United States History Research Guide

General Works including magazines and journals
General Biographies information about people
Almanacs include statistics, government documents and maps
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Chronologies and Timelines
U.S. Political History and Government includes presidents, congress, and federal courts
Women in U.S. History
African-American History
Native American History
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Books

Oxford Companion to American History
REF E174 .J6 (Reference) 1 volume, through 1966
Webster's Guide to American History
REF E174.5 .W4 (Reference) 1 volume, through 1971
The American Heritage History of the American People
E184.A1 W35 (Circulating) 1 volume, through 1971
Annals of America
E178.6 .A5 (Circulating) 21 volumes, through 1986. Includes primary source material.
American Decades
World events, government and politics, business and economy, 1900-1989
America's Decades
Series covering the 1900s' through the 1980's.
Atlas of American History
G1201.S1 F4 1993 (Circulating) From the colonial era through 1993
100 Key Documents in American Democracy
E173 .A15 1994 (Circulating)
The American Spirit: United States History as Seen by Contemporaries
E173 .A757 1987 (Circulating)
American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation
REF E184.A1 A63448 1997 (Reference) 2 volumes, through 1997
The Civil War: a History in Documents
E464 .S48 2000 (Circulating)
Opposing Viewpoints in American History
E173 .O7 1996 (Circulating)
The American Frontier: Opposing Viewpoints
REF E179.5 .A47733 1994 (Reference)
The 1960s: Opposing Viewpoints
REF E838.3 .A16 1997 (Reference) and E 838.3 .A16 1997 (Circulating)
Presents the social and political history of the United States through contemporary source materials from the era of Reconstruction to 1987.

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Magazines, Journals and Newspapers

American History June 94 to current issue
American History Illustrated From 5/70-4/94
America, History and Life Includes index.
The American Historical Review October 1950 to current issue
Journal of American History June 64 to current issue
The American Historical Association publishes a number of journals

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature--1900 to current issue. The library has several magazines, dating from 1920. Search the library catalog by magazine title, for example Time, and limit the search by date.

New York Times--MVCC Library has microfilm dating from 1851-present. The paper index is available at MVCC. In addition, you can search the index online at http://www.nytimes.com/ and then find the microfilm in the cabinet.

Chicago Tribune Index--MVCC has the paper index from 1972-present, as well as microfilm.

Chicago Daily News--available on microfilm from 1960-1972

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Web Sites
The American Studies Web
http://lumen.georgetown.edu/projects/asw
A project of the American Studies Association with sponsorship from Georgetown University and in collaboration with Washington State University, the ASW claims to be the largest bibliography of web-based resources in the field of American Studies.
National Archives and Records Administration
<http://www.archives.gov/search/index.html>
Search the NARA Web site for documents, federal records and exhibits as well as lists of external subject links.
National Museum of American History
<http://americanhistory.si.edu.master.com/texis/master/search/>
From the Smithsonian Institution. Try various search terms, such as Slavery, Lewis & Clark or Watergate.
Our Documents - 100 Milestone Documents from American History
<http://www.ourdocuments.gov/>
Primary source material. "A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service."
National Archives Exhibit Hall
<http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/index.html>
Founding documents, founding fathers bios, presidential libraries & etc.
Smithsonian Institution's History and Culture Resources
<http://www.si.edu/history_and_culture/>
American Memory
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html>
American Memories from the Library of Congress. Search by topic, browse through photographs, documents, and audio and video clips.
eHistory
http://www.ehistory.osu.edu

