Primary Sources

The library offers an extensive collection of primary source databases. Below is just a sampling of available databases.

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Explore five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, the discovery of the Northwest and Northeast Passages, and the race for the Poles. Features an in-depth interactive visualization of over 50 influential voyages.
Coverage: 1410-1920.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
• "We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death:" Freedom Riders in the South, 1961
• African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress, 1933-1947
• Black Economic Empowerment: The National Negro Business League
• Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle
• Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)
• Bush Presidency and Development and Debate Over Civil Rights Policy and Legislation
• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930
• Chinese Maritime Customs Service: The Customs’ Gazette, 1869-1913
• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies to League of Nations Mandates in Africa 1910-1929
• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Political and Economic Consolidation of Portuguese Colonies in Africa, 1910-1929
• FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC
• Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activitist, Political Activist, and Woman
• Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984
• Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress
• Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945
• Grassroots Civil Rights & Social Activism: FBI Files on Benjamin J. Davis, Jr
• Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party
• Integration of Alabama Schools and the U.S. Military, 1963
• James Meredith, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Integration of the University of Mississippi
• Liberation Movement in Africa and African America
• Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1864-1918
• Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1918-1935
• The Minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1854-1943
• Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement
• Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945
• Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union, 1965-1979
• Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement
• Rastafari Ephemeral Publications from the Written Rastafari Archives Project
• Shanghai Municipal Council: The Municipal Gazette, 1908-1940
• Republic of New Afrika
• SUR, 1931-1992
• Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party: Papers of James and Esther Cooper Jackson
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
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).
Wiley Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Unique or rare historical primary sources, digitized from leading societies, libraries, and archives around the world, and made accessible in ways that tie directly to research outcomes and educational goals. Contains tools for searching, browsing, analyzing and visualizing primary source content.
Vendor Tutorial: Wiley Digital Archives Training Hub

More Primary Source Databases

Historical Newspapers

ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Historical access to the following newspapers: Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Daily World, The Baltimore Afro-American, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Defender, The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland Call & Post, The Commercial Appeal, Detroit Free Press, The Globe and Mail, Hartford Courant, The Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Advocate, The Jewish Exponent, Korea Times, Knoxville News Sentinel, Leftist Newspapers, Los Angeles Sentinel, Los Angeles Times, Louisville Courier Journal, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, The New York Times, New York Tribune, Norfolk Journal & Guide, The Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier, San Francisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Tennessean, The Times of India, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Current News Sources

Access World News Research Collection This link opens in a new window
Research diverse perspectives, topics and trends that align with curricular areas such as Political Science, English, Sociology, Humanities, Business, International Studies and more. Features reliable, credible information from a wide variety of international, national and local news sources.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
Business magazines, trade publications, and newspapers; includes the Wall Street Journal.
Logs out after 15 minutes of inactivity.
Libguide for Factiva
ProQuest News and Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Direct link to the newspaper section of ProQuest. Includes Alt-Press Watch, Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch, Latin American Newsstand, Canadian Newsstand Complete, ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Times of London, and The Tennessean.
Latin American Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Principal newspapers from most Latin American countries and many newspapers from Puerto Rico. Regional news, business, sports and the arts, regional wire services and magazines. In Spanish and/or Portuguese.
Coverage: 1991 to present.
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new window
News and newspaper stories, federal and state court cases, US law reviews and journals, company profiles and directories. Company Dossier; data on public figures.
Access Note: Personal account required for some functionality.

Alternative/ Minority News Sources

Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Journals, magazines, and newspapers from ethnic and minority presses. National and regional publications: African American, Caribbean, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Asian/Pacific Islander, European, Eastern European, Hispanic, Jewish, Native People.
Coverage: 1959-present
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Alternative press journals, magazines, and newspapers covering feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Latinx, gays, lesbians, etc.
Coverage: 1951-2015.

More News & Newspaper Sources

Oral History Databases

America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts This link opens in a new window
Oral histories, correspondence, diaries, photographs, artifacts, and military records of American military personnel and civilians show how World War Two changed American society and the economy, how it impacted individuals and their families, and the legacy of the war in human terms.
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies This link opens in a new window
Collection of interviews with Holocaust survivors and witnesses that detail a wide range of experiences, including imprisonment in concentration camps, living in hiding, fighting with partisans or the resistance, rescuing and protecting those targeted by Nazi persecution, and escape to Allied or neutral countries.

First time users must register for an account then search for and request access to an initial testimony. You only need to request access to one testimony to obtain viewing rights for the entire collection. Users must always be logged in to the site to view videos. Detailed instructions for access can be found at http://fortunoff.library.yale.edu/archive/search.

Off-campus access is not working at this time.
HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Oral history interviews with both well-known and unsung African American artists, business leaders, scientists, athletes, and intellectuals.
Visual History Archive (USC Shoah Foundation) This link opens in a new window
Streaming video collection of primary source testimonies of survivors and witnesses of crimes against humanity.

Documentaries and Streaming Media

Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, raw footage, and thousands of award-winning films.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
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).

IMPORTANT: Streaming clips from the Television News Archive from off-campus requires the installation of the Pulse VPN service and the use of Duo Multi-Factor Authentication. You can find detailed information about the Pulse VPN and Duo as well as download files on Vanderbilt's Information Technology page: https://it.vanderbilt.edu/services/catalog/end-point_computing/network_access/remote-access/index.php

Vanderbilt Television News Archive This link opens in a new window
The world's most extensive and complete archive of television news. All individual network evening news broadcasts since 1968 and special news-related programming since 1989.