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History: Primary Sources  Tags: primary_source san_francisco_state_university sf_state sfsu history_research j._paul_leonard  

Guide to researching primary sources at the San Francisco State University Library, including historical magazines & newspapers, online primary sources, primary sources in books, and primary sources in libraries & archives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Last update: Nov 16th, 2009 URL: http://libguides.sfsu.edu/primary  Print Guide  RSS Updates

Online Primary Sources             Print Page
  
 

Databases at Other Universities

 

Libraries such as those at UC Berkeley and Stanford have access to other subscription databases (not available at SF State) that can only be used in their library (not from off-campus, unless you are a student at that university). You may wish to consult their websites, or contact these libraries, to see whether they have databases of interest for your topic before making the trip to these libraries.

 

Evaluating Online Primary Sources

 

Remember that you need to be careful to critically evaluate any primary source material that you find on the Web (ie not through an SF State Library Database). Before you can be confident that the source is reputable, you must answer questions like, "Who or what organization is hosting this material? What is the original source of the document?"

 

More info: Using Primary Sources on the Web research guide.

 
 

SF State Library Databases

The SF State library subscribes to many databases that contain full-text (reproductions and/or transcripts) of historic documents:

  • AMERICAN STATE PAPERS  
    US government legislative and executive records from 1789-1838.
  • ARAB-ISRAELI RELATIONS, 1917-1970  
    Primary sources on Arab-Israeli relations.
  • ARTSTOR  
    Digital art database; includes photographs illustrating U.S. women's history and Native North American art and historic photographs.
  • BLACK THOUGHT & CULTURE  
    Primary sources documenting African Americans of all walks of life up to 1975. Includes a full run of The Black Panther (the party's newspaper) and extensive oral histories of Black Panther David Hilliard.
  • DIGITAL NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE  
    Declassified US government documents, 1945-present.
  • EARLY AMERICAN IMPRINTS, Series I: Evans (1639-1800)  
    Full-text reproductions of books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in the United States and American colonies from 1639 to 1800.
  • EARLY AMERICAN IMPRINTS, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819)  
    Full-text reproductions of books, pamphlets and broadsides published in the US from 1801-19. Also contains copies of state papers and government materials, including published reports; presidential letters and messages; and more.
  • SABIN AMERICANA (1500-1926)  
    Full text books, pamphlets, serials and other documents about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's.
  • SMITHSONIAN GLOBAL SOUND  
    Digital music and sound database; the "Spoken Word & Sounds" category includes historical speeches and other audio recordings.
  • U.S. CONGRESSIONAL SERIAL SET  
    All of the Reports, Documents, and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from 1817-1914.
  • WOMEN & SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE U.S.  
    Full-text collection of primary source documents related to women's roles in various U.S. social movements from 1600 to 2000.
 

Primary Source Web Directories

Use these directories to find other collections of primary sources on the web.

 

Free Web Resources

This list is NOT COMPREHENSIVE.  These are examples of the kinds of sites you can find in the "Primary Source Web Directories" section above.  To find more, check the resources listed there.

