Government Information & Archival and Declassified Documents

Finding Government Documents (Library of Congress)
Guide compiled by the Library of Congress (LC) highlighting both online and print resources that contain documents created by the U.S. federal government along with related research tools. For subscription sources highlighted by LC, see this page or the Finding Books, Articles & More page for Vanderbilt subscription access.

Congressional Resources

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
ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window
Publications created by the United States Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws.

Vendor Tutorials: Quick Start Guide - http://proquest.libguides.com/quick_start_legislative_insight
U. S. Congressional Serial Set (1789-2012) - ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Contains Documents and Reports from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Includes committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, maps, treaty materials, as well as some non-governmental publications. During for much of the 19th century, especially in the pre-Civil War era, the Serial Set includes materials originating not only from the U.S. Congress but also key Executive Department publications.

Coverage: 1789-2012. User Limit: Unlimited.

Foreign Relations

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1945-80 (US Department of State) This link opens in a new window
Official documentary historical record of major US foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.

Coverage: 1945-80.
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1861-1980 (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
Official documentary historical record of major US foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication.

Coverage: 1861-1983.

Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS) (now called U.S. Declassified Documents Online) This link opens in a new window
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.
Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Full-text collection of declassified documents relating to U.S. foreign policy decisions from post-World War II to the present.

Coverage: 1945 to present.
National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Documents that have been declassified and organized into Electronic Briefing Books. Each document accompanied by identifying information and a summary of its significance.

Coverage: Post World War II to present.

National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever.

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

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.
Associated Press Collections Archive This link opens in a new window
Original wire copy, personal papers, AP style books, and internal publications from the Associated Press Corporate Archive. Videos from the AP Archive and images from AP Images archive.

Coverage: Mid-1800s through the twentieth century.
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).
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.