InfoGuides: US History Sources 1880s-1930s: Find Secondary Sources

Core Tools

The gold standard of historical scholarship remains the monograph, or a book about a single subject. Books about a single subject published by university presses are typically the culmination of years of scholarship on a topic. Use library catalogs to find these materials.

University Libraries Catalog: Search for books, journals, and media available at the Mason Libraries.
WRLC Catalog: Search for books, journals, and media in research libraries in the Washington, DC area.
Library of Congress Catalog: Search the collections at the Library of Congress.
WorldCat: Search for books and media in libraries around the world.
CRL: Search for newspapers, journals, documents, and archives of the Center for Research Libraries. Mason is a member of this International Consortium of Research Libraries which provides access to a host of research collections via ILL and some online sources.

America: History and Life
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Provides English language abstracts of scholarly literature (journal articles, articles in collections, dissertations, book and media reviews) on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada with indexing for journals from 1910 in more than 40 languages.
View a tutorial on this database here.
Historical Abstracts
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Provides English language abstracts of scholarly literature from 1955 to present (journal articles, articles in collections, dissertations, book reviews) on world history from 1450, excluding North America. Note: with full-text links to 420,000 journals on JSTOR.
Tutorial for the Historical Abstracts database.
ACLS Humanities E-Books
Searchable collection of scholarly books in the humanities by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) in collaboration with thirty-one learned societies, over 100 contributing publishers, and the Michigan Publishing division at the University of Michigan Library.
Essay and General Literature Index
Citations to essays and articles in collections of essays in the humanities and social sciences. View a tutorial on this database here.
Essay and General Literature Index Retrospective
Cites essays, articles and miscellaneous works published in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Covers 8 Centuries (1900-1984) of essays, annuals and serial publications from the 20th Century. Tutorial for the Essay and General Literature Index Retrospective database.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text
Provides a comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. Contains new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text. View a tutorial on this database here.

Selected Reference Sources

American National Biography
Provides biographical information for over 18,000 people from all eras who have influenced and shaped American history and culture. Most entries include photos, bibliographies, and links to selected websites.
View a tutorial on this database here.

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
This site is the older historical directory of those who served in congress from 1774-present.

Black Studies Center
Brings together essential historical and current material for researching the past, present and future of African-Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. Includes the Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, the historical backfiles of the Chicago Defender newspaper, and full-text coverage of core Black Studies journals. Also includes the International Index to Black Periodicals and the Black Literature Index. View a tutorial on this database here.