  • 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE & FIRE  
    Digital images & texts.
  • AD*ACCESS (1911-1955)  
    Images and information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines. Concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II.
  • AMERICAN MEMORY  
    Huge collection of sources from the Library of Congress collections. Collections cover a wide range of topics.
  • AMERICAN TV AD HISTORY & SHOWCASE (1940-1970)  
    Advertisements. Includes an archive television advertisements available for viewing online or downloading.
  • BBC MOTION GALLERY (1940s-present)  
    Over 10,000 movie clips from the archives of the British Broadcasting Corporation and CBS News.
  • BIBLIOTECA VIRTUAL MIGUEL DE CERVANTES  
    One of the world's largest collections of digital books, journals, documents, manuscripts, images and audio-visual resources.
  • BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE  
    Numerous primary & secondary sources on British history.
  • BRITISH PATHE (1896-1970)  
    Digital news archive. Preview items from the entire 3500 hour British Pathe Film Archive which covers news, sport, social history and entertainment.
  • BUND: BRITISH UNIVERSITIES NEWSREEL DATABASE  
    British newsreel and cinemagazine production records and a large collection of digitized documents related to newsreel productions.
  • "CALIFORNIA AS I SAW IT": FIRST-PERSON NARRATIVES OF CALIFORNIA'S EARLY YEARS, 1849-1900  
    Documenting the formative era of California's history through eyewitness accounts. Covers the dramatic decades between the Gold Rush and the turn of the 20th c. Captures the pioneer experience; encounters between Anglo-Americans & the diverse peoples who had preceded them; the transformation of the land by mining, ranching, agriculture, & urban development; the often-turbulent growth of communities and cities; & California's emergence as both a state a place of uniquely American dreams.
  • CALISPHERE  
    Images from the libraries and museums of 10 University of California campuses and more than 100 cultural heritage organizations. Includes photographs, diaries, documents, oral histories and other resources.
  • A CENTURY OF LAWMAKING FOR A NEW NATION (1774-1875)  
    Legislative records and acts, including Journals of the Continental Congress, Letters of Delegates to Congress, House and Senate Journals, American State Papers, the Annals of Congress, Register of Debates and other sources for US legal history.
  • CHINESE IN CALIFORNIA,1850-1925  
    Illustrates Chinese immigration to California from through images and pages of primary source materials documenting the experiences of Chinese immigrants in California, including the nature of inter-ethnic tensions; specific contributions of Chinese immigrants to commerce and business, architecture and art, agriculture and other industries, and cultural and social life in California; Chinatown, as well as smaller Chinese communities in California.
  • CHRONOLOGY OF US HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS  
    More than 100 historic US documents from the Magna Carta and the Mayflower Compact to the Truman Doctrine and the "I Have a Dream" speech.
  • CORE DOCUMENTS OF U.S. DEMOCRACY  
    Current and historical government publications including the Bill of Rights, presidential inauguration speeches and other judicial and regulatory documents.
  • DAVID RUMSEY MAP COLLECTION  
    Focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America cartographic history materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented.
  • DIGITAL SCRIPTORIUM  
    Image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts.
  • EMERGENCE OF ADVERTISING IN AMERICA (1850-1920)  
    Images relating to the early history of advertising in the United States.
  • EMMA GOLDMAN PAPERS (1910-1940)  
    Documentsby and about Emma Goldman (1869-1940), the influential anarchist and early feminist who advocated free speech, birth control, women's equality and union organizer.
  • FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT ARCHIVES  
    A spectrum of opinions on what FSM was, information about Mario Savio, perspectives on what happened in the FSM. There's an extensive suite of documents of the conflict, from all sides. Information on the rich history that led to the FSM and the complex developments that followed from it.
  • HISTORY AND POLITICS OUT LOUD  
    Audiorecordings of speeches and other addresses by US presidents and other political leaders.
  • IMAGES FROM THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE  
    Portraits, pictures of institutions, caricatures, genre scenes, and graphic art in a variety of media.
  • INTERNET MOVING IMAGES ARCHIVE  
    Includes advertisement and publicity films, educational films, government propaganda, and other historically important moving image materials.
  • JAPANESE AMERICAN RELOCATION DIGITAL ARCHIVE  
    Holdings of numerous California archives and museums featuring online finding aids, digital images, electronic texts and oral histories. Contains personal diaries, letters, photographs, and drawings. Also contains WRA materials: camp newsletters, final reports, photographs, and other documents relating to the day-to-day administration of the camps. Oral histories document the lives of persons who lived in the camps as well as the administrators who created and worked in the camps.
  • LIVING ROOM CANDIDATE: HISTORICAL PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COMMERCIALS (1952-2004)  
    An archive of historic and current political advertisements from television and the internet. Most clips include transcripts.
  • MAKING OF AMERICA  
    Books and journals published in the 19th century, particularly in the areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
  • MARXIST INTERNET ARCHIVE  
    Includes texts and biographical information on Marxist writers (including Engels, Gorky, Rosa Luxemburg and Gramsci), and historical documents on the revolutionary working class.
  • MOAC (Museums and Online Archive of California)  
    Selection of images from 7 California museums and libraries.
  • MONASTIC MATRIX: WOMEN'S RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES (400-1600)  
    Includes primary sources and digital images.
  • NATIONAL ARCHIVES ONLINE EXHIBITS  
    Collections of primary sources on various US historical events and topics.
  • ONLINE ARCHIVE OF CALIFORNIA  
    Historical materials from a variety of California museums, historical societies, and archives. Contains images, texts, and finding aids (guides to primary source collections).
  • ONLINE MEDIEVAL & CLASSICAL LIBRARY  
    Important literary works.
  • PERSEUS DIGITAL LIBRARY  
    Primary and secondary texts on the study of ancient Greece and Rome.
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE OLD BAILEY (1674-1913)  
    Records of criminal trials at London's central court.
  • RECORDS OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF SCOTLAND (1235-1707)  
    All of the proceedings from the first surviving act to the union of 1707.
  • SACRAMENTO HISTORY ONLINE  
    Documents agriculture and transportation in the Sacramento region from the mid 19th to early 20th century.
  • SAMUEL PEPYS' DIARY (1660-66)  
    Famous London diarist.
  • SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION  
    Photographs of San Francisco from 1850-present.
  • SFSU STRIKE COLLECTION, 1968-69  
    During 1968-1969, San Francisco State College was a focus for national attention as the campus erupted in turmoil. Initially students threatened to strike to stop the College's cooperation with the draft but discontent broadened to embrace the concerns of minority students and the eventual strike is often referred to as the Third World strike. This collection includes publications, broadsides, flyers, scrapbooks, student newspapers, and other documents.
  • SUFFRAGIST ORAL HISTORY PROJECT  
    Oral histories of seven major figures in 20th century suffragist history.
  • VOTING AMERICA: UNITED STATES POLITICS (1840-2008)  
    Cinematic and interactive maps, and analysis, of the Presidential elections in the US from 1840-2004.
  • WEB DE ANZA: SPANISH EXPLORATION & COLONIZATION OF ALTA CALIFORNIA,1774-76  
    Primary source documents and multimedia resources covering Juan Bautista de Anza's two overland expeditions from the Sonoran desert to northern California, leading to the colonization of San Francisco in 1776.
  • WORKING WOMEN (1870-1930)  
    Primary sources related to women in the US economy. Documents working conditions, conditions in the home, costs of living, recreation, health and hygeine, conduct of life, policies and regulations governing the workplace, & social issues.
 

Librarian

Profile ImageKendra Van Cleave


Contact Info:
Downtown Campus 678C (on SFSU campus by appointment)

kendrav@sfsu.edu
415-405-0997
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Subjects:
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