lives and work of missionaries in China from 1869-1970.
- European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 This link opens in a new windowEBSCO Publishing, in cooperation with the John Carter Brown Library, created this resource from "European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed In Europe Relating to The Americas, 1493-1750". Contains more than 32,000 entries. Index only.
- JSTOR 19th-Century British Pamphlets This link opens in a new window
Created by Research Libraries UK. Contains the most significant British pamphlets from the 19th century held in UK research libraries. Pamphlets cover the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day.
- Gale Literature: LitFinder This link opens in a new window
Access literary works and authors throughout history, including full-text poems, plays, short stories, speeches, and more.
- Making of America Journals (Cornell)Digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. Covers education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. This site provides access to about 250 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th-century imprints. Open access.
Can be used for course content: Extensive collections of eBooks and primary source materials. - Maps of New York: Paul Baumann Archive260 maps --USGS (United States Geological Survey) 15 Minute Quadrangle series of New York State. Over the years many of the maps in this series have deteriorated due to usage and time and other maps have just disappeared. These maps were produced between 1895 and 1955 and predate the current 7 ½ Minute Quadrangle series. They represent a great geographical and historical resource for understanding the nature of the state and its many communities. Open access
- New York Public Library Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Search over 890,000 items digitized from the New York Public Library's collections, including prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
- NYS Historic Newspapers
Search the NYS Historic Newspapers project, which provides free online access to a wide range of newspapers chosen to reflect New York's unique history. Use the Search Tab to search the entire collection, or click on a county to search or browse geographically.
- New York Times Digital This link opens in a new window
All students and faculty have unlimited access to The New York Times digital platforms, including personalized user experience, live coverage of breaking news, access to NYT articles between 1851-current, access to the International edition and Canadian, Chinese, and Spanish editions, full access to the NYT Learning Network, and access to the InEducation resource that helps faculty bring current events into the classroom. This resource includes access to archival content and replaces Historical New York Times and New York Times Archive.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of over three million articles from more than 550 leading magazines including full coverage of the original print volumes of Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature. This resource offers researchers access to information about history, culture and seminal developments across nearly a century. Readers’ Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 includes all the information from 44 Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature annuals, as well as access to over three million articles from approximately 550 leading magazines.
- The Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Search over 200 years of The Times (London), an invaluable historical source widely considered to be the world's ‘newspaper of record.’
- Victorian Popular CultureDespite the name, Victorian Popular Culture provides access to a wide range of primary source material related to popular entertainment in America and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 (scholar's edition)Contains books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies documenting women's reform activities and social movements from 1600-2000.
Can be used for course content: Excellent primary source collections.
