History

The Library of Congress, located in Washington, DC, is the research arm of the United States Congress and the largest library in the world. The Library of Congress website includes expansive digital collections, research guides, videos, webcasts, and more.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is located in Washington, DC and provides access to archival documents, photographs, and records, including military records, related to United States history. NARA's documents include the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. Online exhibits are also available.

Milestone primary historical documents from the American Revolution to Postwar United States (1945-1970).

Includes primary sources and educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other sources relating to the struggle for racial equality in the United States.

Access research tools, search the archives catalog, plan a research visit, order copies of records, and/or view extensive online exhibits, such as "The Charters of Freedom," "American Women," and "A People at War."

Includes texts, images and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture.

Includes blogs, editorial pieces, internal and external topical articles, discussions of books, and resource guides to written and digital sources. Concentrates mainly on modern U.S. history.

Digitized primary materials from Harvard University's libraries, archives, and museums documenting voluntary immigration to the United States.

Twenty-eight collections of documents (administrative files, correspondence, financial records, photographs, etc.) focused on labor union history.

Digital library of primary sources, including monographs and journal articles. The collection is focused on American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

Expansive collection of digitized objects related to the September 11 attacks. Includes photographs, video testimonials, poems, paintings, fliers, songs, art, e-mail message, and more.

This collection presents twenty-three popular periodicals digitized by Cornell University Library and the Preservation Reformatting Division of the Library of Congress.

Hundreds of free online newspaper archives in a searchable database.

Political cartoons from contemporary publications and the Library of Congress Collection of American Political Prints, covering presidential elections from 1860-1912.

A variety of information of interest to anyone looking for material on western women's history.

Includes information on major US policy decisions, significant diplomatic activity, travel information for presidents and secretaries, and more.

This digital collection includes thousands of images relating to the Civil War, including photographs, prints, and drawings.

Includes digitized photographs, personnel records, draft records, and much more related to the U.S. Civil War.

Digitized collections of primary materials from Duke University and other institutions. Includes links to letters, images, narratives, original manuscripts, and more.

Includes the Missouri Compromise, the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Telegram Announcing the Surrender of Fort Sumter, and more digitized primary documents.

Online repository of the collected papers of the Robert E. Lee family.

A growing archive containing over 119,869 presidential documents.

NARA's guide to Presidential libraries includes links to each library, research tips, guides, and finding aids.