Primary Source Databases - UD Only - Primary Sources - Research Guides at University of Delaware

Primary Source Databases - UD Only (Specific to History)

The following list is a comprehensive* list of primary source databases, available through UD, related to the discipline of History. The collections are broken down by region; however, some collections overlap across regions. Keep in mind *some* secondary databases (like JSTOR) can have primary sources found within; however, those databases are not listed on this page. If you have any questions related to this content, or need help deciding which database would be the best option for your research, please email Kaitlyn Tanis (contact information is located on the first page of this guide).

*While every effort has been made to keep this list comprehensive, our collections are constantly changing. Talk to a Librarian if you need additional information.

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Consists of various components: African American Newspapers: The 19th Century, American County Histories to 1900, The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, Godey’s Lady’s Book, The Lily, The Pennsylvania Gazette, The Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue: Chester County, The Pennsylvania Newspaper Record: Delaware County, South Carolina Newspapers, and Virginia Gazette.
ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York and towns and cities in North Carolina, African American Communities presents multiple aspects of the African American community via primary source material focusing on race relations across social, political, cultural and religious arenas. Includes pamphlets, periodicals, correspondence, official records and in-depth oral histories.
Includes pamphlets, periodicals, correspondence, official records and in-depth oral histories.
African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new window
The African American Historical Serials Collection, developed in conjunction with American Theological Library Association (ATLA) as an effort to preserve endangered serials related to African American religious life and culture, features more than 170 unique publications, focusing largely on religious and charity-based organizations, institutions, and churches. This collection includes periodicals, newspapers and magazines, in addition to reports and annuals from various African American organizations, including churches and educational and service institutions.
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This collection features papers from more than 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles.
African American Newspapers: The 19th Century This link opens in a new window
This database contains the complete text of the major African American newspapers published in the United States and Canada during the 19th century.
American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
American History, 1493-1945 traces the progress of American History and extensively covers the major themes of the period from colonization and settlement through the revolution, expansion, politics, slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction, to World War II. It contains thousands of primary source documents; the majority is unique manuscript material
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material.
Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window
Primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States. The approximately 15,000 articles, documents, correspondence, proceedings, manuscripts, and literary works of almost 300 Black abolitionists show the full range of their activities in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Germany.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Black Studies Center brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself.
Black Studies in Video This link opens in a new window
Black Studies Center brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. This collection is a part of a larger database Academic Video Online.
Black Thought and Culture: African Americans from Colonial Times to the Present This link opens in a new window
Black Thought and Culture provides monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the black community from the earliest times to the present. The collection is intended for research in black studies, political science, American history, music, literature, and art. The collection begins with the works of Frederick Douglass and is targeted to include the works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, Alain Locke, Mary McLeod Bethune, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Ralph Bunche, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Angela Davis, Houston Baker, Jesse Jackson, Ida B. Wells, Bobby Seale, and many others.
Black Thought and Culture is made available through a grant from the Unidel Foundation.
Center for Research Libraries This link opens in a new window
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) holds over four million newspapers, journals, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other traditional and digital resources for research and teaching. Holdings include such diverse materials as 800,000 doctoral dissertations (including those of Albert Einstein, Dag Hammarskjold and other Nobel laureates), some of the earliest African-American newspapers and the 100,000-plus-page archive of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge security force. Emphasis is on materials produced outside the United States, and the Center has special strength in publications and archives from many developing nations. These holdings are available for use by students, scholars and other researchers affiliated with CRL member institutions. The University of Delaware Library is a CRL member institution.
Holdings include such diverse materials as doctoral dissertations (including that of Albert Einstein & other Nobel laureates), some of the earliest African-American newspapers, & the archive of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge security force. Emphasis is on materials produced outside the U.S., & the CRL has special strength in publications & archives from many developing nations.
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new window
Archives Unbound presents focused digital collections of historical documents on discrete, specialized topics. It is also an integrated platform that combines these digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. In addition, Archives Unbound can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
HistoryMakers Digital Archive is an extensive online database of over 10,000 hours 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.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers offer primary source material essential to the study of American history and African-American culture, history, politics, and the arts. Each of the Historical Black Newspapers provides access to perspectives and information that was excluded or marginalized in mainstream sources.
ProQuest History Vault This link opens in a new window
ProQuest History Vault provides primary source materials from University Publications of America (UPA) in a digital format. The database contains digitized archival materials including letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, and diaries.
History Vault is comprised of many American history primary source collections. The UD Library focuses on providing access to those modules related to African American history.
(Purchase of the NAACP Papers, Plantation Papers, and Slavery & the Law was made possible through a grant from the Unidel Foundation.)
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
Race Relations in America provides a wealth of primary source material on the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, discrimination and racial theory in America during three pivotal decades of the twentieth century.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is a thematically organized, four-part historical archive devoted to the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Consists of various components: African American Newspapers: The 19th Century, American County Histories to 1900, The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, Godey’s Lady’s Book, The Lily, The Pennsylvania Gazette, The Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue: Chester County, The Pennsylvania Newspaper Record: Delaware County, South Carolina Newspapers, and Virginia Gazette.
ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
America’s Historical Newspapers features cover-to-cover reproductions of historic newspapers. The first series of this collection is based largely on Clarence Brigham’sHistory and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820 and offers an unprecedented look back into the extraordinary history of the United States—the story of its people, ideals, commerce, and everyday life.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
The AAS Historical Periodicals Collection contains more than 6,500 historical periodical titles documenting the life of America’s people from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction and into the early 20th century. The collection is grouped in 5 series which are chronological in nature. The 5 series can be searched together or separately.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals (Gale) This link opens in a new window
American Historical Periodicals (also known as American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection) contains more than 6,500 historical periodical titles documenting the life of America’s people from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction and into the early 20th century. The collection provides a history of the American people and a testament to the growth of the nation from the colonial period through to the twentieth century. The periodicals focused on American concerns and were predominantly published in the United States or Canada, though some were published overseas by Americans living abroad. It offers multiple perspectives on the thought, culture, and society of North America through the eyes of those who lived it, showing how history affected citizens from all walks of life.
American Civil War: Letters & Diaries This link opens in a new window
The American Civil War: Letters & Diaries currently includes 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs. The collection is based on leading bibliographies. The collection also includes biographies, an extensive bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long.
Particular care has been taken to index this material so it can be thoroughly searched. Also includes biographies, an extensive bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long.
American Consumer Culture This link opens in a new window
American Consumer Culture is a cross-searchable portal to three complementary databases of primary source material that explore the history of American consumer culture via three key themes: research into consumer motivation, the advertising process and the products themselves. The collection is interdisciplinary, providing essential documents relating to American consumerism and business and marketing history. Examples include market research reports, highly visual catalogues and leaflets, fabric samples, ‘how to’ manuals, memomoranda, meeting minutes and research.
American County Histories to 1900 This link opens in a new window
This database will ultimately include the complete text of late 19th century histories of cities and counties of the original thirteen states (with the exception of Virginia), plus Vermont and Maine.
Component of Accessible Archives
American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
American History, 1493-1945 traces the progress of American History and extensively covers the major themes of the period from colonization and settlement through the revolution, expansion, politics, slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction, to World War II. It contains thousands of primary source documents; the majority is unique manuscript material
American History in Video This link opens in a new window
A collection of videos available online for the study of American history, with 2,000 hours and more than 5,000 titles on completion. The collection allows students and researchers to analyze historical events, and their presentation over time, through commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries.
American Indian Histories & Culture This link opens in a new window
Spanning four centuries and covering North and Central America, American Indian Histories and Cultures provides access to material from the Newberry Library’s extensive Edward E. Ayer Collection; one of the strongest archival collections on American Indian history in the world.
American Indian Newspapers This link opens in a new window
American Indian Newspapers presents the publications of a range of communities, with an extensive list of periodicals produced in the United States and Canada from 1828 to 2016. Representing a huge variety in style, production and audience, the newspapers include national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications. This digital collection provides research opportunities into a range of subjects from an Indigenous perspective, including the civil rights era and American Indian Movement (AIM), education, environmentalism, land rights and cultural representation.
American State Papers, 1739 - 1838 This link opens in a new window
Legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838. The collection includes documents that cover the period from 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817.
Ancestry Library Edition This link opens in a new window
Ancestry Library Edition provides access to a number of genealogical and historical resources, including images of the decennial U.S. census from 1790-1930.
Among specific kinds of resources included are:
- Census records
- Military records
- Court, land, and probate records
- passenger lists and other immigration records
- periodicals and newspapers
- birth, marriage, and death records (including the Social Security Death Index)
- biography and history
- reference and finding aids
- city directories
Archive of Americana This link opens in a new window
A family of comprehensive historical collections that allows researchers to discover and explore the United States in depth and detail. Included are books, pamphlets, newspapers, and government documents printed in America over three centuries.
*Includes African American content.*
Archives of Sexuality & Gender This link opens in a new window
Archives of Sexuality & Gender is a significant collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. With material dating back to the sixteenth century, researchers and scholars can examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Archives Unbound presents focused digital collections of historical documents on discrete, specialized topics. It is also an integrated platform that combines these digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. The University of Delaware subscribes to eight collections: FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC; Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s; Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984; Literature, Culture and Society in Depression Era America: Archives of the Federal Writers’ Project; Mountain People: Life and Culture in Appalachia; Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880; Pennsylvania: County and Regional Histories & Atlases; and Witchcraft in Europe and America
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material. Photographs include those of historical figures, political leaders, sports greats, and celebrities. There are also images from significant news and features events of the 20th century, such as World War II, civil rights, the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, and space exploration.
Berg Fashion Library This link opens in a new window
Provides integrated text and image content on world dress and fashion throughout history. It includes the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, an extensive E-Book collection, a vast image bank, extra reference resources, and more.
Students & scholars in disciplines as diverse as anthropology, art history, history, sociology, geography, folklore, museum studies, theatre, & cultural studies as well as fashion & textiles will find insights into people & cultures all over the world.
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new window
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C19 is a comprehensive index to nineteenth-century books, periodicals, official publications, archives, and newspapers. It provides integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.5 million books and official publications, 71,000 archival collections and 16.3 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Canadian Heritage Information Network This link opens in a new window
A collection of online resources related to art history, archaeology, art conservation, history, museum studies, intellectual property, and the natural sciences.
Artefacts Canada
Collections Management
Preservation and Conservation
Collections Documentation Standards
Heritage Research Tools
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications This link opens in a new window
Index to United States government publications cataloged by the Government Printing Office. Includes links to Web-accessible U.S. government publications. The catalog offers a feature called “Locate in a Library” that allows you to find which Federal depository library has a particular publication.
China, America and the Pacific: Trade and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
China, America and the Pacific explores the history of North American trade and cultural interactions with China. Coverage also includes Pacific trading centers such as Hawai‘i.
Civil War, Pt. 1: A Newspaper Perspective This link opens in a new window
Contains the full text of major articles gleaned from over 2,500 issues of the New York Herald, the Charleston Mercury and the Richmond Enquirer, published between November 1, 1860 and April 15, 1865. Included are descriptive news articles, eye-witness accounts and official reports of battles and events, editorials, advertisements and biographies. Also included are articles which describe other than military concerns of the day. These include such topics as travel, arts and leisure, geographical descriptions, sports and sporting, social events, etc.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
Colonial America consists of all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series of Colonial Office files held at The National Archives in London, plus all extracted documents associated with them. They have been published in five modules.
Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 This link opens in a new window
Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 consists of the Confidential Print for the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America. It covers topics such as slavery, Prohibition, the First and Second World Wars, racial segregation, territorial disputes, the League of Nations, McCarthyism and the nuclear bomb. The bulk of the material covers the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 This link opens in a new window
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 focuses on the long nineteenth century, a period of rapid evolution for crime and its associated legal/penal systems. The nineteenth century was a period of major social upheaval and technological development. Almost all aspects of society underwent transformation during this time, and the law adapted to these changes.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867–1970 (Delaware) This link opens in a new window
Sanborn maps, produced by the Sanborn Map Company, the primary American publisher of fire insurance maps for nearly 100 years, are valuable historical tools for urban specialists, social historians, architects, geographers, genealogists, local historians, planners, environmentalists, and anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, and development of American cities, towns, and neighborhoods. They are large-scale plans containing information that was used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures. This information includes the outline of each building, the size, shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors. The maps also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers.
Sanborn maps, produced by the Sanborn Map Company, the primary American publisher of fire insurance maps for nearly 100 years, are valuable to anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, & development of American cities, towns, & neighborhoods. They are large-scale plans containing information that was used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures. Information includes the outline of each building, the size, shape, & construction materials, heights, & function of structures, location of windows & doors. The maps also give street names, street & sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, & house & block numbers.
Textual information on construction details (for example, steel beams or reinforced walls) is often given on the plans, while shading indicates different building materials. Extensive information on building use is given, ranging from symbols for generic terms such as stable, garage, & warehouse to names of owners of factories & details on what was manufactured in them. In the case of large factories or commercial buildings, individual rooms & the uses to which they were put are recorded on the maps. Other features shown include pipelines, railroads, wells, dumps, & heavy machinery.
140 map sets are available for Delaware, ranging in date from 1884 to 1958. A key provided by the Sanborn Map Company provides information on the notation of map features.
The Library of Congress has made thousands of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps available online for many buildings in U.S. cities & towns. These maps are in color.
Sanborn maps for Delaware are also available on microfilm (Microfilm no. 3333, 3 reels). Later coverage for some Delaware cities is available on an an additional reel (Microfilm no. 5690).
Sanborn maps for several nearby states are also available on microfilm: District of Columbia (Microfilm no. 3338 and no. 4614), Maryland (Microfilm no. 3368 and no. 4741), New Jersey (Microfilm no. 3519 and no. 4612), & Pennsylvania (Microfilm no. 3332 and no. 4613).
NOTE: The original maps are color coded. The maps in this database & on microfilm are black & white.
Early American Imprints Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 This link opens in a new window
The collection is a foundation set for research involving early American history, literature, philosophy, religion, and more. It is the definitive resource for information about every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, witchcraft, and many other topics.
Series in America's Historical Imprints (which is a component of Archive of Americana)
Series 1, Evans is the only one of the series that UD owns, so entry is listed as" Early American Imprints Series I: Evans, 1639-1800."

Can be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
Eight Centuries This link opens in a new window
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Eight Centuries (formerly 19th Century Masterfile) is a vast database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960 (varies by source). Eight Centuries aggregates indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids, and includes citations to 9,000 periodicals. Dozens of historically significant indexes are searchable within this database. It offers multidisciplinary coverage of primary materials in the humanities, social sciences, engineering, history of science, law, economics, religion, psychology, government documents, visual arts, music, and the physical sciences.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Empire Online charts the rise and fall of empires around the world over a span five centuries. Includes a mixture of printed, manuscript and visual primary source documents. Those studying – among other subjects – colonial history, society, trade and travel, politics and culture can explore a diverse range of topics and subjects from ship’s logs to missionaries in Africa. Empire Online provides varying points-of-view, with selections from American, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German, as well as British perspectives. Also includes texts from the peoples of Africa, India and North America.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Ethnic NewsWatch is a comprehensive full-text database of the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. It is a collection of more than 700,000 full-text articles from over 200 publications. Searchable in both English and Spanish, with titles in both languages and more than 100,000 articles in Spanish, Ethnic NewsWatch provides a rich collection of articles, editorials, and reviews with a broad diversity of perspectives often at variance with the mainstream media.
Everyday Life and Women in America, c.1800-1920 This link opens in a new window
Everyday Life and Women in America, c.1800-1920 comprises thousands of fully searchable images of rare books, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC This link opens in a new window
Archives Unbound presents focused digital collections of historical documents on discrete, specialized topics. It is also an integrated platform that combines these digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. In addition, Archives Unbound can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s This link opens in a new window
Archives Unbound presents focused digital collections of historical documents on discrete, specialized topics. It is also an integrated platform that combines these digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. In addition, Archives Unbound can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new window
The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) began in 1941 as the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service. The original mission of the FBIS was to monitor, record, transcribe and translate intercepted radio broadcasts from select foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories. Accordingly, it provides a wealth of information from countries outside of the U.S. and insights into the second half of the 20th century. Distribution of the FBIS Daily Reports ended in 1996.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Gale Primary Sources is an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. This broadens and enhances the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple collections. This platform combines dozens of historical archives which include monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, and photographs and covers more than 500 hundred of years of history.
Gender: Identity and Social Change This link opens in a new window
Gender: Identity and Social Change offers three centuries of primary source material drawn from across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. From traditional constructions of femininity and masculinity, to the struggle for women’s rights and the emergence of the men’s movement, this resource documents three centuries of expansive developments in gender roles and relations.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange explores the history of key commodities that changed the world. These commodities have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They transformed societies, global trading operations and habits of consumption, giving rise to new consumer desires and aspirations.
Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Global Newsstream enables users to search the most recent global news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s. It featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full- text format. U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers are included.
Godey's Ladys Book This link opens in a new window
Godey’s Lady’s Book was first published in 1830 and quickly became the first successful American journal for women. This digitized and searchable database of the magazine allows full-text retrieval and includes hand-colored fashion plates and illustrations.
HarpWeek This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of Harper’s Weekly, the leading illustrated American periodical of the last half of the nineteenth century. You can browse issues by date, search the index, search for the full text of articles, browse literature by genre, or find people by their cccupation or role in society.
HeinOnline Academic This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline Academic is the world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. It contains extensive coverage of U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional Documents, all of the world’s constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, and more than 2,400 scholarly journals. The Government, Politics & Law package offers special collections on Criminal Justice in America, Religion and the Law, Women and the Law, Slavery in America and the World and more.
Contains thousdand of law-related journals on a variety of subjects, all dating back to inception with over 90% available through the current issue or volume. Subject related collections are often curated & made available.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Provides a standard source for the quantitative facts of American history. Expands and revises information provided in Historical Statistics of the United States, previously produced by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and includes thirty years of new data and scholarship. Topics ranging from migration and health to crime and the Confederate States of America are each placed in historical context by a recognized expert in the field.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Indigenous Peoples of North America This link opens in a new window
Indigenous Peoples of North America enables the exploration of the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples from the 16th century well into the 20th century. Comprehensive yet personal, the collection covers the history of American Indian tribes and supporting organizations. It provides a robust and diverse search experience, facilitating intelligent inquiry into the culture and heritage of indigenous people.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
J. Walter Thompson: Advertising America This link opens in a new window
The records of pioneering advertising agency J. Walter Thompson document the research and creative processes behind the creation of advertisements, including many of the world’s biggest and best-known brands. The records also offer an evolving insider account of life within an advertising agency throughout the twentieth century, documenting changes such as the growing role of women in the industry. The material included in the collection reflect the society with which advertisements interact and reveal the influence that advertising has over culture.
1 of 3 components in American Consumer Culture.
LegalTrac This link opens in a new window
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LegalTrac provides indexing for more than 1,200 major law reviews, legal newspapers, specialty publications, Bar Association journals, and international legal journals, including more than 200 titles in full text.
LGBT Studies in Video This link opens in a new window
Cinematic survey of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as well as the cultural and political evolution of the LGBT community.
Liberator (Boston, MA) This link opens in a new window
The Liberator was a weekly newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison in Boston, Massachusetts. William Lloyd Garrison was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts in December, 1805. At thirteen years of age he began his newspaper career with the Newburyport Herald, where he acquired great skills in both accuracy and speed in the art of setting type. He wrote anonymous articles, and by age of twenty-one he published his own newspaper.
Making of America This link opens in a new window
A collaborative project of Cornell University and the University of Michigan, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, MOA is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The Cornell collection comprises 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. The Michigan collection contains approximately 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles. Both collections are made up of images of the pages in the books and journals.
Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources, 1620-1926 is a fully searchable archive of the published records of the American colonies, documents published by state constitutional conventions, state codes, city charters, law dictionaries, digests, and more. The collection brings together in one place many of the important documents that have been lost, destroyed, or previously inaccessible to researchers of American legal history around the world.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
March of Time This link opens in a new window
Video of Time Inc’s unique and controversial film series, The March of Time from 1935-1967.
Market Research & American Business, 1935-1965 This link opens in a new window
Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 provides a unique insight into the American consumer boom of the mid-20th century through access to the complete market research reports of Ernest Dichter, the era’s foremost consumer analyst, market research pioneer and widely-recognised ‘father’ of Motivational Research.
1 of 3 components in American Consumer Culture.
Meet the Press This link opens in a new window
Streaming video of the television program Meet the Press.
Mergent Archives This link opens in a new window
A collection of business resources published originally by Dun & Bradstreet and Moody’s, now published by Mergent.
Mountain People: Life and Culture in Appalachia This link opens in a new window
This collection consists of the diaries, journals, and narratives of explorers, emigrants, military men, Native Americans, and travelers. In addition, there are accounts on the development of farming and mining communities, family histories, and folklore. These accounts provide a view of the of the vast region between Lexington, Kentucky and Winchester, Virginia, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Birmingham, Alabama, and provides information on the social, political, economic, scientific, religious and agricultural characteristics of the region.
News Journal (Wilmington, DE) This link opens in a new window
Online edition of the Wilmington News-Journal, without advertisements and graphic material. Content is supposed to include all articles that are written by staff, including obituaries and letters, etc., and to exclude photos, ads, syndicated columns, and AP articles, but sometimes this content is not supplied by the newspaper publisher.
The Library holds the News Journal & its predecessor titles on microfilm. Consult A Chronology of the Wilmington News Journal.
News Journal Index (Wilmington, DE), Source: Delaware Division of Libraries This link opens in a new window
A selective index to the Wilmington News Journal, a component of the Delaware Library Catalog. It is available as a “library” in the Quick Search box. Use the drop-down menu next to “library.” It is called “Newspaper Index (Wilmington Public Library Reference Dept.)”
Access Instructions: Connect to the Delaware Library Catalog. Scroll to the Additional limits section. Click on the Library dropdown menu & select Newspaper Index (Wilmington Public Library Reference Dept.). Indexing is limited to major local or state articles. National articles are not included unless a local aspect is covered. Obituaries are not indexed unless it is a person of major importance.
The Wilmington Public Library also has a card file called the Old Delaware Index, a subject & biographical index to articles from the Wilmington Morning News & the Evening Journal. Select Delaware history books are included. It has extensive indexing from the 1920s to 1977, with limited indexing from the 1880s to the 1920s. Obituaries are included for prominent Delawareans. A clippings file accompanies the Index & provides the text for about a 3rd of the entries. The Old Delaware Index is available only at the Wilmington Public Library.
The UD Library holds the News Journal & its predecessor titles on microfilm. Consult A Chronology of the Wilmington News Journal. Recent issues (1999 -) are available online to UD affiliated users.
Newspapers.com World Collection (Library Edition) This link opens in a new window
An online database of 3,000+ historical newspapers from the early 1700s to the early 2000s. Contains a diverse blend of regional and local newspapers in the U.S. and other countries.
New York Times (NYTimes.com) This link opens in a new window
The New York Times online includes the same articles and feature text and images that appear in the print edition, but also an array of additional resources including images, videos, audio, graphics, and data content. Crosswords are not included in this NYTimes.com Group Pass subscription.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources with an interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
