Primary Source Collections
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!
- Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
NOTE: Oxford University Press upgraded the OED in July 2023, causing unplanned access issues. Off-campus users may experience login problems until Oxford resolves the problem.
- China, America and the Pacific: Trade and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Explores the history of North American trade and cultural interactions with China. Coverage also includes Pacific trading centers such as Hawai‘i. (Coverage: early 18th – early 20th centuries)
- China: Culture and Society This link opens in a new window
Access to the complete Wason Pamphlet collection. Mostly in English and published between c.1750 and 1929, these rare pamphlets make up one of the most extensive collections of literature on China and the Chinese in the Western world. (Coverage: mid-18th - early 20th centuries)
- China: Trade, Politics and Culture This link opens in a new window
Over 200 years of Chinese history, charting the monumental social and political upheaval that recreated China as a modern power. Documents encompass events from the earliest English embassy to the birth and early years of the People’s Republic. (Coverage: 1793 - 1980)
- China and the Modern World This link opens in a new window
Documents China's transformation from an imperial dynasty into a global power.(Coverage: 19th-20th centuries)
- Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Documents missionary work from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Includes news, journals, and reports offering a unique perspective on global history & cultural encounters.
- East India Company This link opens in a new window
Covers British imperial history, maritime trade, global commerce, and the history of the East India Company. The Company was an extraordinary force in global history for 3 centuries. This resource provides access to a vast collection of primary source documents held by the British Library. From the Company’s charter in 1600 to Indian independence in 1947, this collection tells the story of trade with the East, politics, and the rise and fall of the British Empire. (Coverage: 1549-1947)
- 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)
- Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Through a wide range of primary sources, researchers can explore and chart the history of 15 key commodities and their impact on societies across the world. (Coverage: 18th-20th centuries )
15 Key Commodities: Chocolate – Coffee – Cotton – Fur – Oil – Opium – Porcelain – Silver and Gold – Spices – Sugar – Tea – Timber – Tobacco – Wheat – Wine and Spirits
- Nixon Years, 1969-1974 This link opens in a new window
These files allow scholars and researchers to assess, from a British, European and Commonwealth perspective, Nixon’s handling of numerous Cold War crises, his administration’s notable achievements, as well as his increasingly controversial activities and unorthodox use of executive powers culminating in Watergate and resignation. (Coverage: 1969-1974)
- U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Declassified U.S. documents from the executive branch, including presidential libraries, Dept. of State, Dept. of Defense, CIA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other executive agencies. (Coverage: 20th-21st c.)
- World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
Historic newspapers from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the U.S.
- East-West CenterThe East-West Center is a U.S.-based institution for public diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region with international governance, staffing, students, and participants, the Center has built a worldwide network of 65,000 alumni and more than 1,100 partner organizations. In addition to finding relevant news from that region, you can also find published reports on a variety of topics.
- Library of Congress - Asian DivisionThe Library of Congress' Asian Division creates research guides, digitized collections, and a list of e-resources all related to this continent's large history.
- Library of Congress: US Relationship with ChinaThe resources listed below comprise general print materials and websites on U.S. trade with China in the context of the broader U.S./China relationship, as well as other useful resources related to the subject of international trade. For additional resources from the Library's collections go to the Library of Congress (LC) Catalog Searches tab.
- Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)Some of MOCA's collections are digitized online, mainly images and artifacts. The most significant is the digitized oral history collection.
- National Security ArchiveFounded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to check rising government secrecy, the National Security Archive combines a unique range of functions: investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents ("the world's largest nongovernmental collection" according to the Los Angeles Times), leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information, global advocate of open government, and indexer and publisher of former secrets.
- The Wilson CenterThe Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing fresh insights into the history of international relations and diplomacy. The Digital Archive is overseen by the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program and focuses on the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation.