Research Guides: HIST268: A Global History of Racism and Social Exclusion: Primary Sources

Finding Primary Sources

Search Tips
Primary Source Databases

Finding primary sources is a multi-step process. There is no "one-stop-shop" database that will give you everything you need for your paper. Follow these tips:

Look at the bibliographies and footnotes from articles and books to see what primary sources those scholars are using for evidence
Think and research multiple institutions, archives, or repositories that could have information and collections about your project
Use historical language
Keep it simple. Use broad keywords to find sources

When searching for primary source collections online, include the following additional phrases with your first key words:

online collections
digital collections
digitized collections
historical collections

Be aware that digital collections only show a small portion of what an institution holds!

African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Presents multiple aspects of the African American community via primary source material focusing on race relations across social, political, cultural and religious arenas. Focuses predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina
Includes pamphlets, periodicals, correspondence, official records and in-depth oral histories.
African Newspapers Series I This link opens in a new window
Explore African history and culture during the 19th and early 20th centuries through more than 60 African newspapers. Features English and foreign language titles from Angola, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Coverage: 1800-1922)
African Newspapers I is a component World Newspaper Archive, which can be found on the A-Z Databases page.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
Apartheid South Africa 1948-1980 This link opens in a new window
Previously restricted British government files explore the history of South Africa's apartheid regime. (Coverage: 1948-1980)
This collection can also be searched on the Archives Direct Portal, an integrated platform that combines Archives Direct collections into a single cross-searchable interface.
Archives of Latin America and Caribbean History 16th-20th Century This link opens in a new window
A multidisciplinary database that includes a comprehensive range of content for the region, both for current issues and events in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as for historical perspective back to the colonial period. (Coverage: 15th -20th c.)
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Resources for researching the past, present, and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. Comprised of several cross-searchable component databases.
Black Thought and Culture: African Americans from Colonial Times to the Present This link opens in a new window
Monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the black community from the earliest times to the present.
Black Thought and Culture is made available through a grant from the Unidel Foundation.
Brazilian and Portuguese History and Culture This link opens in a new window
Collection of monographs and pamphlets assembled by Manoel de Oliveira Lima, a Brazilian diplomat, journalist, historian and book collector whose career spanned Brazils transition from empire to republic. Brazilian history and literature were the central focus of his writing and collecting. The collection was donated to Catholic University of America in 1920. (Coverage: 17th early 20th centuries)
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gales digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
Primary source material documenting Caribbean life under British colonial rule. Covers British governance of 25 territories in the Caribbean. (Coverage: 1624-1872)
Modules include:
- Settlement, Slavery, and Empire, 1624-1832
- Colonial Government and Abolition, 1833-1849
- Economic Change and Indentured Labour, 1850-1870
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Charts the rise and fall of empires around the world over a span of 5 centuries. Includes a mixture of printed, manuscript and visual primary source documents. Subjects include colonial history, society, trade and travel, politics and culture. Provides varying points of view, with selections from American, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese German and British perspectives. Also includes texts from the peoples of Africa, India and North America. (Coverage Late 15th to early 21st centuries)
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
An integrated platform that combines Gales digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface to enhance the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple collections. Over 50 collections are available to University of Delaware users on this platform. (Coverage: 1500 -)
HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
An extensive collection of full-text and video interviews with African-Americans distinguished in the fields of science, culture, politics, the arts, and public life.
The site works best in modern browsers like Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox. It will not work in Internet Explorer.
Latin American Newspapers, Series I This link opens in a new window
Explore Latin American history and culture during the 19th and early 20th centuries via 35 Latin American newspapers. Features titles from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and elsewhere. (Coverage: 1805-1922)
Part of the World Newspaper Archive, which can be found on the A-Z Databases page.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Publications from across the Middle East and North Africa provide insight into the history of individual countries as well as broad viewpoints on key historic events. (Coverage: late 19th c - present)
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Brings together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world, covering an extensive time period from 1490. Topics covered include the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective, and the continued existence of slavery today.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
A thematically organized, four-part historical archive devoted to the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
- Part I: Debates over Slavery and Abolition
- Part II: The Slave Trade in the Atlantic World
- Part III: The Institution of Slavery
- Part IV: The Age of Emancipation
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gales digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
South Asian Newspapers (Global Press Archive version) This link opens in a new window
Full text of fully searchable newspapers published in Afghanistan, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. (Coverage: 19th - 20th centuries)
Times of India This link opens in a new window
Full digital edition of the newspaper.
Originally founded in 1838 to serve British residents of West India. Today the paper serves researchers interested in colonialism and post-colonialism, British and world history, class and gender issues, international relations, comparative religion, international economics and more. (Coverage:1838-August 20, 2010)