Vendor Lyrasis. Publisher LexisNexis.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
A digital collection of 500 newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. Presents a broad cross-section of publications from the political party newspapers at the beginning of the 19th century to the mammoth dailies that shaped the nation at the century’s end. Major newspapers stand alongside those published by African Americans, Native Americans, women’s rights groups, labor groups, the Confederacy, and other select groups.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
North American Women’s Letters and Diaries is a collection of American and Canadian women’s diaries and correspondence. Spanning more than 300 years, it will bring the personal experiences of 1,500 women to researchers, students, and general readers. It will include over 1,000 volumes of published and unpublished material. The current release is Release 6.
Opinion Archives This link opens in a new window
Search a suite of public opinion magazines including American Spectator, Commentary, Commonweal, Harpers Magazine, The Nation, The National Review, The New Republic, New York Review of Books, Orion, and Washington Monthly, and others. A “federated search” can be run against all of these publications; results can be restricted to each publication.
Full-text journals available for searching from commencement year to present:
- American Spectator (1967 -)
- Americas Quarterly (2007 -)
- Commentary (1945 -)
- Commonweal (1924 -)
- Dissent (1954 -)
- Harpers Magazine (1850 -)
- LaFollette's Magazine (1909 -)
- Moment (1975 -)
- The Nation ( 1865 -)
- The National Review (1955 -)
- The New Leader (1924 -)
- The New Republic (1914 -)
- New York Review of Books (1963 -)
- The New Yorker (1925 -)
- Orion Magazine (1982 -)
- The Progressive (1909 -)
- Washington Examiner (2013 -)
- Washington Monthly (1969 -)
- The Weekly Standard (1995 -)
Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880 This link opens in a new window
Western settlers created what we think of as the American West. Explorers came and went, soldiers came and went, miners and others came and went. But the settlers came to stay. For settlers, the ways of reaching a destination in the frontier country were either wretched ordeals or wondrous adventures. Fortunately, many of these men and women recorded daily events and their thoughts with such picturesque zest that some accounts of westward journeys have elements of great literature within them.
Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Authoritative resource for music research. Charts the diverse history & cultures of music around the globe. Gateway to Grove Music Online, with access to search the Oxford Dictionary of Music & the Oxford Companion to Music.
Subscription is for 3 simultaneous users.
PBS Video Collection This link opens in a new window
Documentary films and series from the history of the Public Broadcasting Service.
Pennsylvania: County and Regional Histories & Atlases This link opens in a new window
State and especially local history gives students a chance to understand the people, places and things around them with which they’re already familiar. Originally compiled and produced by publishers and subscriptions agents for area residents and patrons, the original histories are difficult-to-find materials. Included in this collection on Pennsylvania are 15 cities and regions covered in 283 titles. These titles comprise tables and lists of vital statistics, military service records, municipal and county officers, chronologies, portraits of individuals and views of urban and rural life not found anywhere else. The atlases provide additional information on land use and settlement patterns and scarce early town and city plans.
Pennsylvania Gazette This link opens in a new window
Full text of the Pennsylvania Gazette, published in Philadelphia, one of the premier newspapers of the colonial, Revolutionary, and early national periods.
The Library has a complete run of the Pennsylvania Gazette on microfilm (Microfilm S 26) & a facsimile edition in the Morris Library stacks (AN2 .A2 P45).
Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue: Chester County This link opens in a new window
Primarily a listing of marriages, deaths and obituaries from the Village Record, published in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Also included is information about emigration patterns, customs and traditions, important events, medical history, biographical data, etc.
Pennsylvania Newspaper Record: Delaware County This link opens in a new window
Contains full-text transcriptions of articles, advertisements, and vital statistics, providing insight into technology, business activity and material culture in a down-river milling and manufacturing community at the height of the Industrial Revolution. It includes material from the following newspapers: Delaware County American, Media, Pennsylvania; Delaware County Republican, Darby & Chester, Pennsylvania; The Upland Union, Chester, Pennsylvania; Delaware County Democrat, Chester, Pennsylvania; and The Post Boy, Chester, Pennsylvania.
Includes material from the following newspapers: Delaware County American, Media, PA; Delaware County Republican, Darby & Chester, PA; The Upland Union, Chester, PA; Delaware County Democrat, Chester, PA; The Post Boy, Chester, PA.
Philadelphia Inquirer This link opens in a new window
The Library provides these options for accessing the Philadelphia Inquirer: America’s Historical Newspapers includes the Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/17/1860 to 12/31/1922; ProQuest Historical Newspapers includes the Philadelphia Inquirer; Global Newsstream, 1983 to present; Nexis Uni contains full text without graphics from 1994 to present; Morris Library – Microforms (Microfilm S 410), 1940 to the present.
Political Extremism and Radicalism This link opens in a new window
Political Extremism and Radicalism in the Twentieth Century is a compilation of rare and unique archival collections focused on political extremism and radical thought. A broad assortment of political movements from both far-right and radical left political groups are covered. The diverse mixture of materials, including periodicals, campaign propaganda, government records, oral histories and ephemera allow researchers to explore unorthodox social and political movements and understand what impact they have had on today’s society. Records provide a behind-the-scenes view of often inaccessible groups, such as the John Birch Society or the Black Panther Party.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 features an extensive chronology, covering
significant events for every year between 1950 and 1975. Music, Politics, Fashion, Youth Culture – this period witnessed dramatic changes in society. There was the onset of Rock and Roll; the introduction of computers and credit cards; the boom of radio and television; and campaigns for black power, civil rights and women’s liberation. All around the world there were challenges to authority.
Popular Medicine in America, 1800-1900 This link opens in a new window
Popular Medicine in America, 1800-1900 offers access to a collection of highly visual primary source material, together with supplementary features designed to aid research and teaching. The resource documents the history of ‘popular’ remedies and treatments in nineteenth century America.
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Congressional Publications provides comprehensive access to United States legislative information. Its components are: Congressional Publications; Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws; Members & Committees; Regulations; Get a Document (by citation in Code of Federal Regulations or Federal Register; Congressional Record & Rules; Get a Document
Political News/Hot Topics.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Historical Newspapers at the University of Delaware offer searchable, fulltext access to 6 major U.S. newspapers, 1 international newspaper, and 5 Black newspapers from the U.S. Every issue of each title includes the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in downloadable PDF format. Researchers can study the progression of issues over time through these historical newspaper pages, including articles, photos, advertisements, classified ads, obituaries, editorial cartoons, and more.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers (Wall Street Journal) This link opens in a new window
Offers full page and article images with searchable full text of the Wall Street Journal back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Times This link opens in a new window
Offers full page and article images with searchable full text of the New York Times back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. 1851 to 4 Years Ago.
ProQuest Statistical Insight This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Statistical Insight provides abstracting, indexing, and full text for publications from hundreds of public domain and licensed sources.
Readex AllSearch This link opens in a new window
Readex AllSearch is an integrated platform that combines all of the Library’s purchased Readex primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface. This broadens and enhances the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple collections. The single platform combines historical sources from the United States, Africa, Latin America and South Asia that include newspapers, books, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents plus more, and covers more than 400 hundred of years of history.
Note: After using Readex AllSearch to discover relevant documents across a range of collections, some users may find it effective to transition their research to the specific Readex collection(s) in which such documents are found. These more focused collections are designed for deeper research of particular content types.
Sabin Americana This link opens in a new window
Based on Joseph Sabin’s landmark bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900’s. 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. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Silent Film Online This link opens in a new window
Silent features, serials, and shorts from the 1890s to the 1930s.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is a thematically organized, four-part historical archive devoted to the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Smithsonian Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Smithsonian Collections Online presents 4 archival collections from within the Smithsonian Institution’s vast archive and library collections: Evolution of Flight, 1784-1991; Trade Literature and the Merchandising of Industry, 1820-1923; World’s Fairs and Expositions: Visions of Tomorrow; & Air & Space Magazine and Smithsonian Magazine Archive
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new window
Provides statistical tables and charts covering various aspects of social, political, and economic life. Emphasis is on the United States, but some tables cover regions, states, cities, and comparative international statistics. Information is gathered from all agencies of the federal government and from private, commercial, and professional sources.
Trade Catalogues and the American Home This link opens in a new window
Trade Catalogues and the American Home explores domestic consumerism, life and leisure in America between 1850-1950. This resource presents a wealth of highly illustrated primary source documents that highlight commercial tastes and consumer trends and provide a valuable visual record for a breadth of interdisciplinary study.
1 of 3 components in American Consumer Culture.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set This link opens in a new window
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set contains House and Senate Documents and House and Senate Reports bound by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 are found in the American State Papers. The Serial Set does not include Congressional hearings and debates.
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is bound by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 are found in the American State Papers, which can be accessed via the A-Z Databases page. The Serial Set does not include Congressional hearings & debates.
House & Senate Reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation & issues under investigation. They include all other papers ordered printed by the House or Senate. Documents cover a wide variety of topics & may include reports of executive departments & independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, & annual reports of non-governmental organizations. During the late 19th & early 20th centuries, Executive branch materials were also published in the Serial Set.
After 1994, GPO & the Library of Congress provide digital access to most of the continuing Serial Set materials.
It is possible to search the U.S. Congressional Serial Set Maps directly.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
U.S. Declassified Documents This link opens in a new window
U.S. Declassified Documents is a compilation of declassified documents from the executive branch including presidential libraries, Department of State, Department of Defense, CIA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other executive agencies. The types of materials include intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, and domestic surveillance and military reports. These records provide a unique view of the highest level of American policymaking on the most sensitive issues of national security and foreign policy. The collection also includes sources on domestic issues such as surveillance, the civil rights and anti-war movements, abuse of government power, and home-grown terrorism.
Materials include intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, & domestic surveillance & military reports. Also includes sources on domestic issues such as surveillance, the civil rights & anti-war movements, abuse of government power, & home-grown terrorism.

