Sometimes research calls for the use of primary sources. Primary sources provide direct, first hand evidence (like a newspaper article published at the time of a major event, a diary, or an original document like the U.S. Constitution), whereas a secondary source describes, summarizes or analyzes information (such as a history book).
Atlases & Maps
Library of Congress – Hundreds of historical United State maps that are easy to browse and search through.
Old Maps Online – A collection of over 400,000 searchable historic maps.
David Rumsey Map Collection at Stanford University – A vast collection of digitized maps online. To search for digital maps, be sure to use the left side filters: select “online” from Access Type and select “map” from Resource Type. You might also want to filter by time period by Era.
United States National Archive – Thousands of maps from the National Archive. To search the digital maps, you must make sure that only “Archival Materials Online” is checked, and you must select “Maps and Charts” from the Type of Materials menu.
Local History
Benicia Historical Museum – Online collection currently contains approximately 18,800 archival items related to Benicia history.
Calisphere – Digital collections from California’s great libraries, archives, and museums. Discover over 1,200,000 images, texts, and recordings.
U.S. & World History Primary Sources
World Digital Library – Nearly 20,000 documents from 193 different countries spanning from 800 BC – 2000 AD.
EuroDocs – European History digital collections organized by country.
Digital Public Library of America – US History primary source collections, easily searchable by subject &/or time period.
National Archives – U.S. Government archives.
Gilder Leherman Institute – More than 70,000 documents covering 500 years of U.S. History.
Life Magazine Photo Archive – Perfect for reports or projects that require photographs.
National Museum of African American History and Culture Digital Collections – Close to 37,000 primary source documents examining African American history.
Japanese American History Digital Collection – CSU is in the process of building a collective digital archive of Japanese American History. Right now you can search via the individual school collections using the menu on the left side bar, to find things like documents and oral histories.
Yale University Latinx History Primary Source Guide – A list of primary source collections documenting Latinx and Latinx American History.
Archive of Immigrant Voices – Collected oral histories of immigration stories.