InfoGuides: US History Sources 1940s-Present: Access Specialized Archival Collections

Collected Primary Sources By Topic

African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Primary source database provides a variety of digitized items documenting African American community, race relations and history from several regions of the U.S., including Atlanta, Chicago, St Louis, New York and North Carolina. Sources included are pamphlets, newspapers, correspondence, official records, oral histories, photographs, maps and ephemera. Coverage: 1863 – 1986.

Tutorial for the African American Communities database.
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new window
Collects full-text and images of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's previously classified files on prominent African Americans and African-American organizations.
Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress This link opens in a new window
Contains records that represent the files of the national office of the Congress, based in New York City, including several hundred case files; publications produced and received by the Congress; files of the Literature Department; Executive Director William Patterson's correspondence files; correspondence and other materials from Civil Rights Congress chapters around the country.
We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death: Freedom Riders in the South, 1961 This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents related to the Freedom Riders, civil rights activists that rode interstate buses into the segregated South to test the United States Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia. Includes surveillance reports, chronologies, witness statements and more from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Library. Provides unique (and in some cases recently declassified) insight into the Freedom Rides, the Kennedy administration and the segregated South.
Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party This link opens in a new window
Compiles documents from the FBI, local and state police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, which shed new light on the motivations of the Communist organizers, the shootings, subsequent investigations, and efforts to heal the Greensboro community.
ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: Special Subjects This link opens in a new window
These files cover subjects and episodes that are crucial to the NAACP's history, such as civil rights complaints and legislation, the Klan, Birth of a Nation, the Walter White-W. E. B. Du Bois controversy of 1933-1934, communism and anticommunism during the years of the "red scare," the congressional prosecution of Hollywood personalities, the prosecution of conscientious objectors during World War II, NAACP’s relations with African colonial liberation movements, NAACP fundraising and membership recruitment, urban riots, the War on Poverty, and the emergence of the Black Power Movement. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: Special Subjectsdatabase.
ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns- Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces This link opens in a new window
Major campaigns for equal access to education, voting, employment, housing and the military are covered in this resource. The education files in this module document the NAACP’s systematic assault on segregated education that
culminated in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Files from 1955 –1965 focus on the NAACP’s efforts to implement the Brown decision as well as to combat de facto segregation outside of the South. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns- Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces database.
ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records This link opens in a new window
Focuses on the political side of the freedom movement, the role of civil rights organizations in pushing for civil rights legislation, and the interaction between African Americans and the federal government in the 20th century. Major collections include the FBI Files on Martin Luther King Jr.; Centers of the Southern Struggle, an exceptional collection of FBI Files covering five of the most pivotal arenas of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s: Montgomery, Albany, St. Augustine, Selma, and Memphis; and records from the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations, detailing the interaction between civil rights leaders and organizations and the highest levels of the federal government. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records database.
Proquest History Vault: NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns - Scottsboro, Anti-Lynching, Criminal Justice, Peonage, Labor and Segregation and Discrimination Complaints and Responses This link opens in a new window
This NAACP module focuses on the NAACP’s efforts regarding anti-lynching, peonage, and discrimination in employment and the criminal justice system. A rich set of records in this module is the NAACP file on one of the most celebrated criminal trials of the 20th century – the case of the Scottsboro boys, who escaped execution in the landmark Supreme Court case of Powell v. Alabama. View a tutorial on this database here.
Proquest History Vault: NAACP Papers: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files This link opens in a new window
Digital access to the NAACP archive including internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the country. It provides a comprehensive view of the NAACP’s evolution, policies, and achievements from 1909–1970. Tutorial for the Proquest History Vault: NAACP Papers: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files database.

Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Collection of historical primary source publications relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality, gender research and gender studies research. Materials span the sixteenth to twentieth-first centuries. Documentation covering disciplines such as social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) communities around the world are included, as well as rare and unique books on sex and sexuality from the sciences to the humanities.
Tutorial for the Archives of Sexuality and Gender database.
ProQuest History Vault: Women at Work during World War II This link opens in a new window
Primary sources document a wide range of issues pertinent to women during this time of turbulent change, including studies on the treatment of women by unions in several midwestern industrial centers, and the influx of women to industrial centers during the war. Topics covered in records and correspondence include women’s work in war industries, pivotal issues like equal pay, childcare and race, and extensive documentation on the women who joined and served in the Women’s Army Corps as WACs. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: Women at Work during World War II database.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Provides access to full-text North American women's diaries and letters from the Colonial period to 1990s; includes biographies and an annotated bibliography of database sources.
User guide for database here
Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist, and Woman This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents related to voting rights activist and civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer. The papers include correspondence, financial records, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other records documenting her activities with a variety of organizations.
Trade Catalogues and the American Home This link opens in a new window
Collection explores domestic consumerism, life and leisure in America between 1850-1950. This resource presents a wealth of highly illustrated primary source documents that highlight commercial tastes and consumer trends and provide a valuable visual record for a breadth of interdisciplinary study.
Tutorial for the Trade Catalogues and the American Home database.
North American Women's Drama: Second Edition This link opens in a new window
Collection contains over 1,500 full-text plays by women from colonial times to the present. Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. Almost a quarter of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays. The collection also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays. View a tutorial on this database here.
Women & Social Movements in the U.S. This link opens in a new window
Includes primary documents, images, scholarly essays, and bibliographies documenting women's reform efforts in the United States between 1600 and 2000. Tutorial of the Women & Social Movements in the U.S. database.
Women & Social Movements, International This link opens in a new window
Collects primary source materials providing insight into women’s social movements around the world. Includes conference proceedings, reports of international women's organizations, essays, diaries, letters, and memoirs of international women activists dating as far back as the middle nineteenth century. Tutorial of the Women & Social Movements, International database.

American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism This link opens in a new window
Includes the extensive FBI documentation on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest. Documents range in date from 1968 to 1979.
American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
Supports the study of American Indian history from the early colonial period to the civil rights movement of the twentieth century. Features a wide range of materials including manuscripts, artwork, American Indian newspapers covering the 1960s to 1990s, rare printed books, photographs, and maps. Tutorial for the American Indian Histories and Cultures database.
American West This link opens in a new window
Original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material, and rare printed sources from the Graff Collection about the American West, including tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes, and outlaws, and the growth of urban centers and environmental impact of westward expansion and of life in the borderlands.
Tutorial for the American West database.
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America This link opens in a new window
Formerly called the Bibliography of Native North Americans.
Contains the citations from the cumulative eight volumes of the Ethnographic Bibliography of North America.
Tutorial for the Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America.
ProQuest Indian Claims Insight This link opens in a new window
U.S. Indian claims from 1789-present. Trace by Indian Nation and/or geographic location. For legal, U.S. history, Native American Studies and more. Tutorial for the ProQuest Indian Claims Insight database.
American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
Supports the study of American Indian history from the early colonial period to the civil rights movement of the twentieth century. Features a wide range of materials including manuscripts, artwork, American Indian newspapers covering the 1960s to 1990s, rare printed books, photographs, and maps. Tutorial for the American Indian Histories and Cultures database.
North American Indian Drama: Second Edition This link opens in a new window
Contains over 200 plays representing the stories of American Indian and First Nation playwrights of the twentieth century. More than half of the works are previously unpublished, and hard to find, representing groups such as Cherokee, Métis, Creek, Choctaw, Pembina Chippewa, Ojibway, Lenape, Comanche, Cree, Navajo, Rappahannock, Hawaiian/Samoan, and others. View a tutorial on this database here.

