Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons: HIST 4175-04: Modern American History: Primary Sources for Finding Objects

Need Help? Ask a librarian

Call: (617) 989-4040 (option 3)

Lots of questions? Schedule a Research Consultation

What Are Primary Sources?

Primary source materials provide "eyewitness" accounts of a particular person, era, or event that is under study. Such materials may include books, maps, diaries, manuscripts, letters, artwork, contemporary newspaper articles, advertising, photographs, films, and recordings.

Wentworth Find Primary Sources How-To Guide

Find Primary Sources from Schumann Library

ARTstor
Find high resolution art images from libraries, museums, and private collections.
Boston Globe (1872 - 1989)
Historical coverage of the Boston Globe from 1872 to 1985 with an additional year of content added annually.
Films On Demand
Enter search terms and then filter your results to Primary Sources and Newsreels.
JSTOR
Find scholarly journal articles and book chapters about the humanities and social science topics. Also find primary sources by choosing primary sources (serials, documents, books and images) fom the search results page.
Women and Social Movements in the United States,1600-2000
Find primary sources (books, pamphlets, newspaper articles, manuscripts) organized into topical areas.

Find Primary Sources 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.

DPLA
Photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents and more from libraries, archives, museums and cultural heritage institutions.
Internet Archive
Digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts including books, videos, televisions shows, audio recordings, images, and software programs.
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.
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