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Get Ideas and Information
The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History. (Two Volume Set) by Publication Date: 2009"An essential resource for anyone interested in U.S. history and politics, this two-volume encyclopedia covers the major forces that have shaped American politics from the founding to today."
Asian American History and Culture: an Encyclopedia by Publication Date: 2015"With overview essays and more than 400 A-Z entries, this exhaustive encyclopedia documents the history of Asians in America from earliest contact to the present day."
Encyclopedia of North American Indians by Publication Date: 1996"...an authentic and often surprising portrait of the complexities of the Native American experience. Written by more than 260 contemporary authorities, the volume features many Native American contributors - including eminent writers, tribal elders, scholars, and activists - with voices as distinct as their subjects."
The Mexican American Experience by Publication Date: 2003"This A-to-Z guide offers comprehensive coverage of the Mexican American experience. Entries range from figures such as Corky Gonzales, Joan Baez, and Nancy Lopez to general entries on bilingual education, assimilation, border culture, and southwestern agriculture."
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History by Publication Date: 2005"an authoritative and comprehensive information about Black history, figures, and accomplishments throughout the Americas now have a defining and current reference."
Books
Civil Rights and Beyond by Publication Date: 2016"...examines the dynamic relationships between African American and Latino/a activists in the United States from the 1930s to the present day."
Diversity in Diaspora by Publication Date: 2013"...wrestles with Hmong Americans' inclusion into and contributions to Asian American studies, as well as to American history and culture and refugee, immigrant, and diasporic trajectories."
Judgment Without Trial by Publication Date: 2011"...reveals that long before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government began making plans for the eventual internment and later incarceration of the Japanese American population."
Muslims in America: A Short History by Publication Date: 2009"...unearths [Muslim] history, documenting the lives of African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, European, black, white, Hispanic and other Americans who have been followers of Islam."
Survival Schools by Publication Date: 2013"In 1972, motivated by prejudice in the child welfare system and hostility in the public schools, AIM organizers and local Native parents started their own community school. "
The United States and the Second World War by Publication Date: 2010" a collection of essays offering a fresh examination of American participation in the Second World War, including a long overdue reconsideration of such seminal topics as the forces leading the United States to enter World War II, the role of the American military in the Allied victory, and war-time planning for the postwar world, but also tackle new inquiries into life on the home front and America's commemoration of one of the most controversial and climatic events of the war-the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. "
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by ISBN: 0679604073Publication Date: 2010"...sabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life."
Slavery and Emancipation by ISBN: 9780470754634Publication Date: 2008"a comprehensive collection of primary and secondary readings on the history of slaveholding in the American South combining recent historical research with period documents. "
Journals
- Annual Reports of the American Historical AssociationIncludes the annual reports of the AHA since 1895.
- American Historical Review" the journal of record for the historical profession in the United States since 1895—the only journal that brings together scholarship from every major field of historical study."
- The Journal of African American History"... the leading scholarly publication on African American life and history, and publishes original scholarly articles and book reviews on all aspects of the African American experience. "
- American Jewish History"the most widely recognized journal in its field. Founded in 1892 as Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, AJH is the official publication of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS), the oldest national ethnic historical organization in the United States."
- American Indian Quarterly"A refereed interdisciplinary journal of the history, anthropology, literature and the arts of Native American Indians, book reviews and lists of recently published books."
Primary Sources in United States History
The sources here are divided into several sections:
- General: Use these sources for all periods of American history.
- U.S. to 1815
- 20th-Century U.S. History
General United States History
- These sites contain sources for all periods of American history.
- Digital Public Library of America: Primary Source SetsThis source contains more than primary sources in history! Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more.
- Umbra: Search African American HistoryUmbra contains over 400,000 primary sources on African American History!
- American MemoryThe Library of Congress's National Digital Library contains more than 40 collections, which feature historical photos, maps, documents, letters, speeches, recordings, videos, prints, and more.
- A Hyptertext on American HistoryMore than 100 historical documents relating to U.S. history, from the 1400s to the present. Includes letters, charters, essays, speeches, journal entries, inaugural addresses, autobiographies,and more. An outline of American history provides context for the primary-source materials.
- Documenting the American SouthAn electronic text archive from the University of North Carolina, with primary-source slavery narratives and first-person accounts of the South, as well as a digitized library of southern literature.
- A Chronology of U.S. Historical Documents | University of Oklahoma College of LawAn extensive directory of historical documents from pre-colonial days to the present. Many presidential inaugural addresses are included, as are songs, poems, and letters.
