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Sources for Research in History

Graduate

Campus Sources

Campus libraries hold extensive collections of primary and secondary sources (many in English) covering all chronological periods and all areas of the world.  While knowledge of a foreign language is an asset to studying the history of other nations and cultures, the library’s rich English language holdings often make it possible for undergraduates to undertake research on the history of other peoples and places. The UW-Madison Library website provides links to 54 libraries and archives, many of which are useful for historical research:

For example, the Wisconsin Historical Society Library and Archives house both unpublished and published primary sources, not to mention a vast collection of secondary sources in the field of History: 

The Wisconsin Historical Society Library holds one of the best collection of North American history in the nation. In addition to the history of Wisconsin and North America in general, the Library has particularly strong genealogy, labor union, North American exploration, African American and Native American holdings. The Library houses a premier collection of Wisconsin, Federal and Canadian government publications.

The Wisconsin Historical Society Archives provide access to collections of unpublished primary materials about the history of Wisconsin and a wide array of topics related to North American history. These collections include letters, diaries, organization records, state and local government records, photographs, films, oral histories and many other kinds of unique materials documenting American history. The Historical Society’s extensive map collection also is available through the Archives. In addition to being a major manuscript repository, the Historical Society is the Wisconsin State Archives, housing original state and local government records.

Also housed in the Wisconsin Historical Society is the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research:

The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (WCFTR) is one of the world’s major archives of research materials relating to the entertainment industry. It maintains over three hundred manuscripts collections from outstanding playwrights, television and motion picture writers, producers, actors, Malldesigners, directors and production companies.
Materials include motion pictures, television shows and videotapes, still photographs and promotional graphics, and sound recordings. Collections are richest in records of the American film industry between 1930 and 1960, popular theater of the 1940s and 1950s, and television from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Memorial Library is home to vast collections of primary and secondary sources covering all regions of the world, ranging from extensive newspaper collections on microfiche, to memoirs, diaries and diplomatic correspondence.  The library’s subject and area specialists can be found at:

and students should also consult the areas studies web pages for:

The Department of Special Collections in Memorial Library has important collections ranging from pre-1800 rare books  to collections of pamphlets and posters on the Great War and on  East Germany  during the collapse of communism in 1989.

Students interested in environmental history or the history of the life sciences may find the Steenbock Memorial Library holdings useful: 

Students whose research includes aspects of legal history may find useful materials in the Law Library:

Students interested in the history of place and space may want to visit the Geography Library and the Arthur H. Robinson Map Library:

UW-Madison even has a repository devoted to the history and culture of German Americans in the Max Kade Institute Library:

Department of History Library Liaison:

Off Campus Sources Available on the Web

Library of Congress information and internet links to primary sources, general history sites, oral history and folklife/cultural studies, and general history:

Library of Congress Portals to World History:

Census Research:

For Research in U.S. History:

The National Archives and Records Administration:

Yale University Library links to resources on American History:

Women and Gender:

Latino/a and Hispanic History:

African American History:

American Indian History:

For Research in Asian American History:

For Research on Foreign Policy and World History:

  • The National Security Archive is an independent non-governmental research institution which specializes in obtaining and publishing declassified documents on a wide range of topics pertaining to the national security, foreign, intelligence, and economic policies of the United States. Their website includes  a large selection of "Electronic Briefing Books," which contain selections of relevant declassified documents in download-able pdf format covering topics related to Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Nuclear History, and beyond.  These collections can serve as an excellent source of primary documentation on US foreign policy, and world history in general.
  • This section of U.S. State Department's Freedom of Information Act "Electronic Reading Room" is dedicated to making previously released declassified documents accessible to the public. Those documents and document collections most requested are available for public search and download. This includes collections on the dirty war in Chile and Argentina, as well as many other topics relating to US foreign policy.

For Research in Latin American History:

For Research in Asian History:

For Research in Middle Eastern History:

For Research in African History:

For Research in European History:

For Research in the History of the United Kingdom:

Additional Internet Links:

Locating and Using Primary Documents:

Etexts:

 Maps:

Reference:

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