eHistory contains over 130,000 pages of historical content; 5,300 timeline events; 800 battle outlines; 350 biographies; and thousands of images and maps. Just as an example, if you go into maps, and choose Maps of the Civil War, you get 26 large, quality, color maps of various areas, battles, and events (such as the progress of emancipation). An extremely detailed world history resource that includes much U.S. history.
History Matters
<http://historymatters.gmu.edu/>
A project of the American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (City University of New York, Graduate Center) and the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University ). Designed for teachers. Serves as a gateway to web resources.
Catalog of Internet Resources on the United States
<http://bubl.ac.uk/link/u/>
From BUBL LINK. Includes a number of U.S. history categories.
From Revolution to Reconstruction
<http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/>
"A Hypertext on American history from the colonial period until modern times." From Department of Humanities Computing, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
National Register of Historic Places
<http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/index.htm>
From the National Parks Service.
Spy Letters of the American Revolution
<http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/>
From the collections of the Clements Library (University of Michigan).
The New Deal Network
<http://newdeal.feri.org/>
The NDN offers photographs, political cartoons, and texts (speeches, letters, and other historic documents) from the New Deal period and some links to external sources. Based at the Institute for Learning Technologies at Columbia University.
The Chinese in California, 1850-1925
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/>
This digital collection "illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California... through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials. Included are photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter...." Part of the Library of Congress American Memory site.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html#Introduction

One of a series of history primary sourcebooks. Intended to serve the needs of teachers and students in college survey courses in modern European history and American history, as well as in modern Western Civilization and World Cultures.

General Biographies

For more biographies also see this guide's sections on:
U.S. Political History & Government
Women in U.S. History
African-American History

Books

Cyclopaedia of American Biography
REF E176 .C993 (Reference) 10 volumes, through 1903.
Dictionary of American Biography
REF E176 .D563 (Reference)
Reprint of the original 20 volume edition published 1928-1937 with supplementary v. 21-22 which were added in 1944 and 1958.
Encyclopedia of American Biography
REF CT213 .G37 1974 (Reference) 1 volume, through 1974.
Research Guide to American Historical Biography
REF CT214 .R47 1988 (Reference) 3 volumes, through 1988.
Webster's American Biographies
REF CT213 .V36 (Reference) 1 volume, through 1974.

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Almanacs include statistics, government documents and maps.

Books

Almanacs of American Life: Colonial America to 1763
REF E188 .P86 1999 (Reference)
Almanacs of American Life: Revolutionary America 1763 to 1800
REF E162 .P86 1995 (Reference)
Almanacs of American Life: Victorian America 1876 to 1913
REF E168 .S55 1996 (Reference)
Almanacs of American Life: Modern America 1914 to 1945
REF E766 .G74 1995 (Reference)
Historical Statistics of the United States:Colonial Times to 1970

REF HA202 .B87 1976 volume 1 and volume 2 (Reference)

Datapedia of the United States: American History in Numbers (1790-2005)

REF HA 202 .K87

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Books

The American Heritage Encyclopedia of American History
REF E174 .A535 1998 (Reference) 1 volume, through 1988
Dictionary of American History
REF E174 .D54 1976 (Reference) 8 volumes, through 1976
Dictionary of American Diplomatic History
REF E183.7 .F5 (Reference) 1 volume
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century
REF E740.7 .E53 1996 (Reference) 4 volumes plus index, through 1988
The Dictionary of American Diplomatic History
REF E183.7 .F5 (Reference) Through 1980
Encyclopedia of American Social History
REF HN57 .E58 1993 (Reference) 3 volumes, through 1993
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History
REF E185 .E54 (Reference) 5 volumes, through 1996
Dictionary of the Vietnam War
REF DS557.7 .D53 1988 (Reference)
Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social and Military History
REF DS557.7 .E53 1998 (Reference) 3 volumes, through 1998
The New Encyclopedia of American Scandal
REF E179 .N53 2001 (Reference) 1 volume, through 2001

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Chronologies and Timelines

Books

This Day in American History
REF E174.5 .G76 1990 1 volume, through 1990

Websites

Year by Year

1900-2007 World Events, United States, Economics, Sports, Entertainment, Sciences, Deaths

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

U.S. Political History and Government

Books

Encyclopedia of American Political History
REF E183 .E48 2001 (Reference) Through 2001
The Presidents: A Reference History
REF E176.1 .P918 1984 (Reference) 1 volume
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States
REF J80 .A283 (Reference) Primary source material
Presidential Scandals
E176.1 .S353 2000 (Circulating) 1 volume
Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789-1993
REF E176.49 .V53 1997 (Reference) 1 volume

