Film & HistoryHIST 133J: Creation of the Am. PoliticianHIST120: Introduction to Environmental HistoryHIST134: History of American Indian LawHIST166J: Asian American WomenHistory 127J: Witchcraft and Society in Colonial AmericaProfessor Beverly Gage: Liberalism/Conservatism & Communism/AnticommunismSlave South, 1650-1865
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U.S. History and American Studies 

A guide for conducting U.S. History and American Studies research at the Yale University Library.
Last update: Nov 20th, 2009 URL: http://guides.library.yale.edu/ushistory  Print Guide  RSS Updates

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Primary Source Databases

  • Colonial America  
    A list of full-text databases of Colonial U.S. history sources, including books, newspapers, and government documents.
  • Nineteenth Century America  
    A list of full-text primary source databases for 19th century U.S. history, including newspapers, magazines, and government documents.
  • Twentieth Century America  
    A list of full-text primary source databases for 20th century U.S. history, including newspapers, magazines, and government documents.

Primary Source Collections

  • African American History  
    A guide to primary source collections for African American history research at Yale.
  • Art, Architecture, and Drama  
    A guide to art, architecture, and drama collections from the Manuscripts and Archives Department of Sterling Memorial Library.
  • Environmental History  
    A guide to primary source collections at Yale for environmental history.
  • Legal History  
    A guide to primary source collections in legal history at Manuscripts and Archives, Sterling Memorial Library.
  • History of Medicine  
  • Sexuality Studies  
    A guide to sexuality studies primary source collections in Manuscripts and Archives, Sterling Memorial Library.
  • U.S. Foreign Policy  
  • Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation  
    A list of primary source collections for the study of slavery and abolition at the Yale University Library.
  • Asian American History  
    In development
  • Hispanic American History  
    In development
  • Jewish American History  
    In development
  • Native American History  
    In development
 

Key Reference Databases for U.S. History

  • America History and Life  
    The key source for searching scholarly literature in U.S. history. Unlike JSTOR, America History and Life is current and includes books and dissertations. Tip: Search book titles to find book reviews.
  • American National Biography  
    A seminal reference source which includes reliable biographical information on a number of individuals. One of the key strengths of this database is that its entries often contain very good bibliographies that point to key secondary works and primary source collections.

Key Newspaper Databases for U.S. History

  • Access Newspaper Archive  
    A collection of digital newspapers from smaller towns. Dates and places vary widely, making search results very much hit or miss.
  • America's Historical Newspapers  
    Large collection of digital newspapers from the 18th and 19th centuries. Tip: by clicking on the "Archive of Americana" link in this database interface, you can cross-search other Readex databases for this time period.
  • Historical Newspapers Complete  
    One of our premier databases, Historical Newspapers Complete contains large runs of major U.S. newspapers including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. Tip: choose "more search options" to limit searches to specific newspaper sections.
  • Yale Daily News Digital Archive  
    An incomplete, but fairly substantial, digital archive of the Yale Daily News, going back to its inaugural issue in 1878.

Key Primary Source Databases for U.S. History

  • Ancestry Library Edition  
    This database contains a large collection of primary sources, including original images of U.S. census records, and slave schedules, and immigration passenger lists from New York, Philadelphia, and Boston for the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Lexis Nexis Congressional  
    One of the best sources for U.S. government documents. Contains the Congressional Record and numerous hearings, reports and other documents from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Tip: limit searches to individual Congresses to narrow searches. Also, choose advanced search to select different parts of the database, such as the large map collection (Serial Set Maps).
  • American Periodical Series  
    This database includes digitized images of the pages of many American magazines and journals published from 1740 to 1900. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal; regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking journals like The Dial, Puck, and McClure's.

My Favorite Databases

  • The Economist  
    Full-text database of every issue of the seminal English magazine from 1843-2003, providing an interesting lens through which to view U.S. events and policy.
  • Historical Statistics Complete  
    Aggregated historical statistical data covering a number of areas of U.S. history, including economic statistics, military data, crime, and population.
 

U.S. History Librarian

Profile ImageGreg Eow


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Room 226, Sterling Memorial Library

phone: 203-432-1757
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U.S. History, American Studies

 
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