This link opens in a new windowThis two-part collection provides primary and secondary sources on American history from early settlers through the end of World War II through correspondence, diaries, government documents, photographs, newspapers, broadsides, artwork, and more.
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This link opens in a new windowPreviously Archive of Americana search interface. Explore virtually every aspect of United States history, culture, and daily life across three centuries with access to newspapers, books, broadsides, ephemera, government publications, primary documents, and more.
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The premier collection of periodicals published between 1684 and 1912 in America. This collection documents American life from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
The documents presented here represent a selection of primary sources available in several ProQuest databases. The databases represented in this website include American Periodicals, Black Abolitionist Papers, ProQuest History Vault, ProQuest Congressional, Supreme Court Insight and Alexander Street’s Black Thought and Culture.
This link opens in a new windowThe experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media. This collection offers “suggested searches” to guide students to pertinent topics from social justice, politics, arts, literature, key people, etc.
This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids.
American Civil War Digital Collections: Letters and Diaries (University of Delaware)
American Civil War Digital Collections: Letters and Diaries consists of personal correspondence from Delawareans who served in the war on the side of the Union, which are outlined below on this page. It also contains the Personal diary of the Reverend Samuel Tupper, a relief worker for the U.S. Christian Commission, a Union relief organization during the Civil War. The diary includes the Commission's regulations.
Civil War Diaries (Augustana College)
Two Civil War soldiers, Gould D. Molineaux and Basil Messler, served in the Union Army near Vicksburg, Mississippi. Molineaux, a member of the 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, participated in the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863; Messler, whose unit was the Mississippi Brigade, enlisted in Davenport and arrived in the Vicksburg area in 1864. Their original diaries, with transcriptions, are supplemented by information and maps showing the movement of the troops.
Civil War Diaries and Letters (University of Iowa)
The University of Iowa digitized its collections of diaries and letters realting to soldiers who served in the Civil war. These detail their service in the war and post service life.
Civil War Letters of the Christie Family
In 1861, two brothers, having just purchased a farm in Southern Minnesota, enlisted in the First Minnesota Battery of Light Artillery. Although neither expected a long tour of duty, William and Thomas Christie served in the First Minnesota Battery through June 1865. Their younger brother, Alexander, enlisted in an infantry regiment in fall 1864. All three brothers were excellent writers, and each wrote extensively while in the Army.
Cornelius C. Platter Civil War Diary, 1864 - 1865
The Cornelius C. Platter Civil War Diary, 1864 - 1865 is the Civil War diary of Lt. (later Capt.) Cornelius C. Platter, of the 81st Ohio Infantry Volunteers, from November, 1864 - April 27, 1865. Platter's diary details Sherman's march through Georgia from Rome to Savannah and the march north through the Carolinas. He gives dates, times, and lengths of marches and describes the weather, locale, scenery, and food as well as orders, rumors, positions, troop morale, and administrative duties...
Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary, 1861 - 1862
The Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary, 1861 - 1862, held at the Troup County Archives, chronicles Cyrus Franklin Jenkins' experiences as an enlisted man in the Meriwether Volunteers, Company B, 13th Georgia Infantry Regiment, during the first year of the war, June 1861 to March 1862. Jenkins vividly describes the early euphoria of the war and the regiment's campaigns in western Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of Floyd's Brigade and in Savannah in Lawton's Brigade.
The Civil War diary of George S. Smith, a sergeant in Company C of the 48th Ohio Regiment, covers his service in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas from October 1863 to November 1865...His diary also describes his duties in Galveston, Texas, where he guarded a Freedmen's camp, and contains lists of expenses, letters received and written, and battles in which he participated.
The Noah Hart Papers consist mainly of correspondence during the Civil War from Captain Noah Hart (1813-1891) to his wife Emily Julia Peck Hart (1824-1884). Hart enlisted in the 10th Michigan Infantry in 1862 and remained in the service until 1865, moving through Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.
The letters provide information on the everyday life of the regiment including health and nutrition, supplies, sleeping conditions, weather, pay, and matters back home in Michigan...
Robert Toombs, Letters to Julia Ann DuBose Toombs, 1850-1867
The digitized collection Robert Toombs, Letters to Julia Ann DuBose Toombs, 1850-1867 consists of correspondence from Robert Toombs to his wife, Julia Ann DuBose Toombs in Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia from 1850-1867. During 1850-1859 his letters come from Washington, D.C. while he served in the U.S. Senate. During the Civil War, he wrote from Virginia (1862) and Atlanta, Georgia (1864). Following the war, letters are written from Paris (1866-67) while he was in exile.
Wisconsin Goes to War: Our Civil War Experience is a collection of first person narrative accounts of Wisconsin soldiers and citizens. Through their letters, diaries, poems and other records, we learn about the state's contributions to the Union victory that cost the lives of over 12,000 of the state's men.
Primary sources are records of events as they are first described, usually by witnesses or people who were involved in the event. Many primary sources were created at the time of the event but can also include memoirs, oral interviews, or accounts that were recorded later.
Visual materials, such as photos, original artwork, posters, and films are important primary sources, not only for the factual information they contain, but also for the insight they may provide into how people view their world. Primary sources may also include sets of data, such as census statistics, which have been tabulated but not interpreted. However, in the sciences or social sciences, primary sources report the results of an experiment.
Why are primary sources important?
Primary sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.
Secondary sources offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources. They often attempt to describe or explain primary sources. Some secondary sources not only analyze primary sources, but also use them to argue a contention or persuade the reader to hold a certain opinion. Examples of secondary sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, books, and articles.