Our collections
Award-winning primary source collections for teaching and research.
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CollectionDescriptionPeriod covered
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African American Communities1863-1986
From communal struggle to creative outpourings: uncover the everyday lives of African Americans spanning two turbulent centuries.
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America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts1939-1949
The stories of American military personnel and civilians during the Second World War through their oral histories, correspondence, diaries, photographs, artefacts and military records. This digital resource offers an insight into the personal experiences of those involved in the conflict, both on the United States home front and on deployment overseas in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, China, Burma and India.
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American History, 1493-19451493-1945The digital archive of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which holds one of the outstanding collections on American History. It is full of spectacular individual items, but it also has rich veins of manuscript research material. This makes it ideal for teaching survey courses on American History, but equally valuable as a platform for undergraduate essay work and postgraduate research.
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American WestEarly 18th to mid-20th century
Comprised of original manuscripts, rare printed books, maps and ephemeral material from the Everett D Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library in Chicago, American West is a source for the study of westward US expansion from the 18th to the 20th century. Including documents from 1718-1968, it has tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes and outlaws, as well as evidence of the growth of urban centres, the environmental impact of westward expansion and life in the borderlands.
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Area Studies: China and Southeast Asia1743-1999A varied array of records of traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats, offering Western perspectives on many aspects of Chinese culture and society.
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Area Studies: India1712-1942A vital resource for the study of Empire, the British Raj, and the history, culture and literature of the Indian subcontinent
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Business, Economic and Labour History1875 - 1970
A range of important sources from Britain and America, covering key subjects within this field including a complete run of The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book for 1875-1945.
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Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-19221834-1922
Official British government records relating to the region, from the decline of the Silk Road, through the diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires known as the “Great Game”, to the influence of the emergent Soviet Union in the 20th century.
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Children's Literature and Culture1820s-1920s
A collection of rare books, games, ephemera and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that reveals the socio-cultural history of these times. Showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature, from mass-produced chapbooks to richly illustrated ‘book-beautifuls’, this resource examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination which went on to fundamentally shape established notions of childhood.
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China, America and the Pacific18th and early 20th century
Covering the 18th and 19th centuries, China, America and the Pacific provides primary source materials for the study of the history of North American trade and cultural exchange with China. This collection also provides coverage of China’s and the United States' economic dealings with the whole of East Asia and the Pacific.
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Church Missionary Society Archive1619-1981A repository of source materials on the work of this globally influential organisation, founded in 1799 as an Anglican evangelical movement and still active today. It includes records of both the CMS and the many other missionary societies which have become associated or amalgamated with it over its lifetime.
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Colonial America1606-1822The complete CO 5 files from the National Archives, UK, 1606-1822, Colonial America is a 'game changing' development for historians and researchers of early America, the Atlantic world, the Caribbean and the nascent British Empire. Colonial America enables online access to the vast archive of circa 70,000 documents of manuscript materials that tell the story of British involvement in North America.
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Colonial Caribbean1624-1872
The definitive collection of primary source documentation to explore life under British colonial rule.
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Early Modern England1500-1700
This collection of primary sources looks at two centuries of everyday, political, religious, working, trading and administrative life in England during this pivotal epoch. Documents cover an array of topics relating to England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a significant focus on the lives of ‘everyday’ people.
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East India Company1599-1947
From 16th century origins as a trading venture to the East Indies, through to its rise as the world’s most powerful company and de facto ruler of India, to its demise amid allegations of greed and corruption – the East India Company was an extraordinary force in global history for three centuries.
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Eighteenth Century DramaMid 17th to early 19th century
Delve into the theatrical world of eighteenth-century society and explore how the Larpent plays reflect the politics of the time, the role of women, views on race and religion, opinions on empire, and European and British history.
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Empire Studies1734 - 1968This collection offers an array of sources for the study of the British Empire. It features material on British colonial policy and government; perspectives on life in British colonies; the relationship between gender and empire; race; and class.
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Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings1950-1980
Presenting content from across the globe, this diverse and comprehensive resource features thousands of audio field recordings and interviews, educational recordings, film footage, field notebooks, slides, correspondence and ephemera from over 60 fields of study, including sites in West Africa, North America, South East Asia and more.
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First World War Portal1914-1920sRevealing the voices and experiences of the men and women who served in the First World War, this rich and varied collection will be an invaluable source for anyone studying and researching the ‘Great War’. Material includes letters and diaries of service people, maps, photo albums, artwork, oral histories, official documents, newspapers, posters and much more, covering all aspects of the global conflict.
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Food and Drink in History1514-2010
A wide range of primary source material, including printed and manuscript cookbooks, advertising ephemera, government reports, films and illustrated content. It reveals the evolution of food and drink within everyday life and the public sphere. The material in this collection has been sourced from across the globe to reflect a wide range of food cultures and traditions.