- Making of AmericaA digital library of primary sources in 19th-century American social history—a collaborative effort from two universities. Check out their subject search of digitized books (with, for example, a treasure trove about New York City).
- Vincent Voice LibraryFeatures primary source sound samples, such as speech clips from many U.S. presidents and other notable figures in history. From Michigan State University.
U.S. to 1815
- Colonial Era | Revolutionary War | Slavery | Westward Expansion | War of 1812
- Digital HistoryThe most useful portion of this big site is the "Eras" tab, and when you are in that section the documents tab contains many resources. You also might want to explore the "people" tab and the "image" tab.
- Born to SlaveryBorn in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. This is one of many Slave Narratives websites-type in Slave narrative into Google to find more.
- Web Resources for Colonial AmericaThis is a directory of web sites that contain resources on Colonial American history.
- The Journals of Lewis and ClarkRead the journals of Lewis and Clark online! This site provides scans of the scans of drawings and maps made by Lewis and Clark. It also contains images of plants, animals, people and and places that are not from the journals-but from later in the 19th century. There is also a large suggested reading list.
- Papers of the War Department 1784-1800This is a huge site--using the browse option is probably the best way to search this site.
- A Guide to the War of 1812The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the War of 1812, including manuscripts, broadsides, pictures, and government documents. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the War of 1812 that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, it provides links to external Web sites focusing on the War of 1812 and a bibliography.
20th Century U.S. History
- Labor Unions | New Deal | Great Depression | Civil Rights Movement
American Decades Primary Sources by Call Number: View EbookExamines the changes through a variety of perspectives in American History from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present.
- New Deal NetworkA database of more than 20,000 primary-source documents related to the Depression era and the New Deal, including letters, photographs, posters, political cartoons, government documents, speeches, and more. You can also find background information on New Deal programs. Created by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.
- Civil Rights Oral HistoryThis site contains the transcripts of oral histories of participants active in the Civil Rights Movement In Mississippi from 1954-1972.
- Labor HistoryClick on the Reference Tab for links to the sources.
- Minneapolis Truckers StrikeThis link is to resources at the Minnesota Historical Society's collection of materials dealing with Minneapolis Truckers Strike. The resources themselves are not online.
- AIM'S TRAIL OF BROKEN TREATIES 20-POINT POSITION PAPERThe Trail of Broken Treaties was the document that fueled a cross-country protest in the United States by American Indian and First Nations organizations that took place in the autumn of 1972.
- Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room (CIA)Declassified CIA documents covering important subjects in 20th century American history: the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, 9/11, and much more.
Newspaper Articles
Newspapers are a rich source of information on American history. These online databases are open-source and full-text.
- US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Prominent U.S. papers like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It's also a good place to look for Star Tribune articles, with archives from 1986. Use the advanced search tab to limit to particular titles or dates.
- Chronicling America: Newspapers from the Library of CongressSearch and view newspaper pages from 1880 to 1922 in 15 states (including Minnesota), and find information about American newspapers published between 1690 and the present.
- California Digital Newspaper CollectionMore than 200,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years from 1849 to 1911: the Alta California, the San Francisco Call, the Amador Ledger, the Imperial Valley Press, the Sacramento Record-Union, and the Los Angeles Herald. Additional years and titles are in the works.
- Minnesota Digital Newspaper HubThe Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub provides access to Minnesota newspapers, including geographically and culturally diverse ones, published between 1856 and today ― with pre-1922 articles available on the Web. Because of copyright restrictions, you have to go to the Minnesota History Center Library, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., Saint Paul, to read newspaper content that's newer than that. Warning: this site can be slow!
- Colorado's Historic Newspaper CollectionSixty of Colorado's earliest historic newspapers in a searchable online database. Includes the Rocky Mountain News, Boulder Camera, and the Colorado Chieftain — more than 250,000 pages that cover 1859 to 1924.
- Brooklyn Daily Eagle OnlineThe Brooklyn Daily Eagle was published from 1841 to 1955, then revived for a short time from 1960 to 1963. This digitization project covers the period from October 26, 1841, to December 31, 1902, representing half of the Eagle's years of publication—approximately 147,000 pages of newspaper in various digital formats.
- Minnesota Labor ReviewAccess to the Minnesota Labor Review, 1907-2006 is available on this site. The Labor Review is the newspaper of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union.