LibGuides: History Subject Guide: American History: Primary Text Databases at UConn

Selected Databases

These databases contain the images of material written and published in America from 1639 to the early 20th century, and sometimes beyond. Most of these materials are accessible by keywords as well as by author and title, and researchers can also search by place of publication, imprint, and language of publication. For best results, be certain to use alternative spellings.

African American Communities
Access to essays, records, oral histories, articles, and images from the 18th-20th centuries covering topics including desegregation, urban renewal, and race relations in major American cities such as New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.
American County Histories

Includes detailed coverage of local history, geology, geography, weather, transportation, lists of all local participants in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, government, industry and manufacturing by county.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender

Includes articles, manuscripts, images, and correspondence on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities globally; sex and sexuality; and related issues. Library has access to four collections: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 part I-II, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century, and International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture.
Black Thought & Culture
Includes over 100,000 letters, speeches, essays, interviews, and trial transcripts by Black and African American leaders with a focus on 19th and 20th centuries.
Civil War Collection VI : Northeast Regimental Histories

Includes research publications on Civil War regiments from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire.
Civil War Era‎
Includes articles and pamphlets from the US Civil War era (1840-1865) covering pre-war conflicts, abolitionism, and emancipation.
Colonial Connecticut Records (1636-1776)
Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776. Includes the records of the colonial governing body; the Code of Laws, May 1650; the Charter of Connecticut; Journal and Correspondence of the Council of War, 1675-1677.
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans
Includes eBooks, pamphlets and other primary source materials about life in 17th- and 18th-century America, such as agriculture, foreign affairs, literature, music, philosophy, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, and witchcraft.
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker
Includes ebooks, pamphlets and other primary source materials covering the political, social, cultural and geographic growth of the United States between 1801-1819 covering abolitionism, arts and literature, economic, religious, and scientific thought.
HathiTrust Digital Library
Search the full text of over 10 million volumes digitized primarily from research libraries covering all academic disciplines. View scanned pages of public domain and open access titles, or snippets from copyrighted material.
Historical Statistics of the United States
Statistics of the United States, covering population, work and welfare, economics, governance, and international relations, including census data, some dating back to the 1600s.
Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930
Covers Asian immigration and exclusion 1898-1941, Mexican immigration 1906-1930, INS records from Ellis Island, and investigations into prostitution and white slavery.
Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources
Digital archive of constitutional conventions and compilations, state and territorial codes, city charters, law dictionaries, and the published records of the American colonies from 1620 to 1979.
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries
Includes personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, displayed as high-quality images of the original manuscripts.
NAACP Papers
Includes working case files of the NAACP legal department documenting the NAACP's campaign to bring about desegregation throughout the United States.
ProQuest Congressional

Provides PDF images and full-text searching of publications of Congress including hearings, the U.S. Serial Set, and reports created by the Congressional Research Service.
Race Relations in America
Includes records, images, case studies, audio recordings, and surveys from the Fisk University race relations department and its annual institute between 1943 and 1970 covering topics such as the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, discrimination, and racial theory.
Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice

Includes primary source documents on key aspects of the history of slavery worldwide over six centuries covering slavery in the early Americas; African coast; urban and domestic slavery; resistance and revolts; the abolition movement and the slavery debate; legislation and politics; freedmen and free Black settlements; experiences of enslaved people; and the legacy of slavery.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery

Includes books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, legal documents, court records, monographs, manuscripts, and maps documenting the historical conflict over slavery in the United States. Includes Part I: Debates over Slavery and Abolition, part II: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World, part III: The Institution of Slavery, and part IV: The Age of Emancipation.
Supreme Court Insight
Full opinions from U.S. Supreme Court-argued cases from 1975-2016 that includes per curiam decisions, dockets, oral arguments, joint appendices, amici briefs, and landmark decisions.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
Includes books, images, essays, book and website reviews, and other primary sources covering various women's and social movements between 1600-2000.

The newspapers and periodicals listed below were published in the United States from 1690 until the present. Although a few of the resources separately index by authors and subjects, most are best searched by keywords. For best results, be certain to use alternative spellings.