American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism This link opens in a new window
Includes the extensive FBI documentation on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest. Documents range in date from 1968 to 1979.
Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist, and Woman This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents related to voting rights activist and civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer. The papers include correspondence, financial records, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other records documenting her activities with a variety of organizations.
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new window
Collects full-text and images of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's previously classified files on prominent African Americans and African-American organizations.
Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress This link opens in a new window
Contains records that represent the files of the national office of the Congress, based in New York City, including several hundred case files; publications produced and received by the Congress; files of the Literature Department; Executive Director William Patterson's correspondence files; correspondence and other materials from Civil Rights Congress chapters around the country.
Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party This link opens in a new window
Compiles documents from the FBI, local and state police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, which shed new light on the motivations of the Communist organizers, the shootings, subsequent investigations, and efforts to heal the Greensboro community.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Provides access to full-text North American women's diaries and letters from the Colonial period to 1990s; includes biographies and an annotated bibliography of database sources.
User guide for database here
Women & Social Movements in the U.S. This link opens in a new window
Includes primary documents, images, scholarly essays, and bibliographies documenting women's reform efforts in the United States between 1600 and 2000. Tutorial of the Women & Social Movements in the U.S. database.
Women & Social Movements, International This link opens in a new window
Collects primary source materials providing insight into women’s social movements around the world. Includes conference proceedings, reports of international women's organizations, essays, diaries, letters, and memoirs of international women activists dating as far back as the middle nineteenth century. Tutorial of the Women & Social Movements, International database.
ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: Special Subjects This link opens in a new window
These files cover subjects and episodes that are crucial to the NAACP's history, such as civil rights complaints and legislation, the Klan, Birth of a Nation, the Walter White-W. E. B. Du Bois controversy of 1933-1934, communism and anticommunism during the years of the "red scare," the congressional prosecution of Hollywood personalities, the prosecution of conscientious objectors during World War II, NAACP’s relations with African colonial liberation movements, NAACP fundraising and membership recruitment, urban riots, the War on Poverty, and the emergence of the Black Power Movement. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: Special Subjectsdatabase.
ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns- Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces This link opens in a new window
Major campaigns for equal access to education, voting, employment, housing and the military are covered in this resource. The education files in this module document the NAACP’s systematic assault on segregated education that
culminated in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Files from 1955 –1965 focus on the NAACP’s efforts to implement the Brown decision as well as to combat de facto segregation outside of the South. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns- Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces database.
ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century, Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1 This link opens in a new window
Contains the records of major civil rights organizations and personal papers of leaders and observers of the 20th century Black freedom struggle. Papers included are those of the civil rights and labor leader A. Philip Randolph; the long-time civil rights activist and organizer of the March on Washington, Bayard Rustin, and the papers of the pioneering educator Mary McLeod Bethune. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century, Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1 database.
ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records This link opens in a new window
Focuses on the political side of the freedom movement, the role of civil rights organizations in pushing for civil rights legislation, and the interaction between African Americans and the federal government in the 20th century. Major collections include the FBI Files on Martin Luther King Jr.; Centers of the Southern Struggle, an exceptional collection of FBI Files covering five of the most pivotal arenas of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s: Montgomery, Albany, St. Augustine, Selma, and Memphis; and records from the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations, detailing the interaction between civil rights leaders and organizations and the highest levels of the federal government. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records database.
ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records, Supplement This link opens in a new window
Covers civil rights records from the Ford and Reagan presidencies. Contains subject files of J. Stanley Pottinger and Anne R. Clarke. These files detail the implementation of federal civil rights law from 1973 through 1977 and thus are an important complement to the other Black Freedom modules that focus on the campaigns that led to the passage of landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights of 1965. Records from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library consist of the White House Office of Records Management Subject File on Human Rights and seven collections released as a result of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records, Supplement database.

ProQuest History Vault: New Deal and World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Office Files and Records of Federal Agencies This link opens in a new window
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Office Files. Roosevelt’s Office Files constitute the heart and soul of the administrative record of the Roosevelt White House. They highlight the domestic and foreign concerns of the President and his administration. Roosevelt's policies, responses to crises, and plans for the future were all based on both classified and nonclassified information that he received and digested from all levels of government and the public. The office files represent the materials deemed especially important by the President on the basis of content and source. Major topics covered in the files are the Great Depression, the New Deal, America's involvement in World War II, the internal workings of the Roosevelt administration, and Roosevelt's personal leadership style. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: New Deal and World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Office Files and Records of Federal Agencies database.
ProQuest History Vault: Women at Work during World War II This link opens in a new window
Primary sources document a wide range of issues pertinent to women during this time of turbulent change, including studies on the treatment of women by unions in several midwestern industrial centers, and the influx of women to industrial centers during the war. Topics covered in records and correspondence include women’s work in war industries, pivotal issues like equal pay, childcare and race, and extensive documentation on the women who joined and served in the Women’s Army Corps as WACs. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: Women at Work during World War II database.
ProQuest History Vault: World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes, and Refugees This link opens in a new window
Includes records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Records of the War Department Operations Division, U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Map Room Files, Records of the Office of War Information, Papers of the War Refugee Board, George C. Marshall Papers, and several other collections documenting U.S. planning and participation in World War II. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes, and Refugees database.

Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
Contains primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history. It focuses on the history of 15 major commodities, and examines the ways that they have changed the world. In addition to historical documents, collection provides users with visual resources, such as thematic galleries, data and maps, and a searchable chronology.
View a tutorial on this database here.
World's Fairs: A Global History of Expositions This link opens in a new window
Online resource offers insight into over 200 world’s fairs and international expositions. The database provides digital access to primary source material collated from thirteen archives in North America, the U.K., and France. Material includes pamphlets, guide books, official catalogues, periodicals, minutes, and correspondence. There is also a selection of visual material including maps, photographs, postcards, and illustrations.
Mergent Archives This link opens in a new window
Access an indexed collection of historical corporate and industry related documents. Includes digitized corporate (Moody’s) manuals, municipal & government manuals, annual reports, industry reports, and Ford Equity Research Reports, as well as the Key Business Ratios, country reports, bond reports, the Million Dollar Directory Index, Hoover's Handbooks, commodity yearbooks, and First Research industry research reports. Now includes all content from Mergent WebReports. View a tutorial on this database here.
Trade Catalogues and the American Home This link opens in a new window
Collection explores domestic consumerism, life and leisure in America between 1850-1950. This resource presents a wealth of highly illustrated primary source documents that highlight commercial tastes and consumer trends and provide a valuable visual record for a breadth of interdisciplinary study.
Tutorial for the Trade Catalogues and the American Home database.
ProQuest Historical Annual Reports This link opens in a new window
Annual reports (1844-current) available for over 800 companies, 43,000 reports, 1.3M pages. Searchable puff images with indexed data such as: financial, Fortune 500 ranking, industry classification, key people, geographic location, auditor and related companies. It can also be browsed by company name, related names, industry or date. Tutorial for the Proquest Historical Annual Reports database.
Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 This link opens in a new window
Provides a unique insight into the world of buying, selling and advertising in pre- and post-war America. Access thousands of market research reports by pioneering analyst Ernest Dichter and his Institute for Motivational Research, commissioned by advertising agencies and global businesses.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Covers a wealth of subjects and themes, from Art and Architecture to Youth Culture. Source material includes: manuscripts and typescripts; printed materials (newspapers, magazines, press kits, artist's files); video clips; visual images (photographs, advertisements, memorabilia); ephemera (pamphlets, leaflets, posters, pins, artifacts); fanzines, underground press, scripts; and government files. Tutorial for the Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 database.

Disability in the Modern World This link opens in a new window
Database provides a visual and textual history of disability in the culture. The collection includes video and primary sources, including letters, documents, news stories, government and institutional documents, oral histories, interviews, documentaries, and related archival materials.
Tutorial of the Disability in the Modern World database.
Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965 This link opens in a new window
Provides a unique insight into the world of buying, selling and advertising in pre- and post-war America. Access thousands of market research reports by pioneering analyst Ernest Dichter and his Institute for Motivational Research, commissioned by advertising agencies and global businesses.
Chatham House Online Archive This link opens in a new window
Contains publications and archives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) including briefing papers, special reports, pamphlets, conference papers, and monographs, as well as audio recordings of key figures in international affairs from 1920 to 2008. Includes access to the full text of Chatham House's two flagship publications: International Affairs and The World Today.
Tutorial for the Chatham House Online Archive database.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Covers a wealth of subjects and themes, from Art and Architecture to Youth Culture. Source material includes: manuscripts and typescripts; printed materials (newspapers, magazines, press kits, artist's files); video clips; visual images (photographs, advertisements, memorabilia); ephemera (pamphlets, leaflets, posters, pins, artifacts); fanzines, underground press, scripts; and government files. Tutorial for the Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 database.
Sanborn Maps This link opens in a new window
Access the digital Sanborn historical map collections (1867-1970) for the states of Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Virginia, and Wyoming; and the District of Columbia. These maps show the history, growth, & development of American cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Tutorial for the [Sanborn Maps database.

Also see database wizard by subject for sources in topics such as Psychology, Engineering and Health Sciences.

Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International Propaganda This link opens in a new window
Collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba. Note: Access includes Module I: Wars & Revolutions.
Tutorial for the Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International Propaganda database.

Cold War Digitzed Collection (Mudd Library-Princeton)
Princeton has digitized the most frequently accessed portions of six highly-used collections documenting United States foreign policy and the origins of the Cold War. These include over 350,000 pages of documents from the following collections: John Foster Dulles, George Kennan, Allen W. Dulles, George V. Forrestal, Council on Foreign Relations and Adlai Stevenson.

Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Consists of curated and indexed government documents covering U.S. policy toward critical world events – including their military, intelligence, diplomatic and human rights dimensions – from 1945 to the present.
Tutorial for the Digital National Security Archive database.

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. The series, which is produced by the Department of State's Office of the Historian, began in 1861 and now comprises more than 450 individual volumes. The volumes published over the last two decades increasingly contain declassified records from all the foreign affairs agencies.
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Foreign Relations volumes contain documents from Presidential libraries, Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies as well as the private papers of individuals involved in formulating U.S. foreign policy. In general, the editors choose documentation that illuminates policy formulation and major aspects and repercussions of its execution. Volumes published during the last three decades have expanded the scope of the series by including documents from a wider range of government agencies, particularly those involved with intelligence activity and covert actions.

Volumes in the series since 1952 are organized chronologically according to Presidential administrations, and geographically and topically within each subseries: 65 volumes cover the Nixon and Ford administrations (1969-1976), 32 cover the Carter administration (1977-1980), and about 49 are scheduled for the Reagan administration (1981-1988). Volumes on the George H.W. Bush administration are now being researched, annotated, and prepared for publication.

