U.S. History: Find Primary Sources

A portal of online resources from libraries, universities, archives, and museums for access to our society's digitized cultural heritage.

Comprehensive web links!

Search digitized books and journals held by libraries.

Links to photographs, war records, maps and much more related to Hawai'i.

A nonprofit organization to improve history education.

Selected topics from historical newspapers.

Site exploring the "Charters of Freedom": Declaration of Independence; Constitution; Bill of Rights. From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

Transcriptions of primary source documents.
"Through this website, you can read and search through thousands of records from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison and see firsthand the growth of democracy and the birth of the Republic."

Primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, etc.

"On May 12, 2009, the U. S. Congress authorized a national initiative by passing The Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-19). The law directed the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to conduct a national survey of existing oral history collections with relevance to the Civil Rights movement to obtain justice, freedom and equality for African Americans and to record and make widely accessible new interviews with people who participated in the struggle. The project was initiated in 2010 with the survey and with interviews beginning in 2011."

Library of Congress' digital materials, external websites, and a print bibliography.

Oral histories, photos, documents, and newspapers documenting the Japanese American experience while incarcerated or interned during World War II.

Life magazines from 1937 to 1972.

Searchable Archives contains presidential public papers, press briefings debate transcripts. videos, analyses and commentary.

Links to the digitized holdings of the Presidential Libraries of the National Archives and Records Administration

From the National Archives.

The first-ever online portal to Brings together and make available congressional archives from across the U.S.
"The American Congress Digital Archives Portal is a collaborative, non-partisan project that makes congressional archives available online, bringing the history of the People’s Branch to the people. We provide open access to archival materials and the descriptive information (metadata) about those materials... Congressional archives are the primary materials generated by Congress and that document the work of Congress. They are separated into official records and personal papers. Personal papers, which this portal features, include materials created or received by an individual Member of Congress as documentation of their career, the organization and functions of the office, and the work of office staff."
Collaboration lead by West Virginia University Libraries.

A collection of 16 million letters, photographs, diaries, oral history interviews, sketches, scrapbooks, business records, and other documents that support the study of the history of the visual arts in America.

From 'Iolani LibGuides.

"The Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy"
A digital document collection related to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy, and Government

Focuses on the history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.

Digital access to America's historic newspapers. Search and view newspapers from 1789 to 1963.

Significant Agency documents from the administrations of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton....

Civil War Trust organization.

Search online images, video and sound files, electronic journals and other online resources.

From the GPO (Government Printing Office).

A digital history of written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, oral history videos with transcripts, and sheet music that document the American experience.

"The online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives."

A collection of texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture.

From the Internet Archives.

From the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, this collection focuses on major U.S. foreign policy decisions.

TEACHER RESOURCE: Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities for teachers of history
To sign in, use the following link
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/community/user/register

A thematically-related digital library documenting American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge.

Featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more

Includes documents, key milestones, travels of presidents, etc.

OAC is California's central repository for collection guides, it is a vital resource that serves everyone interested in California's history.

Links to the digitized holdings of the Presidential Libraries of the National Archives and Records Administration

Links to the digitized resources of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Library of Congress exhibit.