Library Guides: HIST 090: Black Radical Thought: Finding Primary Sources

What is a primary source?

Primary sources are sources that were created during the time period a researcher is studying, and provide firsthand evidence about a person, event, work of art, or object. This can include:

letters or other forms of direct communication
creative writing such as novels, poems, or plays
speeches
newspapers
works of art, photographs, and music recordings
eyewitness accounts
interviews
maps

Databases Containing Primary Sources

Primary Source Collections provided by A.M. Explorer This link opens in a new window
Enables cross searching of 88 primary source collections covering a wide range of humanities and social science subjects.
Major themes include Area Studies, Cultural Studies, Empire and Globalism, Ethnic Studies, Gender and Sexuality, History, Politics, Literature, Theatre, and War and Conflict
American History in Video This link opens in a new window
More than video: a collection of newsreels, archives, public affairs footage, and documentaries, both commercial and government sponsored.
ARTStor This link opens in a new window
Database of digital images that may be used for academic purposes only. These collections are interdisciplinary, supporting research and teaching in both the humanities and social sciences.
ARTstor also contains images and collections relevant to African and African-American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Classics, Costume Design & Fashion, Geography, History, Language & Literature, Latin American Studies, Marketing, Medicine & Natural Sciences, Middle Eastern Studies, Music, Native American Studies, Religious Studies, Theatre & Dance, and Women’s Studies. Through ARTstor, one can search, organize & save, download, or create presentations. Further privileges can be granted to those with instructor status.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new window
Primary source collection including approximately 1,600 documents from pivotal eras in African American history.
Covers six different phases of Black Freedom in the United States: Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860); The Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877); Jim Crow Era (1878-1932); The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945); Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975); Contemporary (1976-2000)
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) This link opens in a new window
Aggregates collections from a vast span of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available on the web, with contents ranging from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science.
Women and Social Movements, International 1840 to Present This link opens in a new window
Digital primary source archive containing conference proceedings; reports of international women's organizations; publications of women's NGOs; and letters, diaries, and memoirs of women active internationally since the mid-1800s.
Also includes photographs and videos of major events and activists in the history of women’s international social movements.

African American Periodicals: 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window
Full text of more than 170 African American Periodicals published between 1825 and 1995.
American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
Full text of over 1,100 periodicals published between 1740 and 1900.
Includes special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically-significant periodicals.
Harper's Weekly: The Civil War Era 1857-1865 This link opens in a new window
Provides Harper's Weekly online for the years 1857 to 1865.
All the pages of Harper's Weekly (1857-1865) are viewable as scanned images, together with a series of four indexes: subject, illustrations, literature & publishing, and advertising.
Historical Periodicals Collection This link opens in a new window
Collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912, provided by the American Antiquarian Society (AAS).
Subjects covered in the collection reach all facets of American life, including science, literature, medicine, women's fashion, agriculture, family life, and religion.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
A searchable archive of leading women’s interest magazines, dating from the 19th century through 2005. Includes Better Homes & Gardens, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Seventeen, and more.

Collections:

African American Newspapers: 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience.
Features papers from more than 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles.
African American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Newspaper coverage of events and issues of the day, as well as biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements.
Early American Newspapers, Series II, 1758-1900 This link opens in a new window
Offers more than 200 significant 18th and 19th-century newspapers, focusing on the period between 1820 and 1860, when the number of American newspapers rose dramatically.
Based primarily on the newspaper collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Series II also includes titles from the holdings of the Library of Congress, the Wisconsin Historical Society and other organizations. Dates of coverage vary by newspaper.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspaper Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Cover-to-cover full-text contents for hundreds of 19th century U.S. papers, 1800-1899.
Dates vary for individual newspapers, however the entire database covers 1800-1899

Specific Titles:

New York Times (Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
A full-image archive that includes the entire historical run of The New York Times, since 1851.The database delivers every page of every issue from cover to cover, with full-page and article images in downloadable PDF.
Covers Sept. 18, 1851 to 3 years before the current year
Philadelphia Inquirer (Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
A full-image archive that covers the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1860-2001. The database delivers every page of every issue from cover to cover, with full-page and article images in downloadable PDF.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
A full-image archive that covers the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1786-2003. The database delivers every page of every issue from cover to cover, with full-page and article images in downloadable PDF.

Lehigh University Libraries - Library Guides

HIST 090: Black Radical Thought

What is a primary source?

Databases Containing Primary Sources