Finding Primary Sources
- Academic Video Online (AVON) This link opens in a new window
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A multidisciplinary collection of tens of thousands of videos spanning a wide range of subject areas such as anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, and music. More
- 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.)
- British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Over 400 years of personal writings by women from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Shows the various shapes and formats of the diary as it evolved. Allows researchers to view history in the context of women’s thoughts—their struggles, achievements, passions, pursuits, and desires. (Complements Alexander Street’s North American Women’s Letters and Diaries.) (Coverage: 1500s - 1950)
- Chatham House Online Archive This link opens in a new window
Publications, archives, and audio recordings of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), a world-leading, independent, and international affairs policy institute founded in 1920. (Coverage: 20th-21st centuries)
- Eight Centuries This link opens in a new window
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Primary source material in the humanities, social sciences, engineering, history of science, law, economics, religion, psychology, government documents, visual arts, music, and the physical sciences. Detailed information about Eight Centuries Content is available. (Coverage: 1106-1960, varies by source)
- 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 -)
- HeinOnline Academic This link opens in a new window
Image-based government document and legal research database. Extensive coverage of U.S. statutory materials, congressional documents and treaties. Also includes all of the world’s constitutions, collections of classic treatises, and presidential documents. Coverage of U.S. goverrnment publications is comprehensive back to inception, and all titles are exact replicas of the official print publication from the U.S. Government Publishing Office. A large assortment of international resources are also available.
- Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 This link opens in a new window
A variety of original manuscript collections from the American Jewish Historical Society in New York. Offers insights into the everyday lives of the American Jewish population over 3 centuries. (Coverage: c1654-1954)
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides access to many millions of journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
Artstor images incorporated into JSTOR as of 8/1/2024.
- Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Wide range of content covering the long 19th c. - a term for the 125 year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789, and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. (Coverage: 1789-1914)
- Readex AllSearch This link opens in a new window
Perform a seamless search across all of the Readex digital collections available at the UD Library, or choose to combine only specific databases. By consolidating major digital collections and document types, Readex AllSearch enables users to make new and unexpected discoveries, whether on a desktop computer or any mobile device.
- Refugees, Relief and Resettlement This link opens in a new window
A multi-sourced collection that considers the global scope of the forced migration and refugee crisis leading up to, during, and after World War II. Chronicles the plight of refugees and displaced persons across Europe, North Africa and Asia. (Coverage: 1935-1950)
- Socialism on Film : The Cold War and International Propaganda This link opens in a new window
Collection of films that documents the communist world, from the Russian Revolution to the end of the Cold War. Reveals all aspects of life behind the Iron Curtain, as seen by filmmakers from the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europ, the GDR, Britain, and Cuba. (Coverage: early 20th c. - 1980s)
- Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new window
Connects archival collections concerning womens history from across the globe and from a wide range of sources. Focusing on the evolution of feminism throughout the 19th and 20th, the archive provides materials on womens political activism, such as suffrage, birth control, pacifism, civil rights, and socialism, and on womens voices, from female-authored literature to womens periodicals. (Coverage: 19th-20th century)
- Women in the National Archives This link opens in a new window
A finding aid for women's studies resources in The National Archives, UK is presented alongside original documents on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire, and colonial territories. [Coverage: 1559-1995 (finding aid); early 20th c. (original documents)]
- Gale Primary Sources: Newspapers This link opens in a new window
An integrated platform that combines Gales digital newspaper archives into a single cross-searchable interface to enhance the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple collections. Over 20 collections are available to University of Delaware users on this platform. (Coverage: 17th - 21st centuries)
- Newspapers.com World Collection (Library Edition) This link opens in a new window
Over 3,000 regional and local newspapers in the U.S. and other countries. (Coverage: early 1700s - early 2000s)
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to select major U.S. newspapers, regional U.S. newspapers, international newspaper and Black newspapers from the U.S. (Coverage: 19th and 20th centuries)
- Service Newspapers of World War Two This link opens in a new window
Contains an extensive range of both rare and well-known wartime publications for soldiers serving in major theatres around the world. Publications are included from many key nations involved in the conflict, such as the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, India and the countries of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Allied and Axis publications are presented, offering a broad view of the war and the experiences of those on its front lines. (Coverage: 1939-1948)
- Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019 This link opens in a new window
Complete digital edition of The Times (London) and its predecessor title, Universal Daily Register. (Coverage: 1785-2019)
- British Online ArchivesOver 3 million records covering 1000 years of world history, from politics & warfare, to slavery & revolution.
- EuroDocs- European HistoryEuroDocs is a great resource that pulls together primary sources on European History. This site is broken down by country, making it extremely helpful if you are looking for smaller countries in Europe.
- European Reading Room - Library of CongressThe Library of Congress has a vast amount of European collections and includes links to other European research institutions.
- Immigrant Records at the National ArchivesAmong the billions of historical records housed at the National Archives throughout the country, researchers can find information relating to immigrants from the late 1700s through the early 2000s. The National Archives preserves and makes available documents created by Federal agencies in the course of their daily business.
