Primary Source Collections Provided by Watzek Library
- 19th Century English Language Journals of the Far East This link opens in a new windowA collection of English-language journals from 19th-century East Asia. Topics include East-West communication, Christianity in Asia, and China's political, economic, and cultural landscape.
- African American Newspapers (1827-1998) This link opens in a new windowFull text for approximately 270 U.S. newspapers from 35 states, chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. Includes rare 19th century titles.
- American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I This link opens in a new windowAccess for L&C College and Graduate School only. Facsimile images of 15,000 broadsides printed between 1820-1900, and 15,000 pieces of ephemera printed between 1760-1900.
- American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism This link opens in a new windowDeclassified FBI files on the evolution of the American Indian Movement and the growth of Native American protest and radicalism.
- American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020Hundreds of periodicals from across the country, with special attention paid to women's prison publications.
- American State Papers This link opens in a new windowReports of the U.S. Congress between 1789 and 1838
- Archives Unbound This link opens in a new windowWatzek Library provides 16 separate digital archives in Archives Unbound.
- Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle This link opens in a new windowThe Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated from 1970 to 1981. Composed largely of former Black Panthers (BPP), the organization's program was one of "armed struggle" and its stated goal was to "take up arms for the liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States." The BLA carried out a series of bombings, robberies (what participants termed "expropriations"), and prison breaks.
- Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama This link opens in a new windowThis collection is a mixture of issues and papers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama ranging from 1861-1865. These newspapers "recorded the real and true history of public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the only really correct and indicative 'map of busy life, its fluctuations and its vast concerns' in the South, during her days of darkness and of trial."
- Correspondence from German Concentration Camps and Prisons This link opens in a new windowCollection consists of items originating from prisoners held in German concentration camps, internment and transit camps, Gestapo prisons, and POW camps, during and just prior to World War II. Most of the collection consists of letters written or received by prisoners, but also includes receipts for parcels, money orders and personal effects; paper currency; and realia, including Star of David badges that Jews were forced to wear.
- Czechoslovakia from Liberation to Communist State, 1945-63: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files This link opens in a new windowDocuments the creation of the Third Republic, which was established after World War II, and differed markedly from the First Republic of 1918.
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new windowThis archive presents a vast, expertly curated, comprehensive collection of significant primary source documents, arranged in collections, that are central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new windowEEBO contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and British North America as well as works in English printed elsewhere from 1473–1700.
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new windowECCO delivers the full-text and page images of every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in Great Britain during the eighteenth century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas.
- Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new windowDeclassified FBI primary source documents from the US government's surveillance of African-Americans, including Malcolm X, Elijah Mohammed, Marcus Garvey, the Black Panther Party, SNCC, NAACP, Roy Wilkins, WEB Dubois, and Jesse Jackson.
- Feminism in Cuba: Nineteenth through Twentieth Century Archival Documents This link opens in a new windowThis collection, compiled from Cuban sources, spans the period from Cuban independence to the end of the Batista regime. The collection sheds light on Cuban feminism, women in politics, literature by Cuban women and the legal status of Cuban women.
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1947 to 1996 This link opens in a new windowCreated by the U.S. intelligence community to benefit policy makers and analysts, FBIS Daily Reports offer foreign views and perspectives on historical events translated into English.
- Foreign Relations Between the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean States, 1930-1944 This link opens in a new windowDeclassified documents outlining American interventionism in Latin America. Topics include U.S. financial support for dictatorships, military training, and economic and cultural penetration.
- Gerritsen Collection – Women's History Online, 1543–1945 This link opens in a new windowMulti-disciplinary cross-cultural resource for women's history spanning four centuries and 15 languages.
- Global Commodities This link opens in a new windowThis resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of fifteen major commodities in world history. These commodities include oil, timber, cotton, and many more which have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They helped transform societies, global trading operations, habits of consumption and social practices. Manuscript and printed data is available for PDF download while many visual and geographic datasets can be downloaded as CSV files.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowA large collection of legal research resources, including law journals, congressional and presidential documents, and a variety of specialized collections on slavery, immigration, capital punishment, and other topics.
- Hindu Conspiracy Cases: Activities of the Indian Independence Movement in the U.S., 1908-1933 This link opens in a new windowDuring World War I, Indian nationalists took advantage of Great Britain's preoccupation with the European war by attempting to foment revolution in India to overthrow British rule. Their activities were aided politically and financially by the German Government. Indian nationalists in the United States were active in the independence movement effort through fundraising, arms buying, and propagandizing through the Hindustan Ghadar newspaper published in San Francisco.
- Historical New York Times This link opens in a new windowFull-text coverage of the New York Times from 1851 to the present (1 month delay).
