LibGuides: History—U.S.: Find primary sources

Digitized primary source collections

America's Historical Imprints
Includes several large collections of early American publications from 1639 - 1800.

American Civil War Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Find diaries, letters, and memoirs of persons involved in the American Civil War from 1855 to 1875.
Alexander Street Accessibility Statement
Provided through the generous support of the Friends of the University of Arizona Libraries.

American Memory Project
Large digital collection from the Library of Congress including photographs from the National Archives.
American West: The Graff Collection
Manuscripts, ephemera and rare printed sources digitized from the Everett D. Graff Collection at the Newberry Library, a unique archival collection that provides rich information about Texas, Mexico and the South, as well as Native American culture.

Arte Publico Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1 This link opens in a new window
Find historical content pertaining to U.S. Hispanic history, literature, and culture from colonial times until 1960. The content is in Spanish (80%) and English (20%) and is searchable in both languages. Materials are drawn from the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project.
EBSCO platform text to speech feature and screen reader instructions

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States
View a collection of primary source documents about African American history.

Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Find full text of non-fiction published works of leading African Americans, interviews, journal articles, and other material of 20th century topics, including politics, religion, history, and sports.
Alexander Street Accessibility Statement

Digital Public Library of America - Primary Source Sets
Find collections of digitized primary sources on a variety of topics in U.S. and world history.
DocsTeach from the National Archives
Discover selected digitized documents from the National Archives.
Documenting the American South
Find first person narratives of the South, North American slave narratives and a library of the American South.

Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment This link opens in a new window
Find primary sources including letters, diaries and accounts, from 1534 to 1850, documenting interactions and encounters among peoples in North America, including American Indians, explorers, traders, and more.
Alexander Street Accessibility Statement
History Vault This link opens in a new window
Unlock a wealth of archival primary source materials with a single search, including letters, papers, government documents, oral histories, and much more, covering various topics and periods in U.S. history.

Note: Click on Browse on upper left to view a list of the collections available at UA.
History Vault Accessibility Statement

Immigration Records of the INS, 1880-1930
Documents cover Asian immigration, especially Japanese and Chinese migration, to California, Hawaii, and other states; Mexican immigration to the U.S. from 1906-1930; and European immigration. Use the Browse Collection tab to search only the Immigration Records collection.

North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Find biographies, autobiographies, speeches, diaries, letters, and oral histories on indigenous peoples of North America.
Alexander Street Accessibility Statement
North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial to 1950 This link opens in a new window
Large collection of women's diaries and correspondence, from colonial times to 1950.
Alexander Street Accessibility Statement

Map collections

David Rumsey Collection
Rare 16th through 20th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials.
Perry Casteneda Library Map Collection
Digital maps of early inhabitants, exploration and settlement, territorial growth, U.S. military maps are included.
Maps of Primeria: Early Cartography of the Southwest
Illustrations and descriptions of original rare and historic maps from the University of Arizona Library Map Collection. They portray and chronicle four centuries of mapping from the earliest map of the region in the collection, 1556.

Cite primary sources

Chicago Manual of Style Online
Find details about how to cite books, journal articles, and other sources in Chicago style. Chicago Manual of Style Online - Chapter 14 covers Notes and Bibliography, including specific instructions for citing photographs, maps, films, and other materials, published and unpublished, physical items or found online.

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History—U.S.