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Primary Sources

Websites for Primary Sources

Primary sources are increasingly found online in digitized form. Listed below are some websites that contain primary source materials. Consult your instructor on whether you are allowed to use primary source materials available via websites.

  • Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress) - Search select American historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
  • Digital Public Library of America - Virtual library of millions of items from 2,000 American libraries, archives, and museums documenting American cultural heritage. Can search and scan through the united collection of millions of items, including by timeline, map, format, subject, and partner.
  • Internet History Sourcebooks Project (Fordham University) - A collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
  • New York Heritage Digital Collections - Provides free access to more than 170 distinct digital collections, totaling hundreds of thousands of items representing a broad range of historical, scholarly, and cultural materials held in libraries, museums, and archives throughout the state. Collection items include photographs, letters, diaries, directories, maps, newspapers, books, and more.
  • World Digital Library - Makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures.