Primary Sources

History Vault
Digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and other primary source materials.

• American Indians and the American West
• American Politics and Society
• Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle
• International Relations and Military Conflicts
• Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War
• Women's Studies
• Workers and Labor Unions
Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS) (now called U.S. Declassified Documents Online)
Declassified government documents covering major domestic and international events since the end of World War II. Cabinet meeting minutes, correspondence, diary entries, intelligence reports, political analyses and technical studies from the White House, State Department, National Security Agency, FBI, and CIA.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports
FBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government, includes translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world. Current coverage includes 1941-1996.
Gale Primary Sources
Newspapers, books, manuscripts, maps, and photographs. Simultaneously search: 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, Sunday Times (London), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), Making of the Modern World, Times Literary Supplement, and Times Digital Archive, Financial Times (London).
Proquest Congressional Publications
U.S. Congressional materials (hearings, bills, Congressional Record and compiled legislative histories) and Executive Branch documents.

More History Primary Source Databases

HathiTrust
Digitized collections of some of the nation’s great research libraries, established in this repository to archive and share their digital content.
Access Note: VU is a partner institution. Login is required for downloading. Tutorial: https://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/HathiTrustAccess

Statistical Abstract of the United States (ProQuest)
Extensive selection of statistics for the United States, with selected data for regions, divisions, states, metropolitan areas, cities, and foreign countries from reports and records of government and private agencies.
Access Note: If prompted to select an account, select Vanderbilt University.
Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition (HSUS)
Historical statistics on social, political, and economic aspects of the United States. Census and other statistical data. Create custom tables and merge columns from multiple tables to create custom tables, which can also be downloaded, printed, or graphed. Essays by experts place topics such as migration, slavery, health, crime, Native Americans, and the Confederate States of America in historical context.
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International Historical Statistics
Global statistical data on business, economics, environmental studies, geography, history, politics, sociology, and statistical studies.
Coverage: 1750-2010.
ProQuest Statistical Insight
Federal, state, and international statistical, economic, demographic, and geographic information. National income and production statistics, retail and wholesale trade data, interest rates, economic indicators, and social and demographic statistics, plus data on energy, environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries, crime, etc.
Coverage: From the U.S. government, 1973 to present; from international intergovernmental, 1983 to present.
Social Explorer
Current and historical census data and demographic information: US Census, American Community Survey, religious membership, carbon emissions data, etc. Customizable maps, charts, and reports.
Statista
Quantitative data, statistics, infographics, and related information compiled from market research institutes, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.

Socialism on Film
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
Academic Video Online
Documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, raw footage, and thousands of award-winning films.
Docuseek
Streaming access to documentary and social issue films from a variety of distributors, including Bullfrog, Collective Eye, and Icarus Films.
Kanopy
On-demand streaming video service for documentaries, training films, and theatrical releases. Films under a current license agreement are available for immediate viewing. Other films may require a request through the Kanopy site. Viewing films in a group forum is permitted as long as the viewing is by Vanderbilt authorized viewers only (current faculty, staff, or students) and it is not for commercial benefit (i.e. no admission costs are charged and no profit is made from the screening).
World News Digest
Archival record of domestic and international news covering all major political, social, and economic events since November 1940. Facts on File.
Coverage: 1940 to present.
HistoryMakers Digital Archive
Oral history interviews with both well-known and unsung African American artists, business leaders, scientists, athletes, and intellectuals.
Visual History Archive (USC Shoah Foundation)
Streaming video collection of primary source testimonies of survivors and witnesses of crimes against humanity.

iPOLL (Roper Center)
Public opinion poll data: poll questions and answers, datasets, and survey questionnaires from academic, commercial, and media polls on opinions and behaviors from major survey research organizations in the United State, including Gallup, Pew, Annenburg Public Policy Center, and news organizations, such as CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, the New York Times.
Coverage: 1935 to present.
Polling the Nations
Poll questions and responses from national, state, local and special public opinion polls and surveys conducted by polling organizations in the United States and other countries.
Coverage: 1986 to present.