Additional Primary Sources
The library subscribes to dozens of primary source databases. This research guide highlights selected sources. To view the entire list, visit
Finding Primary Sources
The lists below contain links to selected tools for finding primary resources. For additional strategies and tools for finding primary materials, visit the Primary Sources research guide or contact a librarian.
Primary Source Timeline
See our Primary Source Timeline to browse a selection of primary source databases organized by coverage dates and locations.
Race Relations
For primary sources documenting civil rights and the experiences of people of African descent, visit:
Women
For a list of primary sources that document women's issues and experiences, visit:
LGBTQ+
For a list of primary sources documenting LGBTQ+ experiences and issues, visit:
Audio/Video
- 60 Minutes: 1997 - 2014 (vol. 1) This link opens in a new window View streaming film episodes of the 60 Minutes television program (CBS News) from 1997-2014, including many episodes not widely seen since their original broadcast. This access may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1997-2014, contains primary sources. Full text.
- AdViews: A Vintage Archive of Digital Television Commercials Thousands of historic television commercials in product categories including food and beverage; health and beauty; consumer goods and services; transporation; business; and entertainment. Coverage: 1950s - 1980s; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
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- American History in Video This link opens in a new window View streaming films, including online newsreels, archival films, and documentaries covering United States history. This access may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1700s to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Black Studies in Video This link opens in a new window View streaming films of award-winning documentaries, newsreels, interviews and archival footage surveying the evolution of black culture in the United States, including history, politics, art and culture, family structure, social and economic pressures, and gender relations. This access may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 20th century to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Ethnographic Sound Archives Online This link opens in a new window Access historic audio recordings and supporting materials from field expeditions around the world, opening new paths for the study of music in its cultural context. Liner notes may be available labelled as “liner notes” or in “album details”. Coverage: mostly 1960s-1980s, contains primary sources. Full audio streaming files and full text.
- LGBT Studies in Video This link opens in a new window View streaming films of documentaries, interviews, archival footage and select feature films exploring LGBT history, gay culture, civil rights, and other issues. This collection is part of AVON: Academic Video Online, but may be searched separately. It may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1970-2019, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Meet the Press: 1947 - 2013 This link opens in a new window View streaming films of thousands of interviews, panels, and debates with policy makers and leaders in the areas of U.S. foreign policy, economics, and politics. This access may be used for on-campus showings by student groups and co-curricular programs for which no admission is charged. Coverage: 1947-2013. Full text.
- Moving Image Archive Sponsored by the Internet Archive, this is an online source for video clips, including news footage, movies, cartoons, commercials, and home movies.
- Music Online: Listening This link opens in a new window Stream music tracks from a multidisciplinary, international collection of audiovisual content. Streaming collections include American Music, Classical Music, Contemporary World Music, Jazz Music, Popular Music, and Smithsonian Global Sound. Liner notes available for approximately one-third of content. Coverage: varies. Full audio streaming files and full text.
- Old Time Radio Shows Sponsored by the Internet Archive, this is an online source for audio clips of old time radio shows.
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History
- America In Protest: Records Of Anti-Vietnam War Organizations (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access FBI reports dealing with every aspect of antiwar work carried out by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), as well as surveillance on other antiwar groups and individuals, with an emphasis on student groups and Communist organizations. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1967-1975, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Children's Literature and Childhood This link opens in a new window Access primary sources related to the experience of childhood in the nineteenth century, including books & periodicals for children, material related to education, pamphlets produced by child welfare groups, documents & photos related to children and crime, newspapers produced by youths, and more. This collection is part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO). Coverage: 19th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Cold War: Voices of Confrontation and Conciliation (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access transcripts of oral recollections of many of the players on both sides of the Cold War. Interviewees include Robert McNamara, Henry Kissinger, and Gerald Ford among others. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1950s-1990s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access documents offering a range of viewpoints on political, social, cultural and economic issues in the 1960s. This collection contains FBI files on organizations, individuals, and events, including the Black Panther Party, North Carolina; Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers; Malcolm X; Kent State; Muslim Mosque, Inc.; Students for a Democratic Society; and the Weatherman Underground Organization. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1956-1971, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Food Studies Online This link opens in a new window Access archival content, visual ephemera, books, and streaming films that explore how food shapes the world. This collection includes cookbooks and recipes, menus, advertising, posters and pamphlets, pertaining to several disciplines, including history, environmental studies, health studies, anthropology, biology, business, and sociology. Coverage: varies, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was funded in part by the Mary Moser Memorial Library Fund.
