Primary Sources

Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Many unique archival collections cover the U.S. and globally.
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
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 Tutorials:Wiley Digital Archives Training Hub
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.
Vendor Tutorials: Training videos are available to show you how to use select Hein Online libraries - http://heinonline.org/wiki/index.php/HeinOnline:Videos
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
Indian Claims Insight This link opens in a new window
Indian claims process in the U.S., including docket history. Histories of Nation/Tribe and State/Territory.
Coverage: 1789 to present. User Limit: Unlimited.
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.

More History Primary Source Databases

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

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.
If you experience an error message, please clear your browser's cache and retry connecting.
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.
User Limit: 3.
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. User Limit: 4.

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).
Docuseek2 This link opens in a new window
Streaming access to documentary and social issue films from a variety of distributors, including Bullfrog, Collective Eye, and Icarus Films.