LibGuides: Music Research Guide: Primary Sources

Primary Source Databases

American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
Manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books, treaties, speeches, and diaries dating from the earliest contact with European settlers to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century.
American Periodicals Series 1740-1940 This link opens in a new window
Contains over 1,100 periodicals published between 1740 and 1940.
American State Papers, 1789-1838 This link opens in a new window
Contains primary material of historical importance including legislative and executive documents, speeches of U.S. presidents and coverage of historical events from 1789-1838.
American West This link opens in a new window
Books, journals, diaries and pioneer accounts, maps, broadsides, periodicals, advertisements, photographs, and artwork of the American West from the early eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new window
Features selected primary documents related to critical people and events in African American history. The website highlights documents from the following time periods: 1. Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860); 2. The Civil War and the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877); 3. Jim Crow Era from 1878 to the Great Depression (1878-1932); 4. The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945); 5. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975); 6. The Contemporary Era (1976-2000).
China, America and the Pacific This link opens in a new window
Rare texts, visual images, personal and business correspondence, newspapers, and maps which document the trading and cultural relationships between China, America, and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries.
Civil Rights in America: From Reconstruction to the Great Society This link opens in a new window
Archive of official publications and primary source material related to civil rights in the United States covering a wide range of topics for research in American history, political science, social justice and related fields.
Confidential Print: Latin America This link opens in a new window
British Foreign and Colonial Office documents covering the whole of South and Central America, including the non-British islands of the Caribbean, from the 1820s to the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.
Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Contains digital page images of almost every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America between 1400-1700.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
Late medieval manuscript illuminations and maps documenting journeys to Central Asia and the Far East (including Mongolia, Persia, India, China, and South-East Asia), and the Holy Land.
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
The Race Relations Institute was a pioneering social science organisation, and its archive includes speeches, statistics, reports and much more, from 1943-1970. Discover a wealth of primary source material on the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, discrimination and racial theory in America during three pivotal decades of the twentieth century.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice. In addition to the primary source documents there is a wealth of useful secondary sources for research and teaching; including an interactive map, scholarly essays, tutorials, a visual sources gallery, chronology and bibliography. Register for My Archive and save your favourite documents, search results and images to your personal collection area.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
Womens world travel writing from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. Collection includes manuscripts, diaries, correspondence, drawings, guidebooks, and photographs.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set This link opens in a new window
Contains reports, documents and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Covering public policy, infrastructure, the land, the people, military and defense, and more.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Maps This link opens in a new window
Contains images and indexing for maps published in reports and documents of the 37th Congress, 1st Session through the 103rd Congress, 2nd session. The maps published as part of U.S. Congressional Serial Set publications
Women and Social Movements in the United States This link opens in a new window
Contains resources on the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000. Includes videos, articles, primary sources, and archives.

Historical Newspapers

New York Times (1851-Present) This link opens in a new window
Provides coverage of the politics, society and events by the premier U.S newpaper. The Historical New York Times (1851-2020) provides search capability using subject terms and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable full text, full page, and article-level images. NYT Index covers 1851-1993.
NewspaperARCHIVE This link opens in a new window
NewspaperARCHIVE.com provides access to California newspapers from around 1774 to the present. California newspapers in the archive is fully searchable by keyword and date.
Caribbean Newspapers 1718-1876 This link opens in a new window
Contains 66 newspaper titles the Caribbean islands published between 1718-1876.

Early American Newspapers
Early American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876 offers 350,000 fully searchable issues from over 710 historical American newspapers. Focusing largely on the 18th and early 19th centuries

Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 This link opens in a new window
Contains hundreds of digitized newspapers published in the United States by Hispanics between 1808-1980.
Latin American Newspapers 1805-1922 This link opens in a new window
Searchable newspapers from Latin America published between 1805-1922.

Music Research Guide: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

What is a primary source?

Primary Source Databases

Historical Newspapers