Research Guides: HIST-443: Racism and Risk in Postwar Britain: Digital Collections

Primary Source Databases

These databases are available to Amherst College students, faculty, and staff.

AM Explorer This link opens in a new window
Search across the entire portfolio of Adam Matthew primary-source collections, spanning the social sciences and humanities from the 15th-21st centuries.
ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Image database including architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture.
Music & Performing Arts This link opens in a new window
Cross-searches audio, video, scores, and full-text reference content from all Alexander Street Press music & dance databases.
Mass Observation Online This link opens in a new window
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.

Government Documents

Documents on British Policy Overseas This link opens in a new window
Primary-source documents from Britains Foreign and Commonwealth Office, shedding light on diplomatic history throughout the twentieth century.

Historic Hansard
Search and browse the Official Report of debates in Parliament from 1803 to present.
London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health Reports,
These reports may be helpful for gleaning perspectives of local communities in London--as reported through the Medical Officer of Health.

Newspapers

Times Digital Archive (1785-2013) This link opens in a new window
A full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of the Times, also known as the London Times

The Guardian (London)
We have access across several databases, starting in 1984.
The Observer (London)
We have access through several databases, consult date ranges to decide where to search.

Library and Archival Collections

The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre Collection
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre is a library and archive dedicated to combating racism through education, and is part of the University of Manchester.
British Pathé
Archive of British newsreel footage from 1896-1978,
British Culture Archive
British documentary photography, from postwar to the present,
London Picture Archive
From the London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery. Scroll down the landing page to browse by subject, in addition to keyword searching.
The National Archives - Postwar Resources
Consult the Finding Aids (linked at the bottom of the pages for different research guides) for links to relevant online collections.
Sound Recordings
The British Library is still recovering from a cyberattack, and many of their online resources have not yet been restored. These sets of recordings on Soundcloud mirror some of those holdings. You will need to browse the playlists, as their contents/transcripts aren't keyword searchable.
Migration Museum Exhibits
Small digital collections from Migration Museum exhibits. May be particularly helpful for getting started and generating research questions.

Oral History Collections

East Midlands Oral History Archive
"Many topics are covered including work, education, migration, housing, childhood, sport, transport, regeneration and the impact of the two World Wars. Recently added collections include interviews with coal miners, natural historians, the Ugandan-Asian community, and people reflecting on Leicester since the Second World War."
Birmingham Black Oral History Project (Birmingham Museums Trust)
"The Birmingham Black Oral History Project (BBOHP) was founded in Handsworth in 1990. The project aimed to ‘collect, preserve and disseminate the spoken history of Birmingham’s black population’. The collection includes oral history interviews with 21 people conducted between 1990 and 1992, who originated from the Caribbean, South Asia and covered a range of themes including first impressions, religious experiences, education, experiences of racism, identity, as well as their thoughts on the future."
Making Histories
Family histories documented by young people in Cardiff, Leicester, Sheffield, Manchester and London.
Windrush Stories (Museum of London Docklands)
Oral histories, photographs, and literature by and of members of London's Afro-Caribbean communities.

How do I find primary sources on the Internet?

Do a search in Google (or the search engine of your choice)
Combine keywords that describe your topic with keywords to retrieve primary sources or digital collections from archives and museums

For example

Common primary source keywords include:

"primary sources"
sources
documents
texts
manuscripts
"digital collections"

You can also try keywords for kinds of primary sources:

"oral histories"
"personal narratives"
letters
correspondence
interviews
diaries

Remember to evaluate the sites you find -- even a quick check to see if a site is produced by an archives, museum, governmental agency, or educational institution can help you determine whether this is a legitimate, trustworthy source for information. The best sites for primary sources will provide you with the information you need to cite your sources.

Other research guides

To see if a librarian has already identified digital primary sources related to your topic, do an Internet search for a term or phrase related to your research plus the phrase "research guide" or LibGuide.

For example: Search for history of medicine "research guide".

HIST-443: Racism and Risk in Postwar Britain