LibGuides: 20th Century American History With Teaching Resources: Primary Sources

Helpful Hint

Studying modern history means that you my be using primary sources that are still under copyright law and thus not available full text online for free. This also means that there may be restrictions placed on depositories regarding digitalization. When choosing primary sources, please keep this in mind and plan accordingly.

Search Strategies for Primary Sources

Primary source research requires a slightly different approach to searching. Here are a few tips/strategies:

Start by doing some background reading or "pre-research": The more you know about key events, people, laws, and especially common terminology used during the time period you are researching the more successful your research will be. See the "Getting to Know Your Topic" page in this guide for help.

Limit to specific time periods: When searching for primary sources online always remember to use date ranges (usually on the advanced search page) to focus your search.

Depending on the time period, remember that it took time for news to get reported or to spread to other parts of the country. It often helps to include a few weeks after an event to ensure you get results.
Start with broader search times but limit to a narrow time period. For example: if searching for articles about the Massacre at Wounded Knee, search for: "wounded knee" limit to the date range of 12/29/1890-1/12/1891 (the word massacre may not have been used immediately after the event, but the location)

Use primary source keywords to find primary sources: Use search terms that reflect the types of primary sources you’re looking for, such as: diaries, pamphlets, correspondence, speeches, manuscripts, personal narratives, interviews, firsthand, eyewitness, sources, etc.

For example: slave AND diary | suffrage AND pamphlets | united states and race relations AND sources

Evaluating a Primary Source

The Library of Congress has a great tool for helping you evaluate potential primary sources:

Primary Source Analysis Tool

Library Databases for Primary Sources

African American Newspapers (1827-1998)
The full text of hundreds of U.S. newspapers from more than 35 states dating from 1827 to 1998 and published by African Americans.
Coverage: 1827-1898
Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals (AULIMP)
Citations to significant articles, news items, and editorials published in English-language military and aeronautical periodicals since 1988.
American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside
A full text archive of hundreds of newspapers published in U.S. prisons since 1800.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection, Series 2
This database presents an archive of publications focused on U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture from colonial times until 1960. Series 2 focuses on Hispanic American civil rights, religion and women’s rights from the 18th through the 20th century. Content is written, indexed and searchable in Spanish and English.
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Descriptions of publications issued by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government and links to those that are available online.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Search and view the full text of hundreds of digitized historical newspapers from 42 states, with titles dating from 1789-1963.
Hiphop Archive
An archive collecting all forms of Hiphop material culture including recordings, videos, web sites, films, original papers, publications, conference proceedings, etc., to form a record of Hiphop activity in the United States and worldwide.
Independent Voices
An open access collection of alternative press material.
LGBTQ+ Source
Indexing, abstracts and full text for journal, magazine, and newspaper articles on LGBTQ+ topics and issues.
New York Times Historical
The entire contents of the New York Times from 1851 to three years ago.
Newspaper Source
Full text for hundreds of regional, national, and international newspapers, and complete television and radio news transcripts from CBS News, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, NPR and more.
NewspaperArchive.com
Searchable full text for hundreds of historical newspapers published in Ohio between 1800-2010. Search or browse 19th and 20th century Ohio newspapers and view full-page pdf images.
Coverage: 1800-2010
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975
A database of photographs, images, manuscripts, rare printed material documenting the music, politics, fashion and youth culture in America and Great Britain from 1950-1975.
Access for BGSU Main Campus users only; not available for Firelands users.
ProQuest Congressional
ProQuest Congressional is a comprehensive database that searches across current and historical documents of the United States Congress, many of which are included in full text. It includes the U.S. Serial Set (the published working papers of Congress), Congressional Hearings, the Congressional Record (through 1997) and hundreds of thousands of House and Senate reports, State of the Union messages, Congressional journals, hearings, high-resolution maps, and more.
Access has recently been expanded to include ProQuest Congressional Hearings Digital Collection Historical Archive Parts B and C (1980-2010), ProQuest Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection, and ProQuest U.S. Serial Set 2 Parts G, H, and I.
Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson)
Index to articles published in the popular press between 1890 and 1982 from hundreds of magazines like Collier's, Harper's, The New Republic, Popular Science, and The Saturday Evening Post.
Certain journals may carry additional restrictions; please check copyright statements that appear with full text.
Sanborn Digital Maps
Large scale street plans of Ohio cities produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance company from 1867 to 1970.
Student Activism
Primary sources documenting the history of student organizing in the United States, including hundreds of items contributed by BGSU, in formats such as leaflets, fliers, newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings, periodicals, bulletins, letters, press releases, as well as meeting, demonstration, conference, and event documentation.

Topics include: Anti-apartheid divestiture, student involvement in the civil rights movement, Indians of All Tribes’ occupation of Alcatraz, Take-Back-the-Night anti-sexual assault activism, Vietnam War opposition and demilitarization activism, Women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and more.
Toledo Blade
Current issues of the Toledo Blade as well as searchable archives back to 1996. Some older content can be also be found in the Google News Archives.
Vogue Archive
A complete, searchable archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month. Includes every article, cover, photo shoot, illustration and advertisement, with rich indexing enabling users to find images by designer and brand names.
Coverage: 1892 to present
WCDPL Digital Newspaper Archives
This platform covers Bowling Green area newspapers from 1867 to 1958 with complete coverage of the Bradner Advocate and the Risingsun Unique Weekly. To view the complete newspaper collection on microfilm, visit the Local History Collection at the Wood County District Public Library in person.

Digital Collections Outside BGSU

Digital Public Library of America
The DPLA provides a platform for libraries and cultural institutions from around the country to contribute digital content and exhibits.
Ellis Island: American Family Immigration History Center
Search an extraordinary collection of arrival records.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
The Library of Congress is a research library in Washington, D.C., that serves as the library of the U.S. Congress and the de facto national library of the United States.
National Archives (US) List of Digital Resources
Broken down into the following categories: State Archives and Collaboratives, Virtual Collections, Documentary Editions and Digitized Collections, Digital Editions available from University of Virginia Press /Rotunda.