History: Digital Archives

The Library of Congress’s American Memory collection consists of America’s most important primary sources that address many aspects of American history, society, and culture. Topics include: African American history, Native American history, presidents, religion, sports, literature, performing arts, folklore, architecture, and the environment.

University of Michigan’s Making of America contains digital reproductions of books and journals vital to understanding the social history of America. The collection documents Antebellum (pre-Civil War) America through Reconstruction, and contains about 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles, with a focus on education, psychology, history, sociology, religion, and science and technology of the time.

The National Archives and Records Administration has created numerous online digital exhibits, which include primary sources as well as commentaries and explanations. Topics include civil rights in the U.S. and the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918. The many exhibits on NARA’s website demonstrate the depth of the federal government’s holdings.

New York Public Library offers numerous digital collections vital to understanding American and world history. The above link leads to the digital collections homepage, which includes brief descriptions of each collection and direct links to each resource.

Documents the 20th century Bracero work program between Mexico and the United States, and includes photographs, oral histories, and texts. Users need to complete a simple registration in order to access the collection.

Contains digitized collections and exhibits on the history of Cuba, including oral histories, photographs, posters, and documents portraying a wide range of Cuban society and culture.

This archive, part of Harvard University’s Widener Library, contains hundreds of digitized images from the 5,000 pamphlets in the original collection, documenting the political, social, economic, and cultural histories of Latin American countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection is updated as content is digitized.

Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños' digital collections contain extensive documentation of Puerto Ricans living in the United States—specifically New York—from 1898 through 1998. All materials were digitized from various collections located in Centro’s archival and library holdings.

The Benson Latin American Collection of the University of Texas is one of the largest archives/research library dedicated to Latin America and the experience of Latinos/Latinas in all of the Americas. Some of their collections have been digitized and are available online. Of particular interest are the U.S. Latino & Latina WWII Oral History Project; Albel Briquet Photograph Collection; and Early Maps at the Benson Collection.

Electronic Schoolhouse is a joint project by the New York State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust with funding from Time Warner, Inc. The resource is bilingual and contains translations in both English and Spanish. It consists of instructional videos, selected primary sources documenting Hispanic populations in New York state, lesson plans, and assessment questions and projects. Selected primary sources document several themes including: bilingual education, biography, census, civil rights, culture, education, government, immigration and migration, labor unions, Latin America, migrants, urbanization, and women.

Created by the Library of Congress, this resource contains lesson plans, instructional materials, selected primary resources, and recommendations on how to include primary sources in the classroom.

This resource was prepared by the National Archives and Records Administration for educators and students. It includes useful lesson plans, ideas for incorporating primary sources into the classroom, instructional videos, research activities, selected primary sources, and information about using the many National Archives repositories throughout the country.

The New York State Archives has compiled numerous digital collections documenting various aspects of New York State history. Collections document the following areas: Business and Labor; Environment and Landscape; Legal history; Military history; People, Groups, and Cultures; Politics; and Transportation.

The New York City Department of Records digital image gallery contains some of New York City’s most popular image. The images are organized into 16 different thematic categories including landmarks, housing, mayors, transportation, street scenes, and parades.

The 9/11 Digital Archive documents the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It includes approximately 150,000 digital items including emails, oral histories, and images.

Lehman College’s Childhood in the Bronx digital collection is based on an exhibit originally showcased at Lehman College’s Art Gallery in 1986. The archive includes images by Georgeen Comerford and vintage photographs from The Bronx Institutes Archives. It also includes oral history sound clips. The exhibit documents childhood in the Bronx from the early 20th century through the 1980s.