Primary Sources

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).
History Vault This link opens in a new window
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
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive legal research database. Extensive coverage of law reviews and historical access to resources such as the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and US Supreme Court decisions. Legislative history and select foreign and international materials. Contains specialized libraries: intellectual property, taxation and economic reform, etc.
Cambridge Archive Editions Online This link opens in a new window
Digitized historical documents from the National Archives (UK) covering the national heritage and political development of many countries in the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Russia.
Global Think Tanks This link opens in a new window
Curated, high quality policy reports, briefs, analyses, working papers, and datasets produced by the world’s leading policy experts, think tanks, research centers, IGOs, and NGOs.
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.
Making of Modern Law: American Civil Liberties Papers This link opens in a new window
ACLU newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, court files, memorandums, telegrams, minutes, and legal case records on free speech, citizenship, race, discrimination, immigration, labor, radicalism, etc. to support the study of American legal history.
Coverage: 1912-1990.
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 This link opens in a new window
Records and briefs brought before the US Supreme Court.
Coverage: 1832-1978.
Proquest Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
U.S. Congressional materials (hearings, bills, Congressional Record and compiled legislative histories) and Executive Branch documents.
EEBO - Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in English from 1473-1700.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender This link opens in a new window
Mainstream and alternative gay and lesbian newspapers, newsletters, and periodicals from several countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain, etc.
Coverage: 1940-.
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 This link opens in a new window
Complete text of works cited in Charles Evans' American Bibliography, as enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American Bibliography. Resource for information about life in 17th- and 18th-century America, from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, and witchcraft.
Sabin Americana This link opens in a new window
Books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, through the early 1900s. Original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions, etc.
Coverage: 1500-1926.
State Papers Online: Early Modern Government in Britain and Europe This link opens in a new window
British state papers and government documents.

SPO, 1509-1714 encompasses the 16th- and 17th-century State Papers Domestic, Foreign, Scotland, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council from The National Archives, Kew, UK with some series from the British Library.

SPO, Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782 covers the 18th century from the accession of the Hanoverian monarchs to the British throne in 1714 to the end of the State Papers series in 1782.
Coverage: 1509-1782.
Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new window
Diaries, letters, photographs, news clippings, organizational records, and journals. History of the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives and the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society.
Coverage: 19th and 20th centuries.
World Cities This link opens in a new window
Full text of surveys, budgets, statistical records, case studies, planning documents, training manuals, policy guidelines, reports, and news from the world’s top cities, capital cities with populations greater than 20,000 people, major cities in the Global South, and cities with particular research importance - such as those dealing with climate change, political instability, or rapid growth.

HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
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) This link opens in a new window
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) This link opens in a new window
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 This link opens in a new window
Global statistical data on business, economics, environmental studies, geography, history, politics, sociology, and statistical studies.
Coverage: 1750-2010.
ProQuest Statistical Insight This link opens in a new window
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 This link opens in a new window
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 This link opens in a new window
Quantitative data, statistics, infographics, and related information compiled from market research institutes, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.
Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 (Tennessee) This link opens in a new window
Large-scale landbook maps which includes information such as outline of each building, the size and shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors, street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers. Textual information includes construction details, ownership and building use. Fire insurance maps of Tennessee.

iPOLL (Roper Center) This link opens in a new window
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.
Gallup Analytics This link opens in a new window
US and global polling data, new and historical, at the city, state, and national level. Microdata is available upon request. Please visit this resource guide to learn more about available data and to request access.
Polling the Nations This link opens in a new window
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.