Research Guides: U.S. History: Primary Sources

About Primary Sources

Primary sources are original documents, images, and artifacts created at the time of an event. They are first-hand records by people who participated in or experienced the event. Primary sources exist in many format and content types including:

Interviews
Newspapers
Photographs
Autobiographies
Film and audio recordings
Letters and diaries
Manuscripts
Social media posts

Digitized Primary Sources

Historical Documents: Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) Series
Documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and diplomacy, organized by presidential administration.
Digital Public Library of America
Online exhibitions and primary sources for varied topics in American history.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Digitized manuscripts, books, images, recordings, and films covering American history and culture.

American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Documents American History from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century

Historical Newspapers and Periodicals

Harpweek - The Civil War Era: 1857-1865 This link opens in a new window
Harper's Weekly newspaper, 1857-1912
African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new window
Newspapers and magazines and more from various African American organizations.
Early American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Newspapers published from 1690-1922
African American Newspapers, Series 1 & 2, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
African American history, culture, & daily life
Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980) This link opens in a new window
Spanish-language Hispanic American newspapers
C19: Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new window
Index for 19th-century books and periodical literature. Includes full-text.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers from the Library of Congress This link opens in a new window
Information about historic newspapers. Includes a selection of digitized newspaper pages.

Microforms

If access to a newspaper is not available digitally, it may be on microform.

Some major newspapers may have an accompanying index, which allows you to search by subject. Without an index, you can only search microforms by date. Find indexes in Library Search or WorldCat.
Microform readers are located in the Fondren Library Print Copy Scan room on the 1st floor. Instructions are next to the readers, or you can ask for help at the Main Desk.

Journal Search
Look up newspapers and indexes by title.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
Find newspapers on microform and indexes held by other libraries.