Research Guides: Do Research Remotely: Find Digital Primary Sources

How do I find primary sources in library databases and online collections?

Most of the resources collected here allow you to search by keyword or browse in ways that reflect sources' original format. Be sure to check out the Primary Sources research guide for more context and tips. On this page you'll find:

Digitized collections of primary sources — These collections are usually organized around a common theme or topic
Government Documents — Collections of government documents
Historical Newspapers and Periodicals — Organized by geography, subject, or social identities of publishers and readers
Tips for finding primary sources on the Internet

Major Collections

Major Collections of Primary Sources

For more primary source collections, check out the research guides by subject.

AM Explorer
Cross search of the Adam Matthew primary-source collections, spanning the social sciences and humanities from the 15th-21st centuries.
Amherst College Digital Collections
Open access repository for digitized archival collections from Amherst College Archives & Special Collections. Digitized images include photographs, manuscripts, books, and more.

Smithsonian Institution
Gallery of digitized collections held by the Smithsonian.

Making of the Modern World (1450-1914)
Primary source materials (including broadsides and pamphlets, serials, and monographs) tracing British and US economic history from 1450-1914.
Black Studies
This database combines multi-format primary and secondary sources, like historical Black newspapers, archival documents, government materials, videos, scholarly journals, essays and more.
Mass Observation Online
Primary-source collection containing original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organization, as well as printed publications, photographs, and interactive features.
North American Indian Thought and Culture
Autobiographies, biographies, publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files of indigenous people from across North America.

South Asian American Digital Archive
Archive of South Asian American history includes photographs, oral histories, correspondence, ads and more.
Umbra Search: African American History
Collection of over 400,000 digitized sources in African American history, from more than 1,000 libraries, museums and archives.

Collections organized by geographic region

Digital Commonwealth
Primary source documents from the collections of museums, libraries, and archives across Massachusetts.
dLOC: Digital Library of the Caribbean
Maps, oral histories, legal documents, books and other sources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean.
Digital Public Library of America
Catalog of public domain and openly licensed images and other digitized materials from archives, libraries, museums, and other U.S. cultural heritage institutions.
EuroDocs
Guide to digitized European collections organized by country. Covers the Medieval era to the present. From Harold Lee Library, Brigham Young University.

South Asia Archive
Fully searchable digital archive of documents ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century.

Historical Newspapers

These databases have collections of newspapers published generally pre-1990, often digitized from print or microfilm. They are searchable, but be aware that the results won't be as accurate as born-digital newspapers.

Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
Combined search of the historic Boston Globe, Chicago Defender, Chinese Newspapers Collection, Hartford Courant, Los Angeles Times, New York Amsterdam News, New York Times, South China Morning Post, Times of India, and Washington Post.
America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1980)
Searchable archive of American newspapers including Early American Newspapers (1690-1922) and Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980).
British Library Newspapers
Searchable archive of regional and local British newspapers published between the mid-eighteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.
African American Newspapers (Readex) (1827-1998)
Provides access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers from more than 35 states and chronicles a century and a half of the African American experience.
African American Newspapers (History Commons) (1827-1902)
Starting with Freedom's Journal in 1827, the database will eventually contain all major African-American newspapers published in the U.S. during the 19th century.
Historical Chinese Newspapers (ProQuest)
English-language newspapers published in China; spans 1832-1953, with most content from 1910-1940.
Caribbean Newspapers (1718-1876)
Fully searchable digitized collection of 18th- and 19th-century Caribbean newspapers, including 66 titles from 22 islands
Latin American Newspapers (1805-1922)
More than 35 fully searchable newspapers published in Central and South America between 1805-1922.

Japan Times Digital Archive (1897-2014)
Japan’s oldest English language newspaper and the country’s only independent English-language newspaper today.

Middle Eastern and North African newspapers
Provides a 20th century historical and cultural perspective of countries in the Middle East and North Africa
Ethnic NewsWatch (1959 to present)
News and analysis from ethnic popular and scholarly publications.
Alternative Press Index (1969 to present)
Covers alternative, radical, and left periodicals, newspapers, and magazines.
Alt-PressWatch (1970 to present)
Full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press.

Independent Voices
Newspapers and journals produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, BIPOC advocates, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Chronicling America (1860-1922)
Search or browse hundreds of newspapers through the Library of Congress National Digital Newspaper Program. Includes descriptions of papers, and images are downloadable.
Google News Archive (1800s to present)
Digitized and searchable U.S. and Canadian newspapers. Not at all comprehensive, but potential for excellent and historic coverage depending on title.

FBIS: Federal Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports (1974-1996)
News in translation (by the CIA) from radio, television, and newspapers around the world.

Historical Periodicals

Alternative Press Index (1969 to present)
Covers alternative, radical, and left periodicals, newspapers, and magazines.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection (1684-1912)
Comprehensive collection of early American periodicals, with coverage of advertising, health, women's issues, science, the history of slavery, religious issues, culture and the arts, and more.
American Periodicals (1740-1940)
Digitized reproductions of more than 1,100 18th and 19th century newspapers and periodicals.
British Periodicals
Searchable full text of hundreds of British periodicals from the late 17th century to the early 20th, with high-resolution facsimile page images.
HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index (1970 to present)
Covers analyses of current political, economic, and social issues to unique coverage of Latin American arts.
Women's Magazine Archive
Searchable archive of leading women's interest magazines, dating from the 19th century through to the 21st.
Zasshi Kiji Sakuin Shusei Detabesu (1868 to present)
Index to periodical articles published in Japanese, including those in former Japanese colonies, and including local periodicals not present in many other indexes.

U.S. Government Documents

American Presidency Project
Archives containing 109,388 documents related to the study of the Presidency, including executive orders, speeches, press conferences, and more.

Congressional Publications
Index to U.S. congressional material, some full text.

FBI Records: The Vault
Access FBI records made available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room
Access reports from the CIA, made available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Foreign Relations of the United States
The official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.
National Security Archive Briefing Books
The National Security Archive's continually growing collection of Electronic Briefing Books (EBBs) provide timely online access to critical declassified records on issues including U.S. national security, foreign policy, diplomatic and military history, intelligence policy, and much more.

Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy (ProQuest History Vault) (1960-1975)
Collection of primary sources covering everything from early U.S. involvement in the region up to the final resolution of the war at the Paris Peace Talks and the evacuation of U.S. troops in 1973