LibGuides: EDUC 510 Culture Wars in American Schools: Primary Sources Online

Locating Primary Sources

Primary Source Databases at Brown
Open Access Primary Sources

This is a curated list. Visit A-Z Databases to explore all databases available to the Brown community.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection, 1684-1912, Series 1-5 This link opens in a new window
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Covers more than two centuries of print culture from early colonial imports to titles published on American soil during the Revolution and Early Republic, Series 1-5, 1684-1912.
The AAAS Historical Periodicals Collection is divided into five series, by time period and by subject matter.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series1, 1684-1820. Representing over two centuries of print culture from early colonial imports to titles published on American soil during the Revolution and early republic, Series 1 is first of the five series. The subject matter covered in Series 1 is broad in scope and covers all aspects of American society during this time period.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 2. The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection Series 2-presents over 1000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837. The subject matter covered in Series 2 represents the Jacksonian Democracy era in history and is broad in scope and includes agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 3. The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection Series 3-presents over 1,800 titles dating from 1838 through 1852. The themes-presented in Series 3 reveal a rapidly growing young nation, where industrialization, the railroads, regional political differences, and life on the western frontier were daily realities. Subjects covered in the collection reach into every facet of American life, including science, literature, medicine, agriculture, womens fashion, family life, and religion.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 4. The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection Series 4-presents over 1,100 titles dating from 1853 through 1865. While the Civil War is a focal point of the collection, we also find a diverse record of the continuance of daily life for many Americans both leading up to and during the war. News from the battlefront can be found, in addition to the usual breadth of subject matter found in previous collections that include science, literature, medicine, agriculture, womens fashion, family life, and religion.

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 5. The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection Series 5-presents over 2,500 titles dating from 1866 through 1912. The themes-presented in Series 5 reflect a nation that persevered through a most difficult set of circumstances: a bloody civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives; the incorporation of the recently-freed African Americans into American life; a population that rapidly expanded into the Western territories. Broad subject areas covered in the collection reach into every facet of American life, including science, literature, medicine, agriculture, womens fashion, family life, and religion.
American Periodical Series Online This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to historically significant periodicals from the Americas published between 1740 and 1940
1740-1940; the American Periodicals database indexes periodicals from that time period, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
African American Communities This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to primary sources from the early 19th to the early 21st centuries
Early 19th century to early 21st century; focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource-presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories, revealing the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity.
American History 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
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Sourced from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, this database documents American history from the earliest settlers to the mid-20th century.
This unique collection documents American History from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century. It is sourced from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the finest archives available for the study of American History.

Module I Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
Module II Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945
Black LIfe in America This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to global news sources, including current and historical Black publications; early 18th century-present.
Early 18th century --present; this collection covers many topical categories such as slavery and flights to freedom, voting rights and voter suppression and disenfranchisement, segregation and civil rights, prejudice and discrimination and activism and protest movements. The content in this database is sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 current and historical Black publications.
Dissertations and Theses Global Full Text This link opens in a new window
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A curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global Full Text is the correct name of this database. Clicking on the link will take you there.
Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800) Digital Edition This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to books, pamphlets, broadsides, and periodicals published in America from 1639-1800
Ongoing; based on the renowned American Bibliography by Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's Supplement to Evans' American Bibliography, this resource serves as the foundation for research on every aspect of 17th and 18th century American life. Upon completion, Evans Digital will consist of over 36,000 works and 2,400,000 images.
LGBT Life This link opens in a new window
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Search indexing and abstracts for hundreds of scholarly and popular LGBTQ+ publications, plus historically important primary sources, including monographs, magazines, and newspapers, 1945-present.
1945-present; LGBT Life is a resource to the world's literature regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual and transgender issues. LGBT Life provides comprehensive coverage of traditional academic, cultural, lifestyle, and regional publications, including The Advocate, Lesbian News, Washington Blade, Bay Area Reporter, etc. LGBT Life also indexes & abstracts the full run of many historically significant titles such as ONE, The Ladder, Mattachine Review, Christopher Street and Body Politic. In addition, grey literature including non-fiction titles, bibliographies, case studies, and dissertations is also represented. Disciplines covered by LGBT Life include civil liberties, culture, employment, family, history, psychology, religion, sociology and more.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
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Primary source collections of the 19th century, covering the age of industrialization and technological innovation, political revolution, colonialism, nation building, educational reform, and other topics.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online is focusing on primary source collections of the long nineteenth century, with archives releasing incrementally beginning in spring 2012. The nineteenth century was the first great age of industrialization and technological innovation. It was an age of political revolution and reform, nationalism and nation building, the expansion of empire and colonialism, growing literacy and education, and the flowering of culture both popular and high. It was an age that witnessed the development of the power-driven printing press and the massive explosion of written material that dwarfs the output of the centuries that preceded it. Any undertaking that attempts to synthesize the vast array of nineteenth-century content may be at best only provisionally comprehensive.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
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A primary source collection that includes the diaries and letters of 1,325 women, colonial era
Colonial-1950; ongoing. When complete, the collection will include approximately 150,000 pages of published letters and diaries from individuals writing from Colonial times to 1950, plus 7,000 pages of previously unpublished materials. Includes materials from more than 1,000 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings.
North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files.
North American Indian Thought and Culture integrates autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files for the first time. The result is a comprehensive representation of historical events as told by the individuals who lived through them.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
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A primary source collection for the study of slavery, the African American experience, and world history, 1490-2007.
1490-2007; Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice is a portal for slavery and abolition studies, bringing together documents and collections covering more than five centuries from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world and the Mediterranean with contextual essays by prominent scholars in the field. Close attention is given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continuing existence of slavery today.