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Foreign Office Files for Southeast Asia, 1963-19801963-1980
British Government Foreign Office files relating to the significant changes that took place in Southeast Asia during 1963-1980, including the creation of Malaysia and the response to this from the wider region.
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Gender: Identity and Social Change19th to 21st centuries
Explore the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations.
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India, Raj and Empire17th-19th centuryThe National Library of Scotland has wonderful collections documenting this history from the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 to the granting of independence for India and Pakistan in 1947. They are made available online through this collection.
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Literary Studies18th and 19th centuriesLiterary manuscripts, rare printed works, and personal papers of a range of leading literary figures, as well as rare and obscure literary texts and genres. This collection covers both British and US Literature.
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Medical Services and Warfare1850-1949
Explore the history of illness, treatment and disease on international front lines from 1850 to 1949.
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Medieval Family Life1400-1490
Only five major letter collections exist from fifteenth century England and they are all available online for the first time in this digital resource.
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Meiji Japan1856-1925
Manuscripts for the study of Meiji society, culture, ethnology and education from the papers of Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925).
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Migration to New Worlds1800-1900A selection of original documents that tell the story of European and Asian migration to North America, Australia and New Zealand during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Official records from governments, shipping lines and agencies are found alongside the letters, oral histories and diaries of the migrants themselves. The resource includes material on life for successive generations, refugees and displaced persons, and those who were transported as criminals.
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Missionary Studies1700-2002This collection includes primary sources for the study of missionary work, educational work, medical work, evangelism, political conflict, and the emergence of indigenous churches.
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Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain1800-1900
This digital resource documents the interactions between government policy and public philanthropy in Victorian and early twentieth-century society, tracing developments in welfare reform and the social tensions surrounding poverty. Includes a variety of material on conditions of workhouses and the administration of the new poor relief system through the official government correspondence of the Poor Law Commission.
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Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape1768-1903A digital version of the single largest collection of working notebooks, verse manuscripts and correspondence of William Wordsworth and his fellow writers anywhere in the world. Highlights include annotated full manuscripts of such notable works as The Prelude and Michael, or Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Dejection: An Ode.
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Sex & SexualityLate 19th century - present day
Sex & Sexuality covers a broad range of topics and is drawn from leading archives around the world. From papers of leading sexologists to LGBTQI+ personal histories, the collection is an essential resource for the study of human sexuality, its complexities and its history.
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Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice1490 - 2007This resource brings together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world covering an extensive time period from 1490. Close attention has been given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.
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The Gilded Age and Progressive Era
A range of archival sources charts the contradictions of the age. The resource includes the personal and business papers of key industrialists and financiers; records of rail, steel and oil corporations; material on labour disputes, politics and progressivism; rich visual content on fashion, material culture and architecture.
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Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History1835-1976Rare diaries and correspondence describing the travel experiences, destinations and desires of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American women travelling the world.
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Victorian Popular Culture1779-1930Victorian Popular Culture contains a wide range of source material relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930, and shows how interconnected these worlds were. Taking its cue from the source material, Victorian Popular Culture welcomes readers into the darkened halls, small backrooms and travelling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to magic and spiritualist séances.
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Women's Studies1740-1960This collection offers access to the works and legacy of many notable and influential women, but also a chance to hear the voices of forgotten and ordinary women.
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World War Two Studies1930-1955Primary sources, offering insight into many aspects of the war, including government policy, the war in the Pacific, and the war in Europe. sources include the records of British espionage and sabotage organisation The Special Operations Executive; and private papers of American General Robert L Eichelberger from the Pacific war.
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Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-19001600-1900
Explore three centuries of life at sea through the individual histories of ships’ crews during the Age of Sail and into the era of steam.
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Medieval and Early Modern Studies12th to 19th centuries
A huge range of primary sources covering social, cultural, political, scientific and religious perspectives, from the 12th to early 19th centuries.
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Africa and the New Imperialism: European Borders on the African Continent, 1870-19141870-1914
Study military conflicts, political and diplomatic rivalries, exploration, Christian missions, technological advancements, slavery and encounters between European colonisers and African communities during this major period of colonial expansion.
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Amnesty International Archives: A Global Movement for Human Rights1961-1991
Explore the rise of the global human rights movement during the second half of the twentieth century through the International Secretariat records of Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Amnesty International.
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Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-19681600-1968
Explore the lives and experiences of women in Britain and Ireland across three centuries told in their own words.
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The Olympic Movement: Sport, Global Politics and Identity
A multi-archive resource examining the history of the modern Olympic Games through primary sources.
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American Committee on AfricaTwentieth century
A key resource for the study of Africa’s liberation movements, international solidarity, and activism in the twentieth century.
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The Transformation of Shopping: Department Stores, Social Change and Consumerism, 1830-1994
Exploring the social and cultural history of shopping, the retail industry, and daily and working life.
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