Research Guides: Primary Sources: Digital and Physical Archives and Manuscript Collections: Primary Sources @ GW

Finding Primary Sources @ GW

About

The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) offers numerous primary sources, including maps, manuscripts, newspapers, diaries, photographs, and pamphlets. The SCRC collects materials related to many areas of research; strengths include University history, Washingtoniana, labor history, and education. There is also a collection of rich bibliographies on popular topics (such as LGBT Resources, American Labor History, and Maps of Washington DC) available to assist researchers interested in particular topics. Contact a special collections librarian for help with your research.

Hours information

Using Archival Collections On Site in Gelman

Start here: https://searcharchives.library.gwu.edu/
This database allows you to search across all of the library's archival collections. You can limit your search results by date, names, and subjects. The majority of the archival, manuscript, and rare book collections in special collections are housed offsite and require 3-5 business days for retrieval. Request materials in advance of visits. Send requests or questions here: https://library.gwu.edu/scrc/contact

Digital Collections @ GW

The Digital Services unit is part of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) and deeply engaged in cross-departmental projects to identify, digitize, and provide access to historical collections online. GW Libraries’ digital services focus on the development and implementation of ethical and sustainable digital collections. Digital services staff also support the accession, preservation, discovery, and use of born-digital resources and web archives.

Tutorial: Introduction to Primary Source and Archival Research
This tutorial is designed to provide you with a basic understanding of archival and primary source research: what is a primary source, types of primary sources, and a basic introduction to reading primary sources

Primary Source Databases

African American Newspapers: The 19th Century (Accessible Archives) This link opens in a new window
This database provides full-text access to articles from a number of historic African American newspapers, beginning in 1827 with Freedom's Journal. The collection contains a wealth of information about cultural life and history during the 1800s and offers first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day.
African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window
This collection features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports and other genres.
American Periodicals Series (1741-1940) This link opens in a new window
Page-images from more than 1,100 historic American magazines, journals, and newspapers illuminating the development of American culture, politics, and society across 150 years. Articles can be searched by author, source, or words in the complete text.
Ancestry Library Edition This link opens in a new window
The largest and broadest online collection of genealogical records. Each record collection includes detailed information about the source, and many collections include images of primary source documents and/or transcriptions, in addition to unique name indexes. New content and updates are added weekly.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender. LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 This link opens in a new window
Includes Parts l & ll. Part I brings together primary source content on the social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world. Includes the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more. Part ll highlights marginalized groups—even within the LGBTQ community—and enables users to draw new connections across the development of LGBTQ culture and activism through access to key publications.
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century (History Vault) This link opens in a new window
The link goes to the History Vault main page; then look for Black Freedom Struggle under Browse Collections. This database gives allows researchers to study both well-known and unheralded events in the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of men and women who waged it. Consists of two modules: "Federal Government Records," and "Organizational Records and Personal Papers."
Daily Worker Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text archive of the Daily Worker, official organ of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), published from 1924 to 1958.
HarpWeek (Harper's Weekly: 1857-1877) This link opens in a new window
Searchable page images from Harper's Weekly magazine for 1857-1877, the Civil War era through Reconstruction.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
Offers a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada. Provides more than 100,000 pages of personal narratives including letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories. Much of the material is previously unpublished.
Washington Post (Historical,1877-2006) This link opens in a new window
Online archival access to The Washington Post. Includes page images from every issue—cover to cover—in downloadable PDF files. Fully searchable.
Women's Magazine Archive (I & II) This link opens in a new window
Contains retrospective coverage of 19th and 20th-century consumer magazines aimed at a female readership: Better Homes and Gardens, Chatelaine, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, Parents, Redbook, Seventeen, Town & Country, WIN News, and Woman's Day.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
A collection of full-text primary materials documenting various movements and events in the history of women's social reform activities. Sources include documents, images, and books, and are organized around topical document projects.

Content Warning

When working with historical materials, you may encounter racist, oppressive, or outdated language and imagery in specific materials or represented in the wider archival record.

Primary Sources: Digital and Physical Archives and Manuscript Collections

University Archivist

Special Collections Librarian

Research Appointments