Research Guides: National History Day 2023-2024: Primary Sources (UCI Only)

United States History

American Civil War Research Database *
Contains indexed, searchable information on over 4 million soldiers and thousands of battles, together with 15,000 photographs.
Archives of human sexuality and identity. LGBTQ history and culture since 1940 *
Social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world, including the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/Aids crisis, and more
Bracero Archive
Coverage: 1942-1964
China, America and the Pacific : Trade & Cultural Exchange *
Explores the cultural and trading relationships that emerged between America, China and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries.
Everyday Life and Women in America, c1800-1900 *
Covers political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
The Gilded Age *
This database contains songs, letters, photographs, cartoons, government documents, and ephemera. Coverage: 1865-1902
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories *
Coverage: 1784-present
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950 - 1975 *
Coverage: 1950 to 1975. Includes manuscript and rare printed material as well as photographs, ephemera and memorabilia concerned with popular culture in the U.S. and U.K.
The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960–1974 *
Includes diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary
Slavery & Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive *
Includes collections on the transatlantic history of the slave trade from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century.
more...less...
We have Part. 1 Debates Over Slavery and Abolition; Part 2. Slave Trade in the Atlantic World; Part 3 The Institution of Slavery; and Part 4. The Age of Emancipation
Slavery in America and the world : history, culture & law *
Both primary and secondary sources. Brings together 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. Also includes books, pamphlets, and articles about slavery.
Women and Social Movements in the United States *
Includes advertisements, diaries, images, legal documents, letters, speech, etc. to document women's activism in American public life.Coverage: 1600 - 2000

African History

Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange *
Date coverage: Primarily 18th-20th centuries
Internet African History Sourcebook
Includes links to primary sources from Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods.
Slavery, abolition and social justice, 1490-2007 *
Topics covered include the African Coast, the Middle Passage, the varieties of slave experience, religion, revolts, abolition, and legislation. The collection also includes case studies from America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Cuba

Asian History

China, America and the Pacific : Trade & Cultural Exchange *
Explores the cultural and trading relationships that emerged between America, China and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries.
East India Company *
Collection of India Office Records, containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types. This resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1600 to 1947. Includes Module 1: Trade, Governance and Empire, 1600-1947
Medieval Travel Writing *
The main focus is accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China. Languages include French, Latin, German, Spanish, Dutch, & English.
Tiananmen Square and U.S.-China relations, 1989-1993 *
Includes public mail, memoranda, reports, cables, meeting notes, and news clippings.

European History

Colonial State Papers *
Provides access to thousands of papers concerning English activities in the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) *
Books, pamphlets, broadsides, ephemera printed in the UK and US. Coverage: 1701-1800.
Empire Online *
Mostly from the British Empire, but does include French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and German points of view, and some sources from indigenous peoples.
Making of the Modern World *
Primary sources on economics and business. Mostly Western sources. Coverage: 15th-19th century
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCC0) Parts 1-4 *
Includes the collection, Asia & the West: Diplomacy & Cultural Exchange -- government reports, diplomatic correspondence, periodicals, newspapers, treaties, trade agreements, etc.

Latin American History

Latin American Weekly Report
Coverage: 1967-. For political, government, and economic information.
World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean *
Includes historic monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, and maps in a variety of languages.

Full Text Historical Magazines & Collections

* = UC Irvine access only

The Economist (Historical Archive) *
Coverage: 1843-2014. Presents comprehensive analysis of global news every week.
Godey's Lady's Book *
Coverage: 1830-1875. Also in American Periodicals for the years 1855-1882. This was a popular magazine for women, published in Philadelphia.
Harper's Weekly *
Coverage: 1857-1912. This was an American political magazine based in New York City.
Media History Digital Library
Coverage: 1912-1973. Collections include extensive runs of several important trade papers and fan magazines like Photoplay and Moving Picture World.
The Nation *
Coverage: 1865 - 2002. America's oldest weekly magazine devoted to politics and culture, self-described as "the flagship of the left."
Scientific American Archive *
Coverage: 1845-2005. Covers science and technology and is the oldest continually published magazine in the U.S.

American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
A selection of digitized images of periodicals and journals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically-significant periodicals. 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.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the full text of British periodicals from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Subject areas covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the fine arts and the social sciences.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
A collection of rare journals printed between c.1685 and 1835. The journals provide perspective on all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Topics covered include colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, the French and American revolutions, reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe, political debates, and London coffee house gossip and discussion.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Historical archive of trade magazines focused on the entertainment industry (i.e., music, film, broadcasting, and theatre). Excellent source of information to discover things like top charts, hiring notices, industry announcements, entertainment union news, etc.
Financial Times Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Issues of the London edition of this internally known daily newspaper, from 1888-2010. Each item has been subject- or topic- categorized to facilitate searching. Every article, advertisement, and market listing is included, shown both individually and in the context of the full page and issue of the day.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Database of legal resources, including laws, regulations, some trials and court reports, treaties, monographs, and a variety of other materials covering United States and foreign law. Coverage includes private and public international law, intellectual property and legal history. Includes full text image-based searchable database of legal periodicals. Database coverage for each periodical is from the beginning issue to the most current allowed under contract.
Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
The Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
An archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, and including pages, advertisements, covers and fold-outs. This archive preserves the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers and is a record of American and international fashion, culture and society from the dawn of the modern era to the present day.
Women's Magazine Archive I This link opens in a new window
A collection of women's interest magazines from the 19th century through present. Topics include consumer culture, economics/marketing, family life, fashion, gender studies, health and fitness, home/interior design, popular culture, and social history.

Other Guides

A collection of helpful primary sources are listed below.

Not everything we have access to at UCI here listed here, though. You can also visit http://guides.lib.uci.edu/primary_sources for more resources.

You might also find additional primary sources from UCI Special Collections and Archives or UCI's Orange County and Southeast Asian Archive Center. Please email spcoll@uci.edu or call 949-824-3947 to set up an appointment to visit.

Calisphere is an online collection of over 2 million items from archives and special collections across California. Some of UCI's popular collections for History Day are in Calisphere:

Southeast Asian Archive in Calisphere: Digitized documents, photographs, artworks, diaries, and other materials documenting the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants in the United States, refugee camp and other experiences of the "boat people" and land refugees, and the development and progress of new ethnic communities.
Mitsuye Yamada Papers in Calisphere: Papers of Mitsuye Yamada, a Japanese American poet and political activist who, as a teenager, was interned at Minadoka Relocation Center in Idaho during World War II.

National History Day 2023-2024

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