This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
University of Delaware Library Institutional Repository This link opens in a new window
The Institutional Repository consists of University of Delaware original research in digital form, including technical reports, working papers, conference papers, images, and more. The information is organized by communities (corresponding to administrative entities such as schools, departments, research centers, and programs) and then by collections (corresponding to publication series).
Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) This link opens in a new window
The Wall Street Journal online includes the same articles and feature text and images that appear in the print edition, but also an array of additional resources including images, videos, audio, graphics, and data content. There is a 90-day archive to a digital version of the daily print edition of The Wall Street Journal.
Witchcraft In Europe and America This link opens in a new window
Witchcraft in Europe and America is a comprehensive collection that offers a broad range of documents on an intriguing subject. Included are many rare and fragile manuscripts containing eyewitness accounts and court records of the trials of witches, including harrowing original manuscript depositions taken from the victims in the torture chamber. These documents, in both original manuscript and in print, often reveal the harsh penalties of remote doctrinal disputes. Perhaps the most significant of all manuscripts in the collection is the minutes of the witchcraft trial of Dietrich Flade, a sixteenth-century city judge and rector who spoke out against the cruelty and injustice of the persecutions in the 1580s.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
An archival research resource comprising the full backfiles of leading women’s interest consumer magazines. Titles are scanned from cover to cover in high-resolution color and feature detailed article-level indexing. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005.
Women's Studies Archive This link opens in a new window
Women’s Studies Archive: Women’s Issues & Identities focuses on the social, political and professional achievements of women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Along with providing a closer look at some of the pioneers of women’s movements, this collection offers scholars a deep dive into the issues that have affected women and the many contributions they have made to society.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, this collection seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding about U.S. women’s history. Included are document projects and document archives, primary source collections, the archive of federal, state, and local Commissions on the Status of Women between 1961 and 2005, the online edition of the biographical dictionary, Notable American Women (1971-2004), book reviews, teaching tools, and more.
World's Fairs and Expositions: Visions of Tomorrow This link opens in a new window
World’s Fairs and Expositions: Visions of Tomorrow gives researchers access to primary source documents about landmark exhibits from 1843 to 1940. With content types ranging from organizational and administrative records to postcards to Books of the Fairs and watercolors from the exhibitions, this archive captures the spirit, technology, design, and innovations that influenced the modern world.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
World History in Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries on world history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century.
World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
The World Newspaper Archive is a collection of historic newspapers from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and United States. It represents a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries member institutions and Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.
The Archive is a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries (CRL) member institutions & Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve & provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe. The University of Delaware Library is a charter participant in this project. Further information is available at the CRL website.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
World Newsreels Online This link opens in a new window
International newsreels produced during the early twentieth century.

ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Age of Exploration is a multi-archive collection relating to major events in European maritime history from c.1420-1920. It focuses primarily on western European explorers – British, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch in particular – and their sea-faring voyages to locate “new lands,” trade routes, establish colonies and settlements, and advance scientific knowledge during this 500 year period.
Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980 This link opens in a new window
Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980 makes available British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1980. It is an essential resource for the study of the apartheid era in Southern Africa. It provides analysis of South African politics, trade relations, international opinion and humanitarian dilemmas against a backdrop of waning colonialism and mounting world condemnation.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material.
BBC Shakespeare Plays This link opens in a new window
This streaming video collection consists of television adaptations of all 37 plays by William Shakespeare, produced by British Broadcasting between 1978 and 1985. The six-year BBC project was produced by Cedric Messina and Jonathan Miller. Leading performers include Britain’s most distinguished actors, Sir John Gielgud, Ben Kingsley, Claire Bloom, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Michael York, Alen Richman, John Cleese and Derek Jacobi.
BBC Video Collection This link opens in a new window
Collection of BBC films. This is part of a larger database Academic Video Online.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries from 1500-1950 (BWLD) includes the immediate experiences of 430 authors and 60,000 pages of individual women’s rare, personal perspectives on world history. When complete, the collection will include more than 100,000 pages of primary materials spanning more than 300 years. Each source has been carefully chosen using leading bibliographies. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Digital collection of national and regional newspapers in Victorian Britain. The papers in the collection were selected by an editorial board from the British Library. They provide a broad yet detailed view of British life in the 19th century: from business to sport, from politics to entertainment and the arts. This invaluable collection is made up of daily and weekly publications and reflects Britain’s growing role as a major power in the 19th century world.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
British Literary Manuscripts This link opens in a new window
British Literary Manuscripts Online consists of two collections, British Literary Manuscripts Online, c.1660-1900 and British Literary Manuscripts Online: Medieval and Renaissance. Together, these collections enable researchers to view manuscripts page-by-page or preview the entire work via thumbnail view.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the searchable full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth.
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new window
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C19 is a comprehensive index to nineteenth-century books, periodicals, official publications, archives, and newspapers. It provides integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.5 million books and official publications, 71,000 archival collections and 16.3 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Chatham House Online Archive This link opens in a new window
Chatham House Online Archive contains the publications and archives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the world-leading independent international affairs policy institute founded in 1920 following the Paris Peace Conference.
The Institute’s analysis and research, as well as debates and speeches it has hosted, can be found in this online archive. The archive includes briefing papers, special reports, pamphlets, conference papers, and monographs as well as the full text of two of Chatham House’s flagship periodicals, International Affairs and The World Today. Additionally, the archive offers access to thousands of hours of audio recordings of Chatham House lectures and their fully searchable transcripts.
China: Trade, Politics & Culture This link opens in a new window
Digital collection which includes English-language sources relating to China and the West, primarily from the School of Oriental and African Studies and the British Library and supplemented by additional sources from Cambridge University Library, the Church Missionary Society Archive, the Council for World Missions Library, Duke University, the National Archives at Kew, the Alexander Turnbull Library at the National Library of New Zealand and Yale Divinity Library.
Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Church Missionary Society Periodicals sheds light on key events since the beginning of the 19th century. With active mission stations in every continent, the published journals, letters and reports represent a global perspective on not only evangelism and mission history but conflict, colonialism and globalization.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
Digital resource covering three centuries of Caribbean history from 1624 to 1870 drawn from the archives of the British Colonial Office. Records include: administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, and details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries across the region, and the growing concern of absentee landlords. The colonies include: Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Berbice, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Demarara, Dominica, Essequibo, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Bartholomew, St. Christopher (St. Kitts), St. Croix, Santo Domingo, St. Eustatius, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Suriname, Tobago, Tortola, Trinidad, and Turks and Caicos.
Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 This link opens in a new window
The complete volumes of all British Government Confidential Print for Africa, from the Colonial, Dominion, Foreign and War Offices, including hundreds of color maps. (Coverage: 1834-1966)
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 This link opens in a new window
Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 contains complete runs of all British Government Confidential Print volumes relating to South and Central America. Coverage begins in the aftermath of independence for the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America, addressing the politics of state-building and the Latin American nations’ establishment of their place in the fast-expanding global economy.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 This link opens in a new window
Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 consists of the Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. Beginning with the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1830s, the documents trace the events of the following 150 years, including the Middle East Conference of 1921, the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia, the partition of Palestine, the 1956 Suez Crisis and post-Suez Western foreign policy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 This link opens in a new window
Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961 consists of the Confidential Print for the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America. It covers topics such as slavery, Prohibition, the First and Second World Wars, racial segregation, territorial disputes, the League of Nations, McCarthyism and the nuclear bomb. The bulk of the material covers the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 This link opens in a new window
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 focuses on the long nineteenth century, a period of rapid evolution for crime and its associated legal/penal systems. The nineteenth century was a period of major social upheaval and technological development. Almost all aspects of society underwent transformation during this time, and the law adapted to these changes.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Defining Gender provides access to a vast body of original British source material that will enrich the teaching and research experience of those studying history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
Early English Books Online contains about 100,000 of over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640 (STC I) and Donald Wing’s A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, and of English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641 to 1700 (STC II). EEBO also includes the Thomason Tracts, a compendium of broadsides on the English Civil War printed between 1640 and 1661.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
East India Company This link opens in a new window
The East India Company database is an essential resource for scholarship of British imperial history, maritime trade, global commerce, and the history of the first great multinational corporation.
Eight Centuries This link opens in a new window
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Eight Centuries (formerly 19th Century Masterfile) is a vast database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960 (varies by source). Eight Centuries aggregates indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids, and includes citations to 9,000 periodicals. Dozens of historically significant indexes are searchable within this database. It offers multidisciplinary coverage of primary materials in the humanities, social sciences, engineering, history of science, law, economics, religion, psychology, government documents, visual arts, music, and the physical sciences.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
ECCO contains digital images of every page of more than 180,000 books published during the 18th century. A variety of materials are included — from books and directories, Bibles, sheet music and sermons to advertisements—and works by many well-known and lesser-known authors, all providing a diverse collection of material for the researcher of the eighteenth century. The collection is based on the English Short Title Catalogue.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Empire Online charts the rise and fall of empires around the world over a span five centuries. Includes a mixture of printed, manuscript and visual primary source documents. Those studying – among other subjects – colonial history, society, trade and travel, politics and culture can explore a diverse range of topics and subjects from ship’s logs to missionaries in Africa. Empire Online provides varying points-of-view, with selections from American, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German, as well as British perspectives. Also includes texts from the peoples of Africa, India and North America.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Gale Primary Sources is an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. This broadens and enhances the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple collections. This platform combines dozens of historical archives which include monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, and photographs and covers more than 500 hundred of years of history.
Gale Primary Sources. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Gale Primary Sources. Newspapers is an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital newspaper archives into a single cross-searchable interface. This broadens and enhances the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple news sources from the 17th through 21st centuries. The platform includes 22 newspaper and periodical collections including The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Economist, The Illustrated London News, Punch, and collections including British Library Newspapers, Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers and more.
Gender: Identity and Social Change This link opens in a new window
Gender: Identity and Social Change offers three centuries of primary source material drawn from across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. From traditional constructions of femininity and masculinity, to the struggle for women’s rights and the emergence of the men’s movement, this resource documents three centuries of expansive developments in gender roles and relations.
Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new window
In the late 1800s, Dutch physician Aletta Jacobs Gerritsen began collecting monographs and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and women’s rights. By the time her successors finished their work in 1945, the Gerritsen Collection was the greatest single source for the study of women’s history in the world, with materials spanning four centuries and fifteen languages.
In many cases, the Gerritsen Collection provides easy access to primary sources otherwise available only in a few rare book rooms.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange explores the history of key commodities that changed the world. These commodities have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They transformed societies, global trading operations and habits of consumption, giving rise to new consumer desires and aspirations.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window
The Making of the Modern World digital collection presents books, serials, political pamphlets, broadsides, government publications, proclamations, and ephemera focusing on economics, political science, history, sociology, banking, finance, transportation and manufacturing. The collection is comprised of many rare titles and first editions in languages other than English including French, German, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Italian and Spanish.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Nineteenth Century Collections Online is the result of partnerships between Gale and almost one hundred libraries to preserve and make content digitally available for academic research. The content is sourced from the world’s preeminent libraries and archives. It consists of monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other kinds of documents in both Western and non-Western languages.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue This link opens in a new window
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The Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue aims to index all printed works published in Britain, its colonies and the United States of America, all printed works in English wherever published, and all translations from English from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the end of the First World War.
Learn more about this database
Nineteenth Century U.K. Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Digital collection of periodicals covering Victorian Britain. These publications provide a broad yet detailed view of British life in the 19th century: from business to sport, from politics to entertainment and the arts.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
Parliamentary Papers are the most detailed primary source for 19th-century Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. They are the working documents of government for all areas of social, political, economic, and foreign policy. They influenced public opinion and social and political philosophy, and provided a forum for the ideas of hundreds of thinkers, among them Jenner, Arnold, Trollope, Mill, Faraday, Babbage, Telford, and Brunel.
Past Masters This link opens in a new window
Past Masters is a collection of primary-source full-text humanities databases. Past Masters titles are usually comprised of the complete works of individual authors.
Political Extremism and Radicalism This link opens in a new window
Political Extremism and Radicalism in the Twentieth Century is a compilation of rare and unique archival collections focused on political extremism and radical thought. A broad assortment of political movements from both far-right and radical left political groups are covered. The diverse mixture of materials, including periodicals, campaign propaganda, government records, oral histories and ephemera allow researchers to explore unorthodox social and political movements and understand what impact they have had on today’s society. Records provide a behind-the-scenes view of often inaccessible groups, such as the John Birch Society or the Black Panther Party.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 features an extensive chronology, covering
significant events for every year between 1950 and 1975. Music, Politics, Fashion, Youth Culture – this period witnessed dramatic changes in society. There was the onset of Rock and Roll; the introduction of computers and credit cards; the boom of radio and television; and campaigns for black power, civil rights and women’s liberation. All around the world there were challenges to authority.
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
A full-text, fully searchable digital archive of nearly 1,270 newspapers and news pamphlets from the United Kingdom. Collected by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817), this collection represents the largest single archive of 17th and 18th century news media available from the British Library.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is a thematically organized, four-part historical archive devoted to the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
State Papers Online This link opens in a new window
State Papers Online: Early Modern Government in Britain and Europe provides access to documents which cover two hundred years of British and European history, from the reign of Henry VIII to the end of the reign of Queen Anne. These collections provide insight into early modern British and European history, including diplomacy, politics, society, culture, law, religion, kingship and queenship, exploration, travel and trade, and the early empire and support research in early modern literature, Renaissance and Reformation studies, and Tudor and Stuart studies. Researchers can also explore Britain’s diplomatic relations and trade in Europe and with the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Sunday Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2006 brings together two centuries of news, providing the complete run of the newspaper up to 2006, including all of its supplements, in one cross-searchable and browseable platform. The 19th century run of The Sunday Times contains a wealth of rich, social and cultural historical content. The 20th century run of this UK newspaper is famous for its cutting edge investigative journalism with in-depth information and widely researched, long-term news stories.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Complete digital edition of The Times (London), and its predecessor title Universal Daily Register (1785-1788). Full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page are available. The entire newspaper is captured, with all articles, advertisements, and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Every page of every issue of the TLS published from 1902 to 5 years ago. Identification of the anonymous contributors—reviewers, essayists, and writers of letters and poems—is included, allowing students, researchers, critics and authors to explore in greater depth the literary activity and critical opinion makers of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Witchcraft In Europe and America This link opens in a new window
Witchcraft in Europe and America is a comprehensive collection that offers a broad range of documents on an intriguing subject. Included are many rare and fragile manuscripts containing eyewitness accounts and court records of the trials of witches, including harrowing original manuscript depositions taken from the victims in the torture chamber. These documents, in both original manuscript and in print, often reveal the harsh penalties of remote doctrinal disputes. Perhaps the most significant of all manuscripts in the collection is the minutes of the witchcraft trial of Dietrich Flade, a sixteenth-century city judge and rector who spoke out against the cruelty and injustice of the persecutions in the 1580s.
World History in Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries on world history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century.
World Newsreels Online This link opens in a new window
International newsreels produced during the early twentieth century.