African American Historical Newspapers

Cross search for several African American newspapers including Atlanta Daily World, The Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Cleveland Call and Post, Los Angeles Sentinel, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, The Norfolk Journal and Guide, The Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier, and Louisville Defender.
African American Historical Serials Collection

Collection of 173 periodicals from 1816-1922. Includes periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, as well as reports from African American organizations including churches, educational and service institutions.
African American Newspapers

Access to collection of African American newspapers covering cultural life and history during the 1800s and includes first-hand reports of the major events.
Alternative Press Index

Includes article abstracts covering cultural, economic, political & social change.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection (EBSCO)

Includes magazines and journals articles from 1691 to1877 covering topics such as Black and African American history and culture, agriculture, children's literature, education, medicine, religion, science and technology, the trades, and women's literature.
American Periodicals
Articles from over 1,000 American magazines and journals published between 1741-1900.
American Periodicals from the Center for Research Libraries
Hundreds of American periodicals from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Atlanta Daily World

Full text coverage from 1931 to 2010 of the Atlanta Daily World.
Baltimore Afro-American

Digital archive for the Baltimore Afro-American from 1893 to 2010
Boston Globe (Proquest Historical Newspapers)

Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue.
Early American Newspapers (1690-1922)

Scanned newspapers published between 1690 – 1922.
Hartford Courant (Proquest Historical Newspapers)

Full-text of the Hartford Courant from 1764-1998.
Hispanic American Newspapers 1808-1980

Full text to various Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Indigenous Newspapers in North America

Includes articles from newspapers reporting on and by indigenous peoples throughout the United States and Canada, including Alaska, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Nevada and Oklahoma, from 1828 to 2016.
Lily, The

Access to the online archive of the Lily (1849-1856), a temperance and abolitionist newspaper, and the first newspaper for women.
Los Angeles Times (Proquest Historical Newspapers)

Access to the the Los Angeles Times from 1881-2000.
National Citizen and Ballot Box

Access to National and Ballot Box, a monthly journal deeply involved in the roots of the American feminist movement from 1876-1881.
Nation Archive, The

Searchable archive of The Nation Magazine, 1865-2020.
New York Amsterdam News

Digitized version of the New York Amsterdam News (1922-2010), one of the U.S.'s leading Black newspapers and one of New York's most influential Black-owned institutions.
New York Times (Proquest Historical Newspapers)

Access to The New York Times from 1851-2020.
Pennsylvania Gazette

Full-text access to this Philadelphia newspaper from 1728 through 1800.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Search for historical articles in a variety of major American and international newspapers published between 1764-2019. See more info for complete list of newspapers included.

Atlantic Constitution (1868-1984), Atlanta Daily World (1931-2010), Baltimore Afro-American (1893-2010), Baltimore Sun (1837-1997), Boston Globe (1872-1991), Chicago Defender (1909-2010), Chicago Tribune (1849-2013), Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953), Cleveland Call & Post (1934-2010), Detroit Free Press (1831-1999), The Guardian and the Observer (1791-2003), Hartford Courant (1764-1997), Irish Times and the Weekly Irish Times (1859-2021), Le Monde (1944-2000), Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2010), Los Angeles Times (1881-1999), Louisville Defender (1951-2010), Michigan Chronicle (1939-2010), New York Amsterdam News (1922-2010), New York Times (1851-2019), New York Tribune / Herald Times (1841-1962), Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2010), Philadelphia Inquirer (1860-2001), Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2010), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2010), Times of India (1838-2010), Vermont Collection, Wall Street Journal (1889-2011), Washington Post (1877-2007)
Reader's Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982

Article abstracts for most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States between 1890-1982.
Wall Street Journal (Proquest Historical Newspapers)

Access to the Wall Street Journal newspaper from 1889 to 1991.
Washington Post (Proquest Historical Newspapers)

Access to the Washington Post newspaper from 1877-2008.
Women's Magazine Archive

Access to several popular consumer magazines, published between 1846 and 2005, that were originally intended for a female readership.
Women's Studies Archive: Issues and Identities
Includes manuscripts, ephemera, documents, newspapers, periodicals, journals, history collections, women’s literature covering historical, social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

This page lists resources dedicated to the history of Black people in the United States. Many other resources also contain information, and researchers are directed to:

African Studies Subject Guide

Africana Studies Library Research Guide

Black Experiences in the Americas Research Guide

Black History Month Research Guide

Transatlantic Slavery and the Slave Trade Research Guide

African American Communities
Access to essays, records, oral histories, articles, and images from the 18th-20th centuries covering topics including desegregation, urban renewal, and race relations in major American cities such as New York, Chicago, and Atlanta.
African American Historical Newspapers

Cross search for several African American newspapers including Atlanta Daily World, The Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Cleveland Call and Post, Los Angeles Sentinel, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, The Norfolk Journal and Guide, The Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier, and Louisville Defender.
African American Historical Serials Collection

