Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Finding Primary Sources

Beginning with Freedoms Journal (NY)the first African American newspaper published in the United Statesthe titles in this groundbreaking series include The Colored Citizen (KS), Arkansas State Press, Rights of All (NY), Wisconsin Afro-American, New York Age, L'Union (LA), Northern Star and Freemans Advocate (NY), Richmond Planet, Cleveland Gazette, The Appeal (MN) and hundreds of others from every region of the U.S.

Coverage: 1920s-1940s (original interviews)

This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. The Historical New York Times with Index (1851-1993) provides search capability using subject terms and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable full text, full page, and article-level images from the Historical New York Times.
Coverage: 1851-4 years ago

JSTOR, the online journal backfile archive, has added an archive of more than 23,000 19th-century British pamphlets. Although pamphlets were an important means of public debate, covering the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day, they were often treated poorly by libraries, collected in unwieldy bindings or otherwise kept inaccessible to their future readers.

These pamphlets were selected for their relevance to the political, social, and economic issues of 19th century Britain from the collections of seven British institutions by Research Libraries UK, Durham University, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Newcastle University, University College London (UCL), and the Universities of Bristol, Liverpool, and Manchester. The subject collections contributed by the institutions include:

Bristol selected pamphlets, 1800-1899
Including the National Liberal Club collection, with pamphlets from the libraries of Charles Bradlaugh, John Noble, the Liberation Society, the Land Nationalisation Society, the Cobden Club, and others. Bristol's collection is especially strong on 19th century commerce, economics, finance, politics, religion and sociology. In addition to publications by Liberal Party members, it includes many pamphlets from other political parties.
Cowen tracts, 1603-1898
Personal collection of Joseph Cowen (1829-1900). A social reformer and Member of Parliament for Newcastle (1873-86), Cowen's pamphlet collection dates, mostly, from his active years from the late 1840s to early 1880s. The collection reflects his interests in social, educational and economic issues and includes much local material.
Earl Grey Pamphlets collection, 1800-1900
This collection, still owned by the family, was largely accumulated by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Earls Grey. Charles was Foreign Secretary (1806-07) and Prime Minister (1830-34). Henry George was Under Secretary for Home Affairs (1830) and the Colonies (1830-34), Secretary at War (1835-39), and Secretary of State for the Colonies (1846-52). Albert Henry George was Administrator of Rhodesia (1896-97) and Governor-General of Canada (1904-11). The Greys were particularly interested in parliamentary reform, colonial affairs and Catholic emancipation.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office collection (1545-1900)
On deposit from the FCO, this collection comprises the earlier collections of the Foreign Office and the Colonial Office. Both include rare publications from overseas. The Foreign Office Collection consists largely of pamphlets sent back to London by British ambassadors to help with policy formation. It is particularly rich in material related to South America, the Near East, and to the various great European political "questions" of the 19th century. The Colonial Office Collection is chiefly comprised of pamphlets sent back from Britain's colonies, including some unique early material from Australasia.
Hume tracts, 1769-1890
Personal collection of Joseph Hume (1777-1855), Radical Member of Parliament. Hume's collection covers the major political, economic and social developments and reforms taking place in Britain in the early part of the 19th century along with the causes he particularly championed, such as universal suffrage, Catholic emancipation, a reduction in the power of the Anglican church and an end to imprisonment for debt.
Knowsley pamphlet collection, 1792-1868
The Knowsley collection reflects the political careers of the Earls of Derby. Edward George, the 14th Earl, was successively Irish Secretary (1830-33), Colonial Secretary (1833-34, 1841-44), and three times Prime Minister (1852, 1858-59, and 1866-68). His son, Edward Henry, 15th Earl, was Colonial Secretary and later Indian secretary in his father's administration of 1858-59.
LSE selected pamphlets, 1800-1899
The London School of Economics and Political Science has a substantial number of 19th century pamphlets. Among its pamphlets are comprehensive collections of political party materials, including election manifestos and political cartoons. There are also collections from pressure groups such as the Fabian Society, Imperial Federation Defence Committee, Poor Law Reform Association, Workhouse Visiting Society, Liberal and Property Defence League, and from cooperative movements such as the Cooperative Women's Guild.
Manchester selected pamphlets, 1799-1900
A broad sampling of pamphlets
Wilson Anti-Slavery collection, 1761-1900
A collection of 19th-century anti-slavery pamphlets received in 1923 from the executors of Henry Joseph Wilson (1833-1914), the distinguished Liberal Member of Parliament for Sheffield. The collection is of particular importance for the study of the activities of the provincial philanthropic societies, such as the Birmingham and Midland Freedmen's Aid Association, the Birmingham and West Bromwich Ladies' Negro's Friend Society, the Glasgow Emancipation Society, the Manchester Union and Emancipation Society, and the Sheffield Ladies Female Anti Slavery Society. Of interest is the prominent role of women in the movement, who formed themselves into societies which lobbied MPs and printed pamphlets on the conditions of slaves. Here we have details of what was sold at their bazaars to raise funds and lists of names of subscribers, the minutiae which bring alive the history of the movement.
These pamphlet collections are fully integrated into the JSTOR platform. They are fulltext-searchable, they may be viewed in PDF format, and each pamphlet is provided with a persistent URL for citation.

First published in 1785, The Times of London is widely considered to be the world's 'newspaper of record'. The Times Digital Archive allows users to search over 200 years of this invaluable historical source.