- Indian Army and Colonial Warfare on the Frontiers of India, 1914-1920 This link opens in a new windowFor generations of British and Indian Officers and men, the North-West Frontier was the scene of repeated skirmishes and major campaigns against the trans-border Pathan tribes who inhabited the mountainous no-man's land between India and Afghanistan. This collection contains Army Lists; Orders; Instructions; Regulations; Acts; Manuals; Strength Returns; Orders of Battle; Administration Summaries; organization, commissions, committees, reports, maneuvers; departments of the Indian Army; and regimental narratives. This collection is a welcome addition to the new-flourishing literature on the military history of South Asia and the growing field of serious study of the British military experience in India.
- Indigenous Peoples of North America This link opens in a new windowIndigenous Peoples of North America explores the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples from the sixteenth century well into the twentieth century, illustrating the fabric of the North American story with unprecedented depth and breadth. Comprehensive yet personal, the collection covers the history of American tribes and supporting organizations.
- Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files This link opens in a new windowPrimary source collection covering American/Japanese relations, from before the invasion of Manchuria through postwar reconstruction and economic planning.
- Japanese-American Relocation Camp Newspapers This link opens in a new windowA digital collection of Japanese relocation camp newspapers that record the concerns and the day-to-day life of the interned Japanese-Americans in World War II.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowFull text of national, regional, and international newspapers, business, and legal sources and more.
- Listener Historical Archive 1929-1991 This link opens in a new windowThe Listener was a weekly publication, established by the BBC in 1929 as the medium for reproducing radio - and later, television - programs in print. It is our only record and means of accessing the content of many early broadcasts.
- Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) This link opens in a new window19th Century Collections Online is an archival collection of including monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more in both Western and non-Western languages.
- Occupation and Independence: The Austrian Second Republic, 1945-1963 This link opens in a new windowThis Archives Unbound collection of U.S. State Department Central Classified Files relating to internal the internal affairs of post-World War II Austria contain a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats.
- Patriotes aux Armes! (Patriots to Arms!): The Underground Resistance in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy, 1939-1945 This link opens in a new windowConsists of newspapers, periodicals, broadsides, leaflets, books, pamphlets and other documents produced by or relating to the underground resistance in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy.
- Personal Justice Denied: Public Hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment, 1981 This link opens in a new windowThe Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) was established by act of Congress in 1980. Between July and December 1981, the CWRIC held 20 days of public hearings in Seattle, WA; Alaska; Washington, D.C; New York, New York; Chicago, Ill Cambridge, MA; and, San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA. This publication consists of the testimony and documents from more than 750 witnesses: Japanese Americans and Aleuts who had lived through the events of WWII, former government officials who ran the internment program, public figures, internees, organizations such as the Japanese American Citizens League, interested citizens, historians, and other professionals who had studied the subjects of the Commission's inquiry. Many of the transcripts are personal stories of experiences of evacuees. Documents include publications, reports, press releases, photographs, newspaper clippings, etc. related to the hearings.
- Political, Economic, and Military Conditions in China: Reports and Correspondence of the U.S. Military Intelligence Division, 1918-1941 This link opens in a new windowThis collection reproduces the six principal MID files relating exclusively to China for the period 1918 to 1941 (general conditions, political conditions, economic conditions, army, navy, and aeronautics). Also includes documents created by other U.S. Government agencies and foreign governments from the records of the Military Intelligence Division.
- Political Relations and Conflict between Republican China and Imperial Japan, 1930-1939: Records of the U.S. State Department This link opens in a new windowCollection of scanned U.S. State Department documents pertaining to Sino-Japanese relations from 1930 -1939, including the Japanese invasions of China and Shanghai.
- Politics, Social Activism, & Community Support: Selected Gay and Lesbian Periodicals and NewslettersVetted selections from the GLBT Historical Society archives, containing newsletters from key organizations that began their work during the formative years of the gay and lesbian movement.
- Proquest Congressional This link opens in a new windowComprehensive access to U.S. legislative publications and more.
- Radio AlcatrazBroadcast by KPFA (and KPFK and WBAI) from December 22, 1969 to September 3, 1970, live from the main cell block of Alcatraz prison, during the Indians of All Tribes occupation. Consists chiefly of interviews, discussions, and news.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new windowSlavery and Anti-Slavery includes collections on the transatlantic slave trade, the global movement for the abolition of slavery, the legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and the dynamics of emancipation in the U.S. as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions.
- Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & LawThis HeinOnline collection brings together, for the first time, all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.
- Socialism & National Unity Yugoslavia, 1945-63: US State Department Classified Files This link opens in a new windowA collection of scanned declassified files generated by the U.S. State Department on postwar populist developments in Yugoslavia from Tito's reign.
