Digital Collections -- Primary Sources
- 19th Century American Literary, Historical, and Cultural Studies This link opens in a new windowA site that brings together the best materials available on the web for studying and teaching about 19th century American literature.
- Avalon Project at Yale This link opens in a new windowPrimary source materials in the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government.
- Canadian Illustrated News (1869 to 1883) This link opens in a new windowA selection of 4,000 images of people, places and events across Canada and around the world taken from the popular 19th-century magazine. Canadian Illustrated News was published in Montreal, Quebec from 1869 to 1883 and was notable for its innovative use
- Digital Public Library of AmericaDPLA includes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
- European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 This link opens in a new windowEuropean Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 is a free archive of indexed publications related to the Americas and written in Europe before 1750. It includes thousands of valuable primary source records covering the history of European exploration as well as portrayals of Native American peoples.
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new windowHathiTrust is a massive full-text digital library comprising more than 10 million volumes contributed by more than 60 major research institutions and libraries.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new windowBrowse the full array of digitized collections at the Library of Congress.
- New York Times This link opens in a new windowMilne Library currently subscribes to the New York Times which grants members of the College community access to New York Times articles from the present day back to 1851. Please visit the following URL for instructions on signing up for an academic pass: https://library.geneseo.edu/accessnytimes
- Women Working, 1800-1930 This link opens in a new windowDigitized historical, manuscript, and image resources selected from Harvard University's library and museum collections that explore women's roles in the U.S. economy between the Civil War and the Great Depression.
Finding Images
- ARTstor This link opens in a new window
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Access over a million images covering the fine and decorative arts from around the world as well as architecture and commercial design. ARTstor also includes many images which document cultural events and news stories. Note: You must be logged into the SUNY Geneseo VPN to access this resource. Please use a new private browser window when accessing this resource.
- FlickrUse Flickr's advanced search to find photos and images which are available copyright free or through a Creative Commons license that allows for reuse.
Flickr provides access to works by professional and amateur photographers as well as several collections from major world museums as well as to those of lesser quality. - New York Public Library Digital CollectionsFree and open access to over 700,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
Examples of Primary Sources
- Diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies
- Personal papers, organizational paper
- Speeches
- Interviews, oral history, personal narratives (transcripts or audio)
- Letters
- Photographs and recordings
- Images
- Newspaper/magazine articles (written at the time studied)
- Artifacts
- Government information
- Maps
- Manuscripts
- Presidential papers
- Legal cases (decisions, transcripts, hearings, treaties)
- Statistical data, census records, research results