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Web Sites

Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Political History
<http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/political.htm>
Includes links to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Political History and the National Portrait Gallery.
American Presidents: Life Portraits
<http://www.americanpresidents.org/>
C-SPAN's site to compliment their television series of the same name. Includes bibliographies and links to video archives.
House of Representatives Historical Highlights
http://clerk.house.gov/
From the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Senate Art & History Page
<http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/art/a_three_sections_with_teasers/art_hist_home.htm>
From the U.S. Senate. Includes a digital presentation of the Senate's art collection and the Senate's oral history project.
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774-Present
<http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp>
Look up biographies by name, position, party, year or congress.
Oyez
<http://www.oyez.org>
Includes information on the individuals who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court since its inception. Biographical information, as well as summaries of important cases, a virtual tour of the building, and links to additional Supreme Court information.

United States Historical Census Browser

http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/

Women in U.S. History

Books

Notable American Women: 1607-1950
REF CT3260 .N57 (Reference) 3 volumes
Notable American Women: The Modern Period
REF CT3260 .N573 (Reference) 1 volume
American Women in Science: 1950 to the Present
REF Q141 .B254 1998 (Reference) 1 volume
For other Books in the MVCC Library about women in U.S. history, try a subject search of the Library's catalog using:

Women - United States - History

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Online Articles (accessible by registered students and faculty only)

Women in American History
<http://search.eb.com/women/>
From the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Web Sites

American Women
<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/>
A gateway to Library of Congress resources for the study of women's history and culture in the United States.
NARA's Women's History Links
<http://www.archives.gov/research_room/alic/reference_desk/womens_history_links.html>
From the U.S. National Archives Library and Records Administration Information Center.
American Women's History: A Research Guide
<http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html>
Citations of print and online reference materials for women's history.
Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848–1998
<http://www.legacy98.org/>
From the National Women's History Project, this site commemorates the 150th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Women's Rights movement. Although some of the information is dated (referring to 1998 activities), there is a nice timeline that begins with the world's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY, in July 1848; a history of the movement; an annotated list of national women's rights organizations; and program ideas for schools and libraries.
National Women's Hall of Fame
<http://www.greatwomen.org>
Information about the museum, biographies of over 150 American women, games and learning resources.

African-American History

Books

Reference Library of Black America
REF E185 .R44 2000 (Reference) 5 volumes
The African-American Almanac
REF E185 .A344 (Reference) Continues The Negro Almanac, the first comprehensive work to chronicle the history and culture of African-Americans.
The African American Encyclopedia
REF E185 .A253 1993 (Reference)
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History
REF E185 .E54 1996 (Reference)
Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: from Emancipation to the Present
REF E185.61 .E54 1992 (Reference)
Slave Narratives
PS366.A35 S57 2001 (Circulating)
Notable Black American Women
Historic Landmarks of Black America
REF E185.53.A1 C36 1991 (Reference)

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Videocassettes

Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery
E441 .A568 1998 VIDEO CASSETTE (Circulating)
Eyes on the Prize: America at the Racial Crossroads
PBS Series

Web Sites

African American Odyssey
<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aohome.html>
Part of the Library of Congress American Memory digital collections of primary source and archival material relating to American culture and history. Includes important and rare books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films, and recordings.
Historymakers

http://www.thehistorymakers.com

Includes biographical information and audio and video clips about African Americans who have influenced history.

African American Migration Experience

http://www.inmotionaame.org

Presents more than 16,500 pages of texts, 8,300 illustrations, and more than 60 maps. The web site is organized around thirteen defining migrations that have formed and transformed African Americans and the nation.