- Gilded Age This link opens in a new window Access primary documents and scholarly commentary including songs, letters, photographs, cartoons, government documents, and ephemera from America's "Gilded Age." Coverage: 1865-1902, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Images of America: A History of American Life in Images and Texts This link opens in a new window Access historical images and texts that celebrate places and people in America, cultivated from a series of local history books. Explore a town's history or compare the histories of towns, cultures, ethnic groups, architectural features, and more. Coverage: historic events from 1600 to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930 (History Vault) This link opens in a new window Access records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service that cover topics such as Asian, Mexican and European immigration, Ellis Island, medical inspections of immigrants, and prostitution. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via History Vault. Coverage: 1880-1930, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Leisure, Travel, and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window Access guidebooks, brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs, and personal travel journals, for an in-depth look at the evolution of British and American working class tourism. Coverage: 1850-1980s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window Access primary materials from the Library of Congress, covering various periods of American history. This collection includes photographs, manuscripts, rare books, maps, recorded sound, and video. Special online collections include Native American history, African-American history, United States presidents, immigration, literature, and cultural history. Coverage: American history - time periods vary, contains primary sources. Full text.
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- Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 This link opens in a new window Access market research reports and other supporting documents for insight into the American consumer boom of the mid-20th century. Coverage: 1935-1965, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Medical Services and Warfare This link opens in a new window Access multiple perspectives on the history of injury, treatment, and disease on the front line. This collection includes hospital records, medical reports, and first-hand accounts. Coverage: 19th and 20th centuries, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Nixon Years, The This link opens in a new window Access papers from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the entire period of Richard Nixon’s presidency. Coverage: 1969-1974, contains primary sources. Full text.
- North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window Access contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives from immigrants to the United States and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Coverage: 1800-1950, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880 (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access records of daily events and personal accounts of emigrants who traveled to the American West. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1800-1880, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of the Walter E. Beach Library Fund.
- Popular Medicine This link opens in a new window Access books, pamphlets, trade cards, and visually-rich advertising ephemera that showcase the development of 'popular' medicine in America during the nineteenth century. This collection covers popular trends such as phrenology, herbal medicine and hydrotherapy. Coverage: 1800-1900, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access records, including correspondence, meeting minutes, and project files of the United Domestic Workers Union in the United States. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Archives Unbound. Coverage: 1965-1979, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Religion, Society, Spirituality, and Reform This link opens in a new window Access pamphlets, periodicals, manuscripts and other documents relating to religion and social reform in the 19th century, mostly in Britain and the United States. This collection is part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO). Coverage: 19th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 This link opens in a new window Access diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary from/about 1960s America. Themes include arts, music, culture; civil rights; counter-culture; law & government; technology; student activism; the Vietnam War, and more. Coverage: 1960-1974, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Trade Catalogues and the American Home This link opens in a new window Access primary source documents that highlight commercial tastes and consumer trends in America. Coverage: 1850-1950, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Victorian Popular Culture: A Portal This link opens in a new window Access primary sources relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe. This collection includes four thematic sections: Section I: Spiritualism, Sensation, and Magic; Section II: Circuses, Sideshows, and Freaks; Section III: Music Hall, Theatre, and Popular Entertainment; and Section IV: Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema. Coverage: Victorian era, contains primary sources. Full text.
- What Americans Eat This link opens in a new window Access photographs, documents, posters, and other materials that explore the U.S. government's impact on what Americans eat. Topics include food and wartime, the school lunch program, farming, and the food industry. Coverage: mostly late 1800s to mid-1900s, contains primary sources. Full text.
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- World's Fairs: A Global History of Expositions This link opens in a new window Access primary source material for insights into the origination and planning of fairs; the experience; and the physical, cultural, and political legacies. This collection includes official records, publicity, artwork and artifacts, among other documents. Coverage: 1851-2015 - mostly 1880-1920: the "golden age" of expositions, contains primary sources. Full text.
