Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons: HIST 4200: Pictures, Media, and US Politics: Locating Primary Sources (Images)

Questions?

Contact a Librarian!

call: 617-989-4040

Find Images from Schumann Library

JSTOR
.
Provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines comprising area studies, arts, business and economics, history. humanities, law, medicine, science and mathematics, and social sciences.
As of August 1, 2024, Artstor's collections are now part of JSTOR. Users can access and download high resolution art images from libraries, museums, and private collections.
Women and Social Movements in the United States,1600-2000
Provides coverage of four centuries of women’s history through images, primary documents, supplementary materials, and teaching tools. Also provides access to the online version of Notable American Women and the database on Commissions on the Status of Women.

Find Images from Large Digital Repositories

One option is to begin looking for objects in the far ranging aggregated digital collections in the humanities and social sciences.

Digital Commonwealth - Massachusetts Collections Online
Photos and other materials digitized by MA libraries, museums, archives & historical societies.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
Millions of digital primary source items from U.S. libraries, museums, and archives.
Europeana
Cultural heritage from European museums, galleries, libraries and archives.
Internet Archive
Archives of Boston Public Library's collection of historical Boston planning documents.
Library of Congress
Largest library in the world, with books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its digital collections. Good site for political cartoons.
Library of Congress -Chronicling America
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963.
National Archives and Records Administration
Search the National Archives collections for federal government primary sources.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian collections from museums, archives, libraries, and research units relating to areas for Art & Design, History & Culture, and Science & Technology. Includes images, videos, audio files, podcasts, blog posts and electronic journals.

Find Primary Sources from Open Access Collections

Another option to find objects is to examine smaller, specialized collections

Avalon Project
Documents in law, history, and diplomacy from the ancient world to the present day.
The Making of America
19th-century book and magazine primary source materials on American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction
Harvard University Women Working, 1800-1930
An exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States between 1800 and the Great Depression.
Michigan University Library’s Making of America
a digital library of primary sources in American social history primarily from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
NYPL Digital Collections
Drawings, maps, photos, books, videos, audio, and more in the applied sciences, fine and decorative arts, history, performing arts, and social sciences.
University of Wisconsin Digital Library for the Decorative Arts and Material Culture
Electronic resources for study and research of the decorative arts, with a particular focus on Early America. Included are electronic texts and journals, image databases, and information on organizations, museums and research facilities.

Find Images from Photojournalism Sources

These sources provide comprehensive information on the creator, date, and context of photos taken for journalistic purposes. While these sites do charge a price to download the photos, you can usually find a copy on Google Images for free.