Native American History

Books

A Chronology of the American Indian: A Guide to Native Peoples of the Western Hemisphere
REF E58 .C49 1994 (Reference)
Chronology of Native North American History: From Pre-Columbian Times to the Present
REF E77 .C555 1994 (Reference)
American Indian Biographies
REF E89 .A46 1999 (Reference)
Atlas of Ancient America
REF E61 .C66 1986 (Reference)
The American Indian, 1492-1970; a Chronology & Fact Book
REF E77 .D393 (Reference)
Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership
REF E89 .D55 (Reference)
Civilization of the American Indian
Circulating Series

For other Books in the MVCC Library about Native American history, try searching the Library's catalog by subject. For example:

Wounded Knee
Nez Perce

Note that in some instances the catalog refers you to the appropriate subject heading, such as Trail of Tears

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Web Sites

Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Native American History and Culture
<http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmai/start.htm>
Resources, exhibitions, and recommended reading from the Smithsonian.
Archives Library Information Center: Native Americans
<http://www.archives.gov/research_room/alic/reference_desk/native_american_links.html>
From the National Archives and Records Administration's Research Room.
NativeWeb
<http://www.nativeweb.org/>
"Resources for Indigenous Cultures around the World," including material on Native Americans.

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Books

Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806
F592.4 1969b (Circulating) Primary source material.
The Way to the Western Sea: Lewis and Clark Across the Continent
F592.7 .L38 1988 (Circulating)
Lewis & Clark: an Illustrated History
F592 .D86 1997 (Circulating) Companion volume to the Ken Burns' PBS TV series: Lewis & Clark: the Journey of the Corps of Discovery
The Truth About Sacajawea
F592.U.S123 T56 1997 (Circulating)

For other Books in the MVCC Library about Lewis and Clark, try a subject search of the Library's catalog using:

Lewis and Clark
Lewis, Meriwether
Clark, William

Also see Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Videocassettes

Lewis & Clark: the Journey of the Corps of Discovery
F592.7 .L689 1997 VIDEO CASSETTE (Circulating) Ken Burns' PBS TV series, in two parts.

Web Sites

The Lewis and Clark Expedition
<http://www.lewisandclark.org/>
By the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.
Lewis & Clark: Mapping the West
<http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/>
From the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Discovering Lewis & Clark
<http://www.lewis-clark.org/>
"Discovering Lewis and Clark" by Joe Mussulman of Lolo, Montana. Contains audio files, video clips, animations, interactive QTVR (Quick Time Virtual Reality) panoramas, and other visual techniques that require the latest versions of Quick Time and Flash. Load times for dial-up connections may be slow.

The following sites are from the U.S. National Park Service:

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
<http://www.nps.gov/lecl/>
Fort Clatsop National Memorial
<http://www.nps.gov/focl/>
Knife River Villages National Historic Site
<http://www.nps.gov/knri/>

Finding Other U.S. History Resources

Search the Library's catalog by Author

For example, a search for works by Franklin, Benjamin will find his "Autobiography" as well as his other writings, and a search for the works of King, Martin Luther will find his speeches and other writings. Remember to search using last name first, the same way you search the phone book.

Search the Library's catalog by Title

For example, you can search for the Declaration of Independence.

Search the Library's catalog by Subject Heading

For a broad search, try using such headings as:

United States History
Historic Sites -- United States

You can begin to narrow your search by using headings such as:

Civil War
Vietnam War
New Deal
Roosevelt, Franklin D.
King, Martin Luther Note: a subject heading search using an individual's name will find works about that individual.

Search the Library's catalog by Keywords

This is also called a "Words in Record" search. You can search by a single word, such as Slavery. Try combining key search terms, such as Civil War AND Slavery or History AND United States AND Women. Search tip: it's important to separate the terms by the word AND.

Search the Library's Subscription Databases
The library offers a few history specific databases, but the multiple subject databases contain articles from History Review, History Today, History, Historical Methods and other historical journals.

Search for a specific journal title here, or try searching any of the following:

Britannica Online
ArticleFirst
ProQuest Research Library
Expanded Academic ASAP
Academic Search Premier
Wilson Select Plus
SIRS Researcher

Librarians and other Library staff will gladly assist you in using the many sources for history research. Do not hesitate to ask them for assistance at any point in your search.