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
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
Manuscript material from the Colonial Office files at the UK National Archives that documents all aspects of life in colonial America. Includes original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies.
Coverage: 1606-1822.
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.
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.
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819 This link opens in a new window
American books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the early part of the 19th century which are many of the rarest materials published in early America. Based on the noted "American Bibliography, 1801-1819" by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker.
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.
Coverage: index:1970 to present; full text: coverage varies. Vendor Tutorials: Training videos - http://help.lexisnexis.com/tabula-rasa/congressional/trainingvideos_ref-reference?lbu=US&locale=en_US&audience=all
African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports, and in-depth oral histories reveal the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity. Focuses predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina.
American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History that cover the major themes of American History.
Coverage: 1493-1945.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Includes New Orleans City Directories from 1805-1929.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Mass Tourism This link opens in a new window
Guidebooks and brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs, and personal travel journals provide unique insight into the expansion, accessibility, and affordability of tourism for the masses and the evolution of some of the most successful travel agencies in the world.
Coverage: 1850-1980.
Rock's Backpages This link opens in a new window
Archive of music journalism: articles, reviews, and interviews from mainstream music publications and zines. Audio interviews.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery This link opens in a new window
Books and pamphlets, US Supreme Court records, newspapers and periodicals, manuscripts, and reference materials for the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
World's Fairs: A Global History of Expositions This link opens in a new window
Examines the innovations and phenomenon of international expositions by presenting official records, monographs, personal accounts, and ephemera for more than 200 fairs.
Coverage: 1851-1967.

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. Vendor Tutorials: http://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/HathiTrust

Historic New Orleans Collection
Images and other primary source collections related to New Orleans history and culture.
New Orleans Public Library Digital Collections
Digital images and documents of New Orleans history.

AP Images This link opens in a new window
Associated Press photographs, audio, graphics, news stories, and headlines.
User Limit: 5.
Artstor This link opens in a new window
Digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research. Collections from museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists and artists' estates. Access Note: To download images or use other advanced features, individuals must register for an individual user account.

Life Magazine Photo Archive
Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1860s to today. Add "source:life" to any Google image search and search only the LIFE photo archive.