Collection of 173 periodicals from 1816-1922. Includes periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, as well as reports from African American organizations including churches, educational and service institutions.
African American Newspapers

Access to collection of African American newspapers covering cultural life and history during the 1800s and includes first-hand reports of the major events.
African American Studies Center
Includes biographical articles on notable African Americans.
Atlanta Daily World

Full text coverage from 1931 to 2010 of the Atlanta Daily World.
Baltimore Afro-American

Digital archive for the Baltimore Afro-American from 1893 to 2010
Black Thought & Culture
Includes over 100,000 letters, speeches, essays, interviews, and trial transcripts by Black and African American leaders with a focus on 19th and 20th centuries.
Civil War Collection VI : Northeast Regimental Histories

Includes research publications on Civil War regiments from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire.
Civil War Era‎
Includes articles and pamphlets from the US Civil War era (1840-1865) covering pre-war conflicts, abolitionism, and emancipation.
Lily, The

Access to the online archive of the Lily (1849-1856), a temperance and abolitionist newspaper, and the first newspaper for women.
NAACP Papers
Includes working case files of the NAACP legal department documenting the NAACP's campaign to bring about desegregation throughout the United States.
New York Amsterdam News

Digitized version of the New York Amsterdam News (1922-2010), one of the U.S.'s leading Black newspapers and one of New York's most influential Black-owned institutions.
Race Relations in America
Includes records, images, case studies, audio recordings, and surveys from the Fisk University race relations department and its annual institute between 1943 and 1970 covering topics such as the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, discrimination, and racial theory.
Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice

Includes primary source documents on key aspects of the history of slavery worldwide over six centuries covering slavery in the early Americas; African coast; urban and domestic slavery; resistance and revolts; the abolition movement and the slavery debate; legislation and politics; freedmen and free Black settlements; experiences of enslaved people; and the legacy of slavery.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery

Includes books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals, legal documents, court records, monographs, manuscripts, and maps documenting the historical conflict over slavery in the United States. Includes Part I: Debates over Slavery and Abolition, part II: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World, part III: The Institution of Slavery, and part IV: The Age of Emancipation.

Scholarship discussing aspects of Connecticut history is available in many of the resources listed on the previous pages, but the following resources are dedicated to Connecticut and thus contain much that is unique.

In addition, the UConn Archives and Special Collections holds many special collections offering insight into the history of Connecticut, and the UConn Library provides access to Historical Maps, Aerial Imagery, Indexes, and Map Viewers.

American County Histories

Includes detailed coverage of local history, geology, geography, weather, transportation, lists of all local participants in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, government, industry and manufacturing by county.
Civil War Collection VI : Northeast Regimental Histories

Includes research publications on Civil War regiments from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire.
Colonial Connecticut Records (1636-1776)
Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776. Includes the records of the colonial governing body; the Code of Laws, May 1650; the Charter of Connecticut; Journal and Correspondence of the Council of War, 1675-1677.
Connecticut Digital Archive
Search digital archival materials from UConn and from other educational and cultural institutions around the state.
Hartford Courant

Full text of the Hartford Courant from 1992 - present.

Scholarship discussing aspects of Native American history is available in many of the resources listed on the previous pages, but the following resources are dedicated to the subject and thus contain much that is unique.

In addition, the UConn Archives and Special Collections holds many special collections offering insight into the history of Native Americans and the UConn Library provides access to Historical Maps, Aerial Imagery, Indexes, and Map Viewers.

Indigenous Newspapers in North America

Includes articles from newspapers reporting on and by indigenous peoples throughout the United States and Canada, including Alaska, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Nevada and Oklahoma, from 1828 to 2016.
Indigenous Peoples of North America

Access to articles, manuscripts, monographs, and photographs covering the history of Native peoples from the 17th to 20th century.

The following resources provide access to scholarly material on physical and cultural anthropology:

Anthropology Plus

Indexes worldwide materials from the late 1800s to today in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology; ethnology, archaeology, folklore, and material culture.
AnthroSource
Scholarly articles published by the American Anthropological Association.
eHRAF World Cultures
Includes ethnographic primary source materials on hundreds of cultures and ethnic groups describing cultural and social life.
Oxford Bibliographies - Anthropology
Provides an annotated bibliography covering books in the field of anthropology.
ProQuest Congressional
The publications of the US Congress, including those from Bureau of Indian Affairs. Documents include material in the U.S. Serial Set, congressional hearings, and reports created by the Congressional Research Service.

History Subject Guide — American History: Primary Text Databases at UConn

Selected Databases