History Librarian
Primary Sources
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Ancestry Library EditionAncestry Library Edition provides billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more. Sources include censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps, and more.
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British and Irish Women's Letters and DiariesBritish and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries is an online collection that spans more than 400 years of personal writings, bringing together the voices of women from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The collection shows the various shapes and formats of the diary as it evolved, including the travel diary, offering detailed accounts of journeys and descriptions of places the daily personal diary, in which women reflected more broadly on aspects of their lives letter diaries, wherein a daily dated letter to a recipient served simultaneously as a diary entry and other forms. Topics covered include hospital work, festivals and fairs, families, criminals, educators, missionaries, political life, railroads, social reformers, scientists, and many more.
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British History OnlineBritish History Online is a not-for-profit digital library based at the Institute of Historical Research. It brings together material for British history from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and academics. These primary and secondary sources, which range from medieval to twentieth century, are easily searchable and browsable online.
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British Library NewspapersBritish Library Newspapers consists of collections from the British Library which span three hundred years of newspaper publishing in the U.K.. UNT has access to Part I: 1800-1900; Part II: 1800-1900; and Part IV: 1732-1950 of this database.
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British Literary Manuscripts OnlineBritish Literary Manuscripts Online contains two collections: British Literary Manuscripts Online, c.1660-1900 and British Literary Manuscripts Online: Medieval and renaissance. British Literary Manuscripts Online, c.1660-1900 provides fascimile images of literary manuscripts including letters, diaries, drafts of poems, plays, novels, essays, journals and more. The collection traces the development of literary movements from the classicism of the Pope and Johnson to the Romanticism of Wordsworth and the gothic novels of the Brontes. British Literary Manuscripts Online, Medieval and Renaissance provides fascimile images of letters, poems stories, plays, chronicles, religious writings and other materials from around 1120 to 1660. Works consist primarly of those in the Middle and Early Modern English.
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British periodicalsBritish Periodicals Collection contains more than 450 periodicals from the 1680s to the 1930s. These periodicals cover topics such as literature, philosophy, history, science, social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology, architecture, news and politics. All materials are available in page image format with fully serachable text. Access is provided to Collections I, II, and III.
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C19: The Nineteenth Century IndexThe Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalog is a project that indexes printed works in the English-speaking world from the 19th century to the end of World War I. It includes publications from Britain, its colonies, and the United States, as well as printed works in English and translations from English. It covers a wide range of books, periodicals, directories, and other publications. Dates of Coverage: NSTC Series I (1801-1815), Series II (1816-1870) and Series III (1871-1919)
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Empire OnlineEmpire Online from Adam Matthew provides manuscript, printed, and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials cover the last five centuries and are accompanied by secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps, and an interactive chronology. It charts the rise and fall of empires around the world. Empire Online provides exploration of colonial history, politics, culture, and society. It is organized into five sections: Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969 Empire Writing & the Literature of Empire The Visible Empire Religion & Empire and Race, Class, Colonialism, Imperialism.
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Gender: Identity and Social ChangeExplore essential primary sources from Australia, Canada, U.K., and U.S. documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations, and the struggle for women’s rights, from the nineteenth century to the present.
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International Women's Periodicals, 1786-1933: Social and Political IssuesInternational Women's Periodicals provides resources related to the lives of women, the role of women in society, and the development of the public lives of women as the push for women's rights grew in the United States and England. To offer a variety of viewpoints, periodicals conceived by men, for women conceived by male editors with strong input from female assistant editors or managers and periodicals conceived and published by women, for women are available. Titiles from the late Eighteenth century through the early 1930s are included. Some periodical titles included in this collection include, but are not limited to: American Home Magazine, Business Woman's Magazine, Daughters of America, Progress, The American Journal of Eugenics, The Home-Maker, The New Voter, The Temperance Educational Quarterly, The Women's Industrial News, Woman's Welfare, and many more.
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London Labour and the London Poor: A Cyclopaedia of the Condition and Earnings of Those That Will Work, Those That Cannot Work, and Those That Will Not Work (print) byCall Number: HV4088.L8 M52 1967bprint (4 volumes)
Willis Library
Remote Storage (request pickup)
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London Low LifeLondon Low Life brings the dark underworld of Victorian London to life with a digital collection of street literature, advertisements and propaganda, cartoons, maps, and much more.
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Victorian Popular CultureVictorian Popular Culture is a portal comprised of four modules, inviting users into the darkened halls, small backrooms, big tops and travelling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to the world of magic, spiritualist séances, optical entertainments and the first moving pictures.
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Women's Studies Archive: Female Forerunners WorldwideWomen’s Studies Archive: Female Forerunners Worldwide focuses on individual women and organizations around the world who have broken new paths in society through business, social reform, popular culture, health care, and more. Covers 1759 - 2002
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Women's Studies Archive: Voice and VisionWomen’s Studies Archive: Voice and Vision contains diverse records that explore the history of gender and women's studies. The material in the collection includes books, documents, magazines, firsthand accounts, personal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, articles, and photographs.
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Women's Studies Archive: Women's Issues and IdentitiesWomen's Issues and Identities traces the path of women's issues from past to present - pulling primary sources from manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, and more. It captures the foundation of women's movements, struggles, and triumphs. This resource focuses on the social, political, and professional achievements of women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century.
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World's FairsWorld's Fairs offers insight into the phenomenon of international expositions. Over 200 world's fairs and exhibitions are represented through a range of primary sources from various archive collections. Users can access documents from the fairs, case studies of several of the most significant fairs, interactive site plans, essays from consultant academics, and visual artifacts including souvenirs, photographs, posters, and plans.
Primary Source Definition
What is a primary source?
A primary source can be an article, document, diary, manuscript, object or information written or created at the time an event actually took place. Primary sources serve as an original source of information.
A primary source is a first-hand record of an event or topic created by a participant in or a witness to that event or topic. Primary sources can be a document, letter, eye-witness account, diary, article, book, recording, statistical data, manuscript, or art object. Primary sources vary by discipline and provide an original source of information about an era or event. Although primary sources can include first-hand accounts that were documented later, such as memoirs or oral histories, primary sources created or written closest to the time of the actual event are considered to be the most useful sources for research purposes.
A secondary source is second-hand information written or created after an event. Secondary sources may summarize, interpret, review, or criticize existing events or works. Secondary sources were written or created after an event by people who were not at the original event. Secondary sources can be many formats including books, articles, encyclopedias, textbooks, or a scholar’s interpretation of past events or conditions.
Examples of Primary Sources and Secondary Sources:
Primary Source: Secondary Source:
An original painting by Mary Cassatt A book about the artist Mary Cassatt
President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address An article about Abraham Lincoln
A photograph of Harry Houdini A website about Houdini's magic tricks
An original Gershwin musical score A recent recording of Gershwin songs
(Source: U.S. Library of Congress https://ask.loc.gov/faq/303148)