Pilgrim Library: History Research Guide: Primary Sources

History Digital Collections

Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
Maps and text description of the creation and changes in the size, shape, and location of every county in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Library of Congress's searchable collection of millions of U.S. newspaper pages, mostly those out of copyright more than 95 years ago.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Over 22,000 digitized historical maps of North American and South America from the 18th and 19th century.
Historic Government Publications from World War II
Collection of digitized documents released by the government during World War II.
Sanborn Historical Maps (Kent State)
The Sanborn Maps are a collection of "large scale street plans produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company from 1882 to 1967."
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museum: Research & Collections
The Rutherford B. Hayes's Presidential Library & Museum houses a collection of "over 90,000 books which reflect Hayes' special interests, including genealogy, local history, and the Gilded Age period in which he lived."
World War II Military Situation Maps
The World War II Military Situation Maps contains 416 maps and 115 reports showing troop positions beginning on June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945. Starting with the D-Day Invasion, the maps give daily details on the military campaigns in Western Europe, showing the progress of the Allied Forces as they push towards Germany.

Digital Public Library of America This link opens in a new window
"A discovery tool, or union catalog, for public domain and openly licensed content held by the United States' archives, libraries, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions."--Wikipedia. It has over 42 million (and counting) digitized images, audio and video files, and documents available for viewing to researchers in history and social and cultural studies.

Photographs, Posters & Maps

Europeana: Think Culture
Europeana is a single access point to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised throughout Europe.
New York Public Library Digital Gallery
Includes some very interesting photographs, posters, maps, and manuscripts (such as German propaganda from 1939-1942 and posters from the Russian Civil War).
British Cartoon Archives
Search the British Cartoon Archives by time or topic.
Digital Image Library of Bodelian Libraries
The Bodelian Libraries of Oxford have created an easy way to search through their digital images. The dates of these images range from ancient to modern history.
United Kingdom National Archives by period
Select a time period and view related materials.
Prints & Photographs Online from the Library of Congress

Images & Text: Primary Source Search Engines

Each and every day, more archived materials are being scanned and added to digital collections. Here are some suggested locations to visit and search for new collections.

United Kingdom National Archives
Search by keyword or browse by topic or governing body.
EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History
Allows you to select a country and view transcripts and documents.
Cambridge Digital Library
Browse or search through the digital collections of the University of Cambridge.

History Research Guide

Finding Primary Sources

Documents, Manuscripts, & Texts

History Digital Collections

Photographs, Posters & Maps

Images & Text: Primary Source Search Engines

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