Comp 227: History Databases

Databases are a collection of data that have been organized and made searchable. Our library databases contain peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed journal articles, films, magazines, primary and secondary sources, and other useful research material. These databases can be found on our Databases and E-Resources page. They can be searched through alphabetically or by subject.

General Research Databases to start with:

• Academic OneFile - Full-text articles from more than 6,000 leading journals and reference sources, including many peer-reviewed journals. Also includes thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and CBC as well as links to hundreds of medical videos from OR-Live.
• America: History and Life with Full Text - Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Over 1,700 journals published from as far back as 1910 to the present are included.
• JSTOR - Journal articles from core scholarly journals in the liberal arts and sciences. Coverage extends from the first issue of journals included to 3 - 5 years before the present. Our JSTOR collections include journals in economics, history, ecology, mathematics, statistics, political science, and sociology, as well as in other key fields in the humanities and social sciences. (The only downside of this wonderful database is that you cannot filter for just peer reviewed articles.)
• OmniFile Full Text Select - Full text articles on a variety of topics, from general and scholarly periodicals, covering 1994 - present.
• ProQuest Research Library - Includes articles from scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers. The broad range of subjects covered includes arts, business, education, general interest, health, humanities, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests. Included are more than 5,060 titles — over 3,600 in full text — from 1971 to the present.
• Taylor & Francis Online - Contains scholarly journals spanning all areas of the humanities, social sciences, behavioral sciences, science, technology, and medicine by Taylor & Francis, one of the world's leading publishers of scholarly journals.
• Wiley Online Library - Wiley Online Library hosts a multidisciplinary collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the humanities. It provides integrated access to over 4 million articles from 1,500 journals, almost 10,000 online books, and hundreds of reference works, laboratory protocols and databases, many of which are purchased by the Library and accessible to current students, faculty and staff of the University.

History Databases

These databases contain both primary and secondary sources related to American history.

• 19th Century U.S. Newspapers - Includes digital facsimile images of both full pages and clipped articles for hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers. For each issue, the newspaper is captured from cover-to-cover, providing access to every article, advertisement, and illustration. (NOTE: You need to be connected to the campus VPN to access this resource)
• African American Biographical Database - Biographies of about 40,000 African Americans, both famous and everyday persons, from 1790 to 1950.
• African American Communities - Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina African American Communities 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.
• African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 - More than 170 periodicals by and about African Americans, published in 26 states. Includes popular magazines, academic and political journals, organization bulletins, and other genres. Selection is based on James P. Dankey's African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography (Harvard, 1998). Scanned from collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
• Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922: From the Library Company of Philadelphia - These books, pamphlets, and broadsides, hold an unparalleled record of African American history, literature, and culture. This collection spans nearly 400 years, from the early 16th to the early 20th century. Subjects covered include the West's discovery and exploitation of Africa; the rise of slavery in the New World along with the growth and success of abolitionist movements; the development of racial thought and racism; descriptions of African American life — slave and free — throughout the Americas; and slavery and race in fiction and drama.
• Age of Exploration - Age of Exploration provides access to resources from key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c.1420-1920. Featured in this collection are manuscripts, maps, diaries, and ships' logs from some of the most well-known voyages in history.
• America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts - America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts features oral history video interviews, photographs, papers, correspondence, and ephemera selected from the collections of the National WWII Museum. These interviews offer an invaluable insight into the involvement of American men and women in World War II, both in a military capacity and as civilians on the home front, as well as giving a voice to individuals who immigrated to the United States as a result of the war.
• America: History and Life with Full Text - Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Over 1,700 journals published from as far back as 1910 to the present are included.
• American Indian Histories and Cultures - American Indian Histories and Cultures is based on the Edward E. Ayer Collection at the Newberry Library, Chicago. Included are manuscripts, artwork, American Indian newspapers from the 1960s to 1990s, rare printed books, photographs, and maps.

• American Indian History Online - American Indian History Online provides access to more than 5,000 years of culture, history, and leaders. 320+ Native American groups are presented through subject entries, biographies, primary source documents, maps and charts, and photographs. Updated semiannually.

• American Indian Newspapers - American Indian Newspapers explores nearly 200 years of Indigenous print journalism from the United States and Canada. The newspapers include national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications, with the bulk of titles founded in the 1970s.

• Archives of Sexuality and Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 - The documents in the Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 present important aspects of LGBTQ life in the second half of the 20th century and beyond. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as are publications by and for LGBTQ people. Extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis is also included. The material is drawn from hundreds of institutions and organizations, including both major international activist organizations and local, grassroots groups.

• Black Studies Center - A gateway to historical and current material for researching the past, present, and future of African-Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. It combines: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP) Full Text, The Chicago Defender historical backfile (1909 - 1975), and Black Literature Index (1827 - 1940).

• Everyday Life & Women in America c.1800-1920 - Periodicals, books, and pamphlets from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History & Culture, Duke University & the New York Public Library. Includes 75 rare periodicals, such as Echoes of the South (Florida) and The Political Equality Series of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Includes a full run of Town Topics from the New York Public Library. Books cover all aspects of family life and diverse topics from politics to farming. Strong coverage of prescriptive and advice literature, and manuals for domestic management.

• The First World War - A wealth of primary source material for the study of the First World War, from personal narratives and printed books to military files, propaganda pamphlets, and strong visual documents. The material is complemented by a range of contextual secondary material, including scholarly essays, case studies and interactive maps.

• Historical Statistics of the United States - Quantitative facts of American history, collected from over 1,000 sources. Topics include population, work and welfare, economics, government, international relations, and more. Provides advanced features such as the ability to create custom tables and to download tables in Excel or CSV.

• History Reference Center - History Reference Center includes documents, photos, maps, film, and video from leading history journals, as well as biographies of historical figures.

• The Michigan Chronicle, 1936-2010 - The Michigan Chronicle, 1936-2010 provides searchable, full-text access to the full archive of the Michigan Chronicle. This newspaper offers primary source material essential to the study of American history and African-American culture, history, politics, and the arts. Examine major movements from the Great Migration and Civil Rights to the election of America's first Black president. Explore nearly nine decades of everyday life as written from the perspective of this Detroit-based paper providing researchers with unprecedented access to perspectives and information excluded or marginalized in mainstream sources.