Popular Press
- Ad*Access from Duke University Over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisements covering five product categories - Beauty and Hygiene, Radio, Television, Transportation, and World War II propaganda. Coverage: 1911-1955; contains primary sources. Full-Text.
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- African American Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Explore a cross-searchable collection of historical content from leading African-American Newspapers. Titles included are: Atlanta Daily World (1931-2010), Chicago Defender (1910-1975), New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2010), and Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988). Coverage: 1893-2010, but varies by title; contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was made possible in part through a bequest of Eleanor Cogan (Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts, 2003), library volunteer and longtime friend of the college.
- Indigenous Newspapers in North America This link opens in a new window Access Indigenous print journalism from the United States and Canada, including some bilingual and Indigenous-language editions. Coverage: 1828-2016, contains primary sources. Full text.
- American Jewish Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Explore a collection of historical content from American Jewish newspapers. Titles included are: The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger (1857-1922), The Jewish Advocate (1905-1990), The American Israelite (1854-2000), and Jewish Exponent (1887-1990). Coverage: 1854-2000, but varies by title; contains primary sources. Full text.
- American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900 This link opens in a new windowAccess over 1,500 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines; 89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 offer insights into America's transition from colonial times to independence; and 118 periodicals published during the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction (1865-1877) eras; and many other historically-significant periodicals. Coverage: 1740-1900, contains primary sources. Full text.
- EBSCO Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window Access the magazine archives of Architectural Digest, The Atlantic, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Ebony, Esquire, Forbes, Fortune, Jet, Life, Maclean's, People, Sports Illustrated, Time, U.S. News & World Report and Vanity Fair. Coverage: 1857-2015 (varies by title), contains primary sources. Full text. The Ebony archive and Jet archive are, in part, gifts of the Mary Moser Memorial Library Fund.
- Google Magazines This link opens in a new window Access freely available issues of miscellaneous popular magazines. Coverage: varies by title, contains primary sources. Full text.
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- Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Access historical articles and images from the American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger; American Israelite; Atlanta Constitution; Atlanta Daily World; Baltimore Afro-American; Boston Globe; Chicago Defender; Chicago Tribune; Chinese Newspapers Collection; Guardian & Observer; Jewish Advocate; Jewish Exponent; Los Angeles Times; New York Amsterdam News; New York Times; Philadelphia Inquirer; Philadelphia Tribune; Pittsburgh Courier; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Wall Street Journal; and Washington Post. Coverage: varies by paper ranging from 1791-2018, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Independent Voices This link opens in a new window Access magazines, journals, and newspapers of alternative press archives. Collections include Black American, Campus Underground, Feminist, GI Press, LGBT, Latino, Little (literary) Magazine, Native American and Right-Wing publications. Coverage: second half of 20th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
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- Liberty Magazine 1924-50 This link opens in a new window Access issues of Liberty: a Weekly for Everybody, founded in 1924 in the United States, with full-page images of every page of every issue. This magazine is browsable by date, author, or artist. It is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1924-1950, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Modernist Journals Project An online collection of English language magazines published between 1890 and 1922.
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- New Yorker Archive This link opens in a new window Access The New Yorker magazine from 1925 to the current print issue. Coverage: 1925 to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Readers' Guide Full Text This link opens in a new window Search for articles in the popular press (magazines, news magazines, general interest periodicals), on topics including art, business, computers, dance, drama, education, entertainment, fashion, film & television, food, health & medicine, history, literature, news & current events, photography, popular & classical music, politics, popular culture, religion, science, sports & fitness, transportation, and travel. Coverage: 1890-1982. Some full text.
- Rock's Backpages This link opens in a new window Access music journalism, including articles, interviews and reviews, from across popular music. Search by artist, writer, genre, or publication. Coverage: varies -1960s to present, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window Access historic content for women’s magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Essence, Seventeen, Town & Country, WIN News, and Woman's Day. Coverage: 1846-2005 (varies by publication), contains primary sources. Full text.
