Digitized Primary Sources
- Accessible Archives
Accessible Archives offers access to primary source material from prior to 1900 that has been fully digitized and is full-text searchable. To view the collections UIC subscribes to, see more .
- African American Communities
Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource 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.
- American Historical Periodicals (AAS)comprehensive digital access to the American Antiquarian Society's (AAS) collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912, documenting the life of America's people from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
- American Periodicals (1740-1940)
American periodicals originating between 1740-1940, covering two centuries of American history and culture. Full images with searchable text.
- Black Thought and Culture
Non-fiction published works of leading African Americans, as well as interviews, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters, etc. Includes the Black Panther Party newspaper.
- Bracero History ArchiveThousands of oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964.
- Archivo MesoamericanoIndiana University's digital archive of raw footage, videos, and films related to Central America and Mexico
- Chicago and the Midwest (Newberry Library)Primary resources digitized by the Newberry Library
- Chicago Foreign Language Press Survery (Newberry)120,000 typewritten pages translated from newspapers of 22 different foreign language communities of Chicago from 1855 to 1938 by the Works Progress Administration of Illinois.
- Civil War: Parts I-IVPrimary sources on the Civil War from a variety of perspectives. Produced by Accessible Archives.
Part I: A Newspaper Perspective
Part II: A Soldier's Perspective
Part III: The General's Perspective
Part IV: A Midwestern Perspective
- Early American ImprintsSeries I (and Supplement) 1639-1800 contains virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in America from 1639-1800. Series II (and Supplement) provides a comprehensive set of American books, pamphlets and broadsides published between 1801-1819. Select which series to search (and exclude newspapers) by clicking the "Searching 9 of 9 databases" button.
- Early English Books Online : EEBOEarly English Books Online is now available on ProQuest platform. Over 100,000 early books published in English between 1475 and 1700. (To continue into the 18th century, see below: ECCO: Eighteenth Century Collections Online).
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO I & II)
Every significant English and foreign-language title printed in Great Britain, along with thousands of important works from the Americas (1700-1800). This database may not be compatible with Mozilla Firefox.
- Empire OnlineHistoric British colonial and postcolonial primary documents and books, with extensive curatorial notes. From 1492-1969.
- Euro Docs (BYU)European primary historical documents transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. Includes sound files, maps, images, documents, and databases as well. The order of documents is chronological wherever possible.
- Explore Chicago CollectionsThe Chicago Collections Consortium aspires to increase public and scholarly interest in and study of the Chicago region's diverse history and culture. On this website, you can search and browse hundreds of collections from 20 different Chicago-area libraries, including UIC!
- Food Studies OnlineFood Studies Online is a curated collection that provides archival content, ephemera, videos, and other materials that are relevant to food studies. Archival content comes from the National Archives and Records Administration. Ephemera includes educational pamphlets from food production companies, food labels, food advertisements, and recipe books. There is also a menu discovery service that searches more than 20,000 menus provided through the New York Public Library and the Los Angeles Public Library. Includes captions and transcripts for video content, but no captions or transcripts for audio content.
- Hathi TrustHathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
- Herman Baca Collection (UCSD)The papers of Herman Baca, a National City, California, Chicano rights activist and prominent member of the Mexican-American community
- HistoryMakersThe HistoryMakers is the largest African American video oral history archive in the world. Currently, it offers access to more than 2,800 full-length oral-history video interviews, with more than 9000 hours with African Americans in a variety of fields including business, medicine, the arts, education, entertainment, politics, sports, and more. Includes captions and transcripts.
- Huntington Digital LibraryOnline collections from the Huntington Library, an independent research library specializing in the fields of British and American history, literature and the history of science spanning the 11th century to the present.
- Illinois Digital Heritage Hubphotographs, manuscripts, books, audio recordings, and videos. Established in 2015 by four institutions, the Chicago Public Library, the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois, the Illinois State Library, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library
- In the Vicinity of Maxwell and Halsted Streets: Chicago 1890-1930 – A Human DocumentaryInvestigates and evaluates comprehensively and in depth the complexities of the Progressive era in U.S. History from the unique perspective of Chicago. Developed by Prof. Burton J. Bledstein and funded with a special grant from the Offices of the Provost, the Illinois Humanities Council, and many other organizations at UIC and beyond.
- Nineteenth Century Collections OnlineNineteenth Century Collections Online is a multi-year global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century, with archives releasing incrementally beginning in spring 2012. May not be compatible with Chrome.
- The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960–1974Primary documents and scholarly commentary for research into American culture, history and politics during the years 1960 to 1974. Includes captions and transcripts.
- Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American RecordingsOver 125,000 songs celebrating North America’s Spanish-language musical heritage
- Victorian Popular CultureDigitized, searchable collection of rare printed sources describing popular entertainment in America, Britain and Europe from 1779 to 1930.
- Women and Social Movements in the U.S. 1600-2000 - Scholars' edition
Collection combining primary documents with historical and scholarly analysis and teaching tools, all documenting women’s activism in public life. Includes captions and transcripts.
Schedule an Appointment with a Librarian
Jeff Wheeler the is UIC's liaison librarian for history, and can arrange an appointment for you to use our computers to search our digital collections. Most require a login code so you will need to arrange for a time when a librarian can get you into the databases to find the primary sources you're looking for. Or you can make an appointment to visit our Special Collections Department, who can work with you to access the same resources
jwheel9@uic.edu
(312) 996-9373
Encyclopedia of Chicago: An Indispensible Research Tool
Search the Encyclopedia of Chicago online to find useful background information on a wide range of Chicago History topics. Specialized encyclopedias can inform your research by filling you in on important names, dates or ideas and connecting you to additional sources selected by historians.