- Immigration Research LibraryA free, online collection of contemporary, U.S. immigration reports, briefs, fact sheets, infographics, news and events. The Library hosts (with links to original sources) more than 1,500 U.S. immigration research reports with simple, straightforward abstracts drawn from respected universities and research institutes from across the country. This free Library is for anyone interested in U.S. immigration issues including students, researchers, journalists, educators, advocates, policymakers, direct-service providers, etc.
- My Immigration StoryThis site records stories of immigrants in their own words.
- New York Public Library Digital CollectionsAlthough NYPL has a New York History focus, it has a rich collection on a variety of topics ranging from a local to an international focus.
- Primary Sources for European HistoryThis is a large list of free primary source resources grouped together by country or time period.
- United Nations: The Refugee AgencyEstablished in 1996, the UNHCR archive documents more than half a century of field operations around the world, as well as material from our headquarters.
- World Digital LibraryThe World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.
- World on the MoveThis website aims to help visitors recognize that migration is a shared human experience that connects us all. This public education initiative was developed by the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the American Anthropological Association.
- MSS 0109, George S. Messersmith papersDiplomatic and professional papers of George S. Messersmith (1883-1960). Consists of correspondence, memoranda, and official dispatches written during Messersmith's tenure with the U.S. Department of State, as well as during his subsequent business career. The extensive typescript of an unpublished memoir is also present. The papers include extensive discussions of political and economic matters regarding Europe during the 1930s and Latin America in the 1940s and 1950s.
- MSS 0109, George Messersmith papers (DIGITAL COLLECTION)Diplomatic and professional papers of George S. Messersmith (1883-1960). Consists of correspondence, memoranda, and official dispatches written during Messersmith’s tenure with the U.S. Department of State, as well as during his subsequent business career. The extensive typescript of an unpublished memoir is also present. The papers include extensive discussions of political and economic matters regarding Europe during the 1930s and Latin America in the 1940s and 1950s.
- MSS 0127, Papers of Senator John J. WilliamsJohn J. Williams (1900-1988) served in the U.S. Senate from 1947-1970. Senator Williams served on both the Finance and Foreign Relations committees, and was nationally known as an advocate of financial accountability from the government. He was called the "Watchdog of the Treasury" and the "Conscience of the Senate." His files demonstrate congressional oversight with documentation of several investigations. Notably, he exposed corruption in the offices of regional tax collectors in the early 1950s.
- MSS 0315, Senator J. Allen Frear, Jr., papers
J. Allen Frear, Jr. (1903-1993) was a politician from Dover, Delaware (Kent County). A member of the Democratic Party, Frear served two terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware. The Senator J. Allen Frear, Jr. papers are primarily those of his congressional career, when he represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1949 to 1960, though the collection also includes personal material from pre- and post-Congressional periods. The collection dates from 1917 to 1963, with bulk of the material dating from 1949 to 1961. The collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, reports, legislation, speeches, clippings, photographs, and audio-visual material. Personal material includes correspondence, class notes, travel brochures and post cards, and memorabilia. - MSS 0399, Thomas R. Carper congressional papers
Thomas R. Carper (1947- ) served the state of Delaware as its member-at-large in the U.S. House of Representatives for five terms: he was elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1983 - January 3, 1993). Carper served on the committees of Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, and Merchant Marine and Fisheries, with memberships on several subcommittees. Carper was elected with the "budget conscious class of 1982" and was a fiscal conservative in his legislative efforts. Carper worked on the bailout plan for the savings and loan industry, correctly predicting the enormity of the problem. The Thomas R. Carper congressional papers reflect issues on banking, environmental and coastal concerns, fishing and tourism, and many other topics of interest to Delawareans in the 1980s. In addition to correspondence, memoranda, and office files, the collection includes reports, documents, and memorabilia from Carper's congressional career. - MSS 0734 Marie Jucht Kaufman papersMarie Jucht Kaufman (1930-1994) documented her survival of the Holocaust as a French Jewess through letters written to her son, American writer and artist Alan Kaufman, between 1993 and 1994. The collection also includes photographs of the Jucht family during and after World War II, as well as photocopies of Marie Kaufman's naturalization documents from France, Venezuela, and the United States. Testimonies from Delawareans who were survivors, liberators, and Righteous Gentiles are available in the Halina Wind Preston Holocaust Education Committee Holocaust Testimonies Collection. This committee, under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Delaware is vital in preserving the history of the Holocaust through public education programs in Delaware.
- MSS 0852, Herbert E. Drooz collection of pamphlets on JudaismThis collection of pamphlets on Israel, Jewish theology, and the Jewish experience in the twentieth century was compiled by Rabbi Herbert E. Drooz, leader of the Congregation Beth Emeth of Wilmington, Delaware, from 1947 to 1982.
- The Refugees byCall Number: AC1.H64 1938 B46Publication Date: 1938Housed in Special Collections S20 (part of the Hogarth Press collection).
Against Time by Call Number: Q11 .A527 n.s.v.105,pt.1ISBN: 9781606180518Publication Date: 2015-01-01Johannes Hoeber left Nazi Germany for America on Nov. 12, 1938. His wife Elfriede & their 9-year-old daughter Susanne were unable to leave until Sept. 1939. Fifty years, later Johannes & Elfriede's son found an old folder containing the long letters they exchanged during the many months they were separated.
This book is housed both in the circulating collection and in Special Collections.