Vogue Italia

ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Age of Exploration is a multi-archive collection relating to major events in European maritime history from c.1420-1920. It focuses primarily on western European explorers – British, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch in particular – and their sea-faring voyages to locate “new lands,” trade routes, establish colonies and settlements, and advance scientific knowledge during this 500 year period.
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Asian Film Online This link opens in a new window
A view of Asian culture as seen through the lens of the independent Asian filmmaker. Part of the larger database, Academic Video Online.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material.
China, America and the Pacific: Trade and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
China, America and the Pacific explores the history of North American trade and cultural interactions with China. Coverage also includes Pacific trading centers such as Hawai‘i.
China: Culture and Society This link opens in a new window
Spanning three centuries (c1750-1929), China: Culture and Society makes available for the first time extremely rare pamphlets from the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia, at Cornell University Library, one of the oldest and most distinctive collections of its kind, and a very rich source for research on China.
China: Trade, Politics & Culture This link opens in a new window
Digital collection which includes English-language sources relating to China and the West, primarily from the School of Oriental and African Studies and the British Library and supplemented by additional sources from Cambridge University Library, the Church Missionary Society Archive, the Council for World Missions Library, Duke University, the National Archives at Kew, the Alexander Turnbull Library at the National Library of New Zealand and Yale Divinity Library.
China and the Modern World This link opens in a new window
The 4 collections which comprise China and the Modern World cover a period of about 180 years (1800s to 1980s) when China experienced a radical transformation from an inward-looking imperial dynasty into a globally engaged republic. Collections of monographs, manuscripts, periodicals, correspondence and letters, historical photos, ephemera, and other kinds of historical documents, provide research materials in areas such as diplomacy/international relations, economy/trade, politics, Christianity, sinology, education, science and technology, imperialism, and globalization.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Church Missionary Society Periodicals sheds light on key events since the beginning of the 19th century. With active mission stations in every continent, the published journals, letters and reports represent a global perspective on not only evangelism and mission history but conflict, colonialism and globalization.
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 This link opens in a new window
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920 focuses on the long nineteenth century, a period of rapid evolution for crime and its associated legal/penal systems. The nineteenth century was a period of major social upheaval and technological development. Almost all aspects of society underwent transformation during this time, and the law adapted to these changes.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
East India Company This link opens in a new window
The East India Company database is an essential resource for scholarship of British imperial history, maritime trade, global commerce, and the history of the first great multinational corporation.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Empire Online charts the rise and fall of empires around the world over a span five centuries. Includes a mixture of printed, manuscript and visual primary source documents. Those studying – among other subjects – colonial history, society, trade and travel, politics and culture can explore a diverse range of topics and subjects from ship’s logs to missionaries in Africa. Empire Online provides varying points-of-view, with selections from American, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German, as well as British perspectives. Also includes texts from the peoples of Africa, India and North America.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange explores the history of key commodities that changed the world. These commodities have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They transformed societies, global trading operations and habits of consumption, giving rise to new consumer desires and aspirations.
Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Global Newsstream enables users to search the most recent global news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s. It featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full- text format. U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers are included.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
South Asian Newspapers This link opens in a new window
South Asian Newspapers provides more than 400,000 fully searchable pages of newspapers published in South Asia between 1864 and 1922. The collection features titles published in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Languages include English, Bengali, Gujarati, and others. Titles include such key publications as: Amrita Bazar Patrika (Calcutta), Bankura Darpana (Bankura, India), Madras Mail (Madras), Tribune (Lahore, Pakistan) and the Ceylon Observer (Sri Lanka).
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.
Times of India This link opens in a new window
The world’s most widely circulated English daily newspaper was founded in 1838 to serve British residents of West India. Today this historical newspaper serves researchers interested in studying colonialism and post-colonialism, British and world history, class and gender issues, international relations, comparative religion, international economics, terrorism, and more.
World History in Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries on world history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century.
World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
The World Newspaper Archive is a collection of historic newspapers from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and United States. It represents a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries member institutions and Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.
The Archive is a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries (CRL) member institutions & Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve & provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe. The University of Delaware Library is a charter participant in this project. Further information is available at the CRL website.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
World Newsreels Online This link opens in a new window
International newsreels produced during the early twentieth century.

ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
African Newspapers Series I This link opens in a new window
More than 30 nineteenth- and early twentieth-century African newspapers. Titles are from Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, and elsewhere. Part of the World Newspaper Archive.
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
Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980 makes available British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1980. It is an essential resource for the study of the apartheid era in Southern Africa. It provides analysis of South African politics, trade relations, international opinion and humanitarian dilemmas against a backdrop of waning colonialism and mounting world condemnation.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material.
Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 This link opens in a new window
The complete volumes of all British Government Confidential Print for Africa, from the Colonial, Dominion, Foreign and War Offices, including hundreds of color maps. (Coverage: 1834-1966)
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Empire Online charts the rise and fall of empires around the world over a span five centuries. Includes a mixture of printed, manuscript and visual primary source documents. Those studying – among other subjects – colonial history, society, trade and travel, politics and culture can explore a diverse range of topics and subjects from ship’s logs to missionaries in Africa. Empire Online provides varying points-of-view, with selections from American, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German, as well as British perspectives. Also includes texts from the peoples of Africa, India and North America.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange explores the history of key commodities that changed the world. These commodities have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They transformed societies, global trading operations and habits of consumption, giving rise to new consumer desires and aspirations.
Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Global Newsstream enables users to search the most recent global news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s. It featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full- text format. U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers are included.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is a thematically organized, four-part historical archive devoted to the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
World History in Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries on world history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century.
World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
The World Newspaper Archive is a collection of historic newspapers from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and United States. It represents a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries member institutions and Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.
The Archive is a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries (CRL) member institutions & Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve & provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe. The University of Delaware Library is a charter participant in this project. Further information is available at the CRL website.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
World Newsreels Online This link opens in a new window
International newsreels produced during the early twentieth century.

ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material.
Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 This link opens in a new window
Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 consists of the Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. Beginning with the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1830s, the documents trace the events of the following 150 years, including the Middle East Conference of 1921, the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia, the partition of Palestine, the 1956 Suez Crisis and post-Suez Western foreign policy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Global Newsstream enables users to search the most recent global news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s. It featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full- text format. U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers are included.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
World History in Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries on world history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century.
World Newsreels Online This link opens in a new window
International newsreels produced during the early twentieth century.

ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection This link opens in a new window
ACLS Humanities E-Book HEB is an online, fully searchable collection of more than 5,400 books of high quality in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Frequently cited in the literature, these titles are recommended by scholars and the learned societies of the American Council of Learned Societies. Coverage is from: 1857 - on.
Artstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Artstor Digital Library is an image database featuring a range of images from some of the world’s leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Unlike results from Google or other search engines, Artstor images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, & artists themselves.
Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
AP Images is an electronic library containing the Associated Press’ current photos and a selection of pictures from their huge print and negative library, as well as text, graphic, and audio material.
Brazilian and Portuguese History and Culture This link opens in a new window
Brazilian and Portuguese History and Culture is a collection of monographs and pamphlets which was assembled by Manoel de Oliveira Lima, a Brazilian diplomat, journalist, historian, and book collector whose career spanned Brazil’s transition from empire to republic. Brazilian history and literature was the central focus of his writing and collecting. The collection was donated to Catholic University of America in 1920. It contains about 40,000 items.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Caribbean Literature This link opens in a new window
A searchable collection of poetry and fiction produced in the region during the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the titles are numerous rare and hard-to-find works written in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and various Creole languages. Future releases will also feature journals, reference works, and interviews with key writers. The database currently has over 24,000 pages.
The acquisition of this database was made possible through the support of the Unidel Foundation.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
Digital resource covering three centuries of Caribbean history from 1624 to 1870 drawn from the archives of the British Colonial Office. Records include: administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, and details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries across the region, and the growing concern of absentee landlords. The colonies include: Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Berbice, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Demarara, Dominica, Essequibo, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Bartholomew, St. Christopher (St. Kitts), St. Croix, Santo Domingo, St. Eustatius, St. Lucia, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, Suriname, Tobago, Tortola, Trinidad, and Turks and Caicos.
Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 This link opens in a new window
Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 contains complete runs of all British Government Confidential Print volumes relating to South and Central America. Coverage begins in the aftermath of independence for the former Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America, addressing the politics of state-building and the Latin American nations’ establishment of their place in the fast-expanding global economy.
Part of the Archives Direct Portal, a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew, the official archive of the United Kingdom.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Ethnic NewsWatch is a comprehensive full-text database of the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. It is a collection of more than 700,000 full-text articles from over 200 publications. Searchable in both English and Spanish, with titles in both languages and more than 100,000 articles in Spanish, Ethnic NewsWatch provides a rich collection of articles, editorials, and reviews with a broad diversity of perspectives often at variance with the mainstream media.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Gale Primary Sources is an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface. This broadens and enhances the ability to discover primary source documents from multiple collections. This platform combines dozens of historical archives which include monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, and photographs and covers more than 500 hundred of years of history.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange explores the history of key commodities that changed the world. These commodities have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They transformed societies, global trading operations and habits of consumption, giving rise to new consumer desires and aspirations.
Latin America in Video This link opens in a new window
Original language documentaries about Latin American issues.
Latin American Newspapers, Series I This link opens in a new window
More than 35 nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Latin American newspapers. Titles are from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and elsewhere.
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.
Sabin Americana This link opens in a new window
Based on Joseph Sabin’s landmark bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900’s. 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. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Designed for teaching and research, Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice 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. This resource offers in-depth case studies in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with important material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is a thematically organized, four-part historical archive devoted to the scholarly study and understanding of slavery from a multinational perspective.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
World History in Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries on world history from the earliest civilizations to the late twentieth century.
World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
The World Newspaper Archive is a collection of historic newspapers from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and United States. It represents a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries member institutions and Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.
The Archive is a collaborative effort of Center for Research Libraries (CRL) member institutions & Readex, a division of NewsBank, to preserve & provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe. The University of Delaware Library is a charter participant in this project. Further information is available at the CRL website.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
World Newsreels Online This link opens in a new window
International newsreels produced during the early twentieth century.
World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean This link opens in a new window
World Scholar: Latin American & the Caribbean is a multidisciplinary database designed to meet the needs of researchers, postgraduates, and undergraduates with interests in regional studies, history, political science, anthropology, sociology, economics, and international relations. It includes a comprehensive range of content for the region, providing research across the humanities both for current issues and events in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as for historical perspective back to the colonial period.

Primary Sources

Primary Sources In Other Disciplines

WHAT'S AVAILABLE

Primary Source Databases - UD Only (Specific to History)