Historic Documents This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text primary sources covering each year's most significant events issued annually since 1972. Includes such sources as Presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions.
Papers of the Nixon Administration: The President's Confidential and Subject Special Files This link opens in a new window
Consists of documents of an administratively-sensitive nature, arranged according to subject from President Nixon’s Special Files collection, comprising the Confidential and Subject Files 1969-1974. Provides an in-depth look into the activities of the President, his closest advisers, and the administration.
Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International Propaganda This link opens in a new window
Collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba. Note: Access includes Module I: Wars & Revolutions.
Tutorial for the Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International Propaganda database.
Statesman's Yearbook This link opens in a new window
Provides concise geographic, historical, economic, political, social and cultural overviews of each country in the world; and biographical profiles of current and key past leaders. The complete archive, from 1864 to present, is included. Features major international organizations and a tool for easy comparison of a wide range of data fields across all countries of the world. Tutorial for the Statesman's Yearbook database.
ProQuest History Vault: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Africa and the Middle East This link opens in a new window
U.S. State Department Central Files that have not been microfilmed by the National Archives or distributed by other publishers. This resource contains a wide range of sensitive materials from U.S. diplomats in foreign countries: reports on political, military, and socioeconomic matters; interviews and minutes of meetings with foreign government officials; important letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel; and reports and translations from foreign journals and newspapers. Among issues in the Africa and Middle East module is the pivotal 1964 Rivonia trial of Nelson Mandela and leaders of the African National Congress. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Africa and the Middle East database.
ProQuest History Vault: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Asia This link opens in a new window
Major topics covered in the China files include the tensions between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, the U.S.’s Two Chinas policy, and the Cultural Revolution in China. In Japan, State Department personnel reported on student demonstrations, the activities of Japanese political parties, the 1964 Olympics, negotiations regarding Japanese import and export restrictions, issues pertaining to the Japanese Self Defense Force, relations with South Korea, the possible reversion of Okinawa to Japan, diplomatic meetings, and the Japanese fishing industry. In the Vietnam files, documentation on agricultural commodities shipped to Vietnam as part of the Food for Peace program will give researchers a sense of agricultural prices, currency rates, and the food supply in Vietnam during the war. State Department records on Vietnam also cover relations between Buddhists and the government, and U.S. military intervention and military assistance in Vietnam. The records on Laos in this module focus on the political instability in Laos. Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Asia database.
ProQuest History Vault: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Europe and Latin America This link opens in a new window
The U.S. State Department Central Files are an important source of American diplomatic reporting on political, military, social, and economic developments throughout the world in the 20th century. Concentrating exclusively on those Central Files that have not been microfilmed by the National Archives or distributed by other publishers, the Central Files in History Vault contain a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats in foreign countries: special reports on political and military affairs; studies and statistics on socioeconomic matters; interviews and minutes of meetings with foreign government officials; court proceedings and other legal documents; full texts of important letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel; reports and translations from foreign journals and newspapers; and countless translations of high-level foreign government documents.
Tutorial for the ProQuest History Vault: Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Europe and Latin America database.

American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
Supports the study of American Indian history from the early colonial period to the civil rights movement of the twentieth century. Features a wide range of materials including manuscripts, artwork, American Indian newspapers covering the 1960s to 1990s, rare printed books, photographs, and maps. Tutorial for the American Indian Histories and Cultures database.
American West This link opens in a new window
Original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material, and rare printed sources from the Graff Collection about the American West, including tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes, and outlaws, and the growth of urban centers and environmental impact of westward expansion and of life in the borderlands.
Tutorial for the American West database.
China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980 This link opens in a new window
Provides variety of original source material detailing China's interaction with the West, beginning with Macartney's first Embassy to China in 1793, and relating to the activities and observations of British and American diplomats, missionaries, business people and tourists in China between 1793 and 1980, together with rare periodicals, color paintings, maps, photographs and drawings. Tutorial for the China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980 database.

Documenting the American South
Provides access to digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture.

Mountain People: Life and Culture in Appalachia This link opens in a new window
Consists of the diaries, journals, and narratives of explorers, emigrants, military men, Native Americans, and travelers; as well as accounts on the development of farming and mining communities, family histories, and folklore. Covers the social, political, economic, scientific, religious and agricultural characteristics of the region between Lexington, Kentucky and Winchester, Virginia, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Birmingham, Alabama, from 1700-1950.
Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945 This link opens in a new window
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Provides researchers with the opportunity to explore a unique period in China’s struggle toward a modern existence through the International Settlement in Shanghai.