History Research Guide

"American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience."

"The American Presidency Project (APP), non-profit and non-partisan, is the leading source of presidential documents on the internet. Our archives contain 126,702 documents and are growing rapidly. The APP, hosted at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been a collaboration between John T. Woolley (UCSB) and Gerhard Peters (Citrus College) since 1999."

"The Behind the Veil Oral History Project was undertaken by Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies from 1993 to 1995. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the primary purpose of this documentary project was to record and preserve the living memory of African American life during the age of legal segregation in the American South, from the 1890s to the 1950s."

"Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1924 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress."

A list of different types of digital collections from the Library of Congress. Subjects include American history, world cultures and history, local history and folklife, photographs, and more.

"DPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All of the materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format."

"DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives."

"Documenting the American South (DocSouth) is a digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs." From the University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"From the stock market crash of 1929 to the beginnings of World War II, The Great Depression tells the dramatic and diverse stories of struggle and survival during the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. Originally debuting on PBS stations in 1993, the 7-part series was met with critical acclaim, winning an Emmy for writing and a duPont-Columbia Award. These interviews are part of the Henry Hampton Collection housed at the Film & Media Archive at Washington University Libraries."

A collection of historical maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas Libraries.

"The Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (JARDA) contains thousands of primary sources documenting Japanese American internment. ... The JARDA project began in 1998 with the goal of providing a single point of entry to materials held by California institutions on the subject of Japanese American relocation and incarceration during World War II."

"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever."

"The New England Indian Papers Series Electronic Archives is a scholarly critical edition of New England Native American primary source materials gathered into one robust virtual collection. It offers students, educators, researchers, Native American tribal members, and the general public, visual and intellectual access to significant historical knowledge for the purposes of teaching, scholarly analysis, and research."

"The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, a World Oceans map, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map."

"Online sources for European history." Organized according to time period or country. Created by Richard Hacken, European Studies Bibliographer, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University,

"Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more."

"The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use." Edited by Paul Halsall, Fordham University

"Our country guides cover everything from etiquette, to local customs, culture and how to conduct business."

"The Labyrinth provides free, organized access to resources in medieval studies. The Labyrinth’s easy-to-use links provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images around the world."

Digital collections focused on Latin America. "The Benson Latin American Collection and LLILAS host or have been partners in a broad array of digital projects and initiatives. We invite you to learn more about these rich collections, or browse and search their contents."

"Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research."

"USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive allows users to search through and view more than 54,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of genocide. ... Viewable on the VHA Online are about 3,000 testimony videos from survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides. Testimony videos not viewable in the VHA Online can be viewed onsite at many institutions around the world." More information for using VHA Online is available at the VHA Online LibGuide.

Tutorial and exercises for world history topics from Khan Academy

"World History Matters is a portal to world history websites developed by the Center for History and New Media." © Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

A collection of world maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas Libraries.

"The American Historical Association is the largest professional organization serving historians in all fields and all professions. The AHA is a trusted voice advocating for history education, the professional work of historians, and the critical role of historical thinking in public life."

"The East Tennessee Historical Society is one of the most active private historical organizations in the state. We specialize in finding creative ways to introduce the public to the fascinating world of history."

"Since 1966, the Oral History Association has served as the principal membership organization for people committed to the value of oral history. OHA engages with policy makers, educators, and others to help foster best practices and encourage support for oral history and oral historians."

"Founded in 1907, the Organization of American Historians (OAH) is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. The mission of the organization is to promote excellence in the scholarship, teaching, and presentation of American history, and to encourage wide discussion of historical questions and the equitable treatment of all practitioners of history."

"The Southeast World History Association (SEWHA) is a regional affiliate of the World History Association, serving the Southeastern United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Arkansas). Founded as the Georgia World History Association in 1989, SEWHA has become a true regional organization and a highly active WHA affiliate. SEWHA promotes the study of World History that transcends national, regional, and continental boundaries."

"The Southern Historical Association was organized on November 2, 1934 and charged with promoting an "investigative rather than a memorial approach" to southern history. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in southern history, the collection and preservation of the South's historical records, and the encouragement of state and local historical societies in the South. As a secondary purpose the Association fosters the teaching and study of all areas of history in the South."

"Founded in 1849, the Tennessee Historical Society is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, membership-based organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of Tennessee while telling the stories of all Tennesseans."

"The Urban History Association supports and encourages the historical study and teaching of cities, suburbs and metropolitan regions in all time periods throughout the world."

"The WHA is the foremost organization for the promotion of world history through the encouragement of teaching, research, and publication. It was founded in 1982 by a group of teachers and academics determined to address the needs and interests of what was then a newly emerging historical sub-discipline and teaching field."

"Presented by the Library of Congress, Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information."

"GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government."

Image search from Google - either text-based or reverse image.

A news aggregator

Reverse image search - upload an image or provide a URL to an image's online location.

"USA.gov is an interagency product administered by USAGov (formerly the Federal Citizen Information Center), a division of the U.S. General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Service. Our mission is to create and organize timely, needed government information and services and make them accessible anytime, anywhere, via your channel of choice."

"Wolfram|Alpha introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers—not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods."
Want to have fun? Look what the response is to the question "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"