- State Papers Online This link opens in a new windowState Papers Online offers original historical materials across the widest range of government concerns, from high level international politics and diplomacy to the charges against a steward for poisoning a dozen or more people. The correspondence, reports, memoranda, and parliamentary drafts from ambassadors, civil servants and provincial administrators present a full picture of Britain from the period of Henry VIII to the reign of George III.
- Testaments to the Holocaust This link opens in a new windowTestaments to the Holocaust is the online publication of the archives of the Wiener Library, London, the first archive to collect evidence of the Holocaust and the antisemitic activities of the German Nazi Party.
- The Times (London) Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowDigital Archive of The Times of London for the years 1785–2019. Printed subject indexes to the Times can help locating relevant articles.
- Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902–2019 This link opens in a new windowThe Times Literary Supplement was founded in 1902 as a supplement to The Times (London) and for more than 100 years it has forged a reputation for fine writing, literary discoveries and insightful debate. From Anglo-centric beginnings in 1902, by the mid-20th century the TLS had developed into a truly international publication, with contributors from every region of the world.
- Vital Speeches of the Day This link opens in a new windowReprints the full-text of of speeches on national policy issues twice a month. The full text back to 10/08/1934 is available in the database Academic Search Premier.
- World News Connection Archive (1993-2013) This link opens in a new windowThe World News Connection Archive 1993-2013 contains information obtained from newspaper articles, television and radio broadcasts, online sources, conference proceedings, periodicals, and non-classified reports. This information is collected and translated by and for the U.S. Government.
- World War I and Revolution in Russia, 1914-1918: Records of the British Foreign Office This link opens in a new windowThis collection documents the Russian entrance into World War I and culminates in reporting on the Revolution in Russia in 1917 and 1918. The documents consist primarily of correspondence between the British Foreign Office, various British missions and consulates in the Russian Empire and the Tsarist government and later the Provisional Government.
- World War II, Occupation, and the Civil War in Greece, 1940-1949 This link opens in a new windowPrimary Sources from U.S. State Department Classified Files
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set 1817-1980 This link opens in a new windowSearch or browse the Reports, Documents, and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, originally published in approximately 13,800 bound volumes for the period 1817–1980.
- U.S. Information Agency, International Public Opinion, and Public Diplomacy - Field Research Reports, 1952-1986 This link opens in a new windowThe Field Research Reports consist of country files and includes correspondence, questionnaires, survey results, memorandums, notes, tables, photographs, publications, clippings, reports, telegrams, exhibition programs, and surveys of foreign public opinion.
Primary Source Collections at Other Institutions
- Archives West This link opens in a new windowProvides enhanced access to more than 2,400 archival and manuscript collections in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
- Avalon Project at Yale Law SchoolThe Avalon Project provides mostly European or American documents in law, history and diplomacy. They are arranged by date, title or topic.
- British Newspaper ArchiveHistoric newspapers from Britain and Ireland going back to the 1700s.
- Digital Public Library of America This link opens in a new windowThe DPLA offers a single point of access to millions of items photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States. Users can browse and search the DPLA's collections by timeline, map, format, and topic.
- Digital ScriptoriumDatabase of medieval and renaissance manuscripts from many institutions. Contains 75,000 images and 6,500 documents.
- Documenting the American SouthDocumenting the American South (DAS) is a collection of sources on Southern history, literature and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century.
- EuroDocs This link opens in a new windowMaintained by the European Studies Bibliographer at BYU, EuroDocs links to primary historical documents from Western Europe and hopes to shed light on key historical happenings.
- Europeana This link opens in a new windowEuropeana links to over 4.6 million digital items from European museums and galleries, archives, libraries and audio-visual collections.
- HathiTrust Digital LibraryThis is a good place to find digital versions of census publications, including the Censuses of Agriculture, Manufactures, Transportation, etc.
- Historic Oregon Newspapers This link opens in a new windowOn this site you can search and access complete content for historic Oregon newspapers that have been digitized as part of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program (ODNP). Titles are here http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/newspapers/.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new windowThese historical collections from the National Digital Library contain photographs and manuscripts and can be searched by either subject, time and/or location of event, or by format.
- Online Public AccessThe Online Public Access resource is the online public portal to National Archives records.
- Oregonian Historical Archive This link opens in a new windowFull text archive to The Oregonian, dating from February 4, 1861 to the present.
- Presidential Libraries ExplorerContains 1.5 million documents from presidential libraries.
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps This link opens in a new windowHistorical maps from the Sanborn fire insurance map company from 1867 to 1970 that show details of buildings and urban infrastructure.
- Wilson Center Digital ArchiveRich primary document collections, with a focus on the cold war period.
