Tools
- Transcription Practice from American PaleographerThis dynamic, self-directed learning module allows users to select among various collections and choose the type of items to practice transcribing!
Early America - 1877
- Eight Centuries This link opens in a new windowA vast index to British and American periodicals, newspapers, books, and other sources documenting the 19th century. Dates of Coverage: 1300-1930
- African American Periodicals (1825-1995) This link opens in a new windowMore than 170 periodicals by and about African Americans, published in 26 states. Includes academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, bulletins, annual reports and more.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new windowGateway to the Library of Congress's vast resources of digitized American historical materials. Comprising more than 9 million items that document U.S. history and culture, the content is organized into more than 100 thematic collections.
- American Periodicals (1740-1940) This link opens in a new windowScanned periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and more.
- American State Papers (1789-1838) This link opens in a new windowLegislative and executive branch documents from the first 14 U.S. congresses, including presidential speeches, treaties and more.
- Colored Conventions ProjectHundreds of primary sources from the long conventions movement. Primary sources include minutes, proceedings, newspaper articles, speeches, letters, transcripts, and images. (Dates of coverage: c. 1830-1890)
- Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Topically focused collections of historical documents, including the American Civil Liberties Union Papers (1912-1990), Archives Unbound, Archives of Sexuality & Gender, British Library Newspapers, The Economist Historical Archive (1843-2014), 18th Century Collections Online, Indigenous Peoples: North America, 19th Century Collections Online, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, Political Radicalism & Extremism in the 20th Century, Sabin Americana (1500-1926), and The London Times Digital Archive (1785-1985).
- America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new window
Full-text, searchable scans of source material of all types from the 17th and 18th centuries; an important resource for primary information about every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America.
- Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
Letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters between Native Americans and peoples from Europe, as well as Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
- HarpWeek This link opens in a new windowDigital scans of the pages of Harper's Weekly from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, 1857-1871; providing information and insights on political, military and social issues and events prior to and during the Civil War. Includes news, editorials, stories, illustrations, book reviews, serialized novels, advertising and maps. Dates of Coverage: 1857-1871
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust is a repository of digital content from 50 research libraries, including electronic versions of nearly 8 million books at the time of writing.
Note: As of May 2023, Oberlin is a HathiTrust member. Oberlin students, faculty, and staff can access member features by clicking on the “LOG IN” button, choosing “Oberlin College and Conservatory”, and using their ObieID to authenticate. - Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Standard source for quantitative facts of American history. Users can view and download data, and create customized tables and spreadsheets.
- Indigenous Peoples of North America This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of diverse source material pertaining to the histories of Indigenous peoples and their intersections with European peoples in North America. Sources include manuscripts, monographs, newspapers, photographs, motion pictures, images of artwork, and more. Part of Gale Primary Sources.
- Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Collections include: British politics and society; European literature 1790-1840: the Corvey Collection; Asia and the West: Diplomacy and cultural exchange; British theatre, music, and literature: high and popular culture. Part of Gale Primary Sources.
- Sabin Americana 1500-1926 This link opens in a new window
Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography (Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from Its Discovery to the Present Time), this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900s. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. Part of Gale Primary Sources.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new windowFull-text reports and documents produced by the U.S. House and Senate, broad coverage of topics in American political and social history.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Archival document collections covering women's activism throughout US history, including papers of prominent organizations and individuals.
- Women Writers Online This link opens in a new windowA full-text collection of early womens' writing in English, published between 1526 and 1850, focusing on rare texts; wide range of topic and genres included.
1877 - Modern America
- African American Periodicals (1825-1995) This link opens in a new windowMore than 170 periodicals by and about African Americans, published in 26 states. Includes academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, bulletins, annual reports and more.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new windowGateway to the Library of Congress's vast resources of digitized American historical materials. Comprising more than 9 million items that document U.S. history and culture, the content is organized into more than 100 thematic collections.
- American Race Relations: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new windowThousands of commentaries on African American, Hispanic American, Asian American and Native American history covering foreign reactions to America's struggles with racial justice from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights movements and beyond.
- AP Archive This link opens in a new windowThe film and video archive of the Associated Press is freely available on YouTube. The collection includes over 1.7 million global news and entertainment stories dating back to 1895.
- Civil Rights in America: From Reconstruction to the Great Society This link opens in a new windowPremier archive of official publications and primary source material related to civil rights in the United States from the 19th century through the 20th century.
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new windowCollections of declassified government documents covering world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from 20th and 21st centuries.
- Digital Public Library of America This link opens in a new windowA platform that brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science.
- Google MagazinesFull text magazines on a wide variety of topics digitized by Google and made freely available.
- Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new windowTranslated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents and books providing global insight on immigration in the mid-to-late 20th century.
- iPoll Search (1935 to date) This link opens in a new windowComprehensive source for US nationwide public opinion as measured by academic, media and commercial survey organizations. Data is available at the question-level. Dates of coverage: 1935 -
- NAACP Papers (1909-1970) This link opens in a new windowInternal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices of the NAACP, including papers of prominent individuals.
- Nation, "The Nation" Digital Archives This link opens in a new window
Digital Archive of The Nation, a weekly news magazine. Dates of Coverage: 1865 to date
- New York Times (1851 - 2018) This link opens in a new window
Search by keywords or browse images of full pages by date.
- Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new windowFull text access to hundreds of journals in the humanities and social sciences. Dates of coverage: 1802-2000
- ProQuest Congressional Publications This link opens in a new windowInformation about and by U.S. Congress, including hearings, reports, documents, legislative histories, and the Congressional Record.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new windowFull-text reports and documents produced by the U.S. House and Senate, broad coverage of topics in American political and social history.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Archival document collections covering women's activism throughout US history, including papers of prominent organizations and individuals.