Over the past semester alone, the Libraries have acquired more than eighty databases. That’s an awful lot of new information to keep up with, even for the librarians! The rapid pace of change means that it can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint the most appropriate database for a specific research need. One way to keep pace is to consult a discipline-specific subject guide. Another, of course, is to frequently read this blog! And so, in the spirit of “keeping up,” I offer the following list of…

Full-Text, Primary Source Databases Relevant to the Study of Early America

Books

Early American Imprints, Series 1: Evans (1639-1800)
Early American Imprints, Series 2: Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819)
Making of America Books (University of Michigan)
Pennsylvania County Histories to 1900

Google Books
Many important, pre-1900 monographs are available.

American Memory
Several distinct monograph collections from the Library of Congress: California, First-Person Narratives 1849-1900; The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925; Dance Manuals 1490-1900; Nineteenth-Century Books 1850-1877 (see Making of America, above);Puerto Rico Books & Pamphlets 1831-1929; Sunday School Books 1815-1865;Traveling in America 1750-1920; Upper Midwest Books 1820-1910; and Woman Suffrage Books & Pamphlets 1848-1921.

Newspapers

African American Newspapers: The 19th Century
Early American Newspapers, Series 1 (1690-1876)
HarpWeek (1857-1877)
New York Times (1851-present)
Pennsylvania Gazette (1728-1800)
Wall Street Journal (1889-present)

Journals / Magazines

American Periodical Series Online (1740-1900)
Making of America Journals (University of Michigan)

Ephemera

American Civil War Letters & Diaries
Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970
Early Encounters in North America
Gerritsen Collection: Women’s History Online, 1543-1945
LexisNexis Congressional with the U.S. Serials Set
Documenting the American South (University of North Carolina)
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000

—David C. Murray