Research Guides: HIST 283: Occupiers and Occupied: Primary Sources

Finding & using primary sources can be a challenge!

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Internet Archive
Open and permanent access to historical collections in digital format for researchers and the public.
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“Books in this collection may be borrowed by logged in patrons for a period of two weeks. You may read the books online in your browser, or download them into Adobe Digital Editions, a free piece of software used for managing loans.”

Revolution and Protest Online
Explores protest movements, revolutions, and civil wars that have transformed societies and human experience from the 18th century through the present.
Revolutions, protests, resistance and social movements from the 18th century through the 21st century, documented through personal papers, organizations, government documents, journals, reports, monographs, images, video, and speeches.

Library of Congress World Digital Library
Cultural heritage materials gathered during the World Digital Library (WDL) project, including thousands of items contributed by UNESCO partner organizations worldwide as well as content from Library of Congress collections.
Primary Sources Databases from K
Specialty databases with primary sources in a variety of disciplines.

History Vault
Primary sources and documents on 19th and 20th-century American history. Sources include digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and more.
ProQuest Congressional
Legislative and executive publications, including the Congressional Record, Congressional Hearings, and more.
Detailed Guide to this resource.
Digital National Security Archive (1945-Present)
Declassified government documents covering U.S. policy on critical world events, including military, intelligence, diplomatic, and human rights, from 1945 to the present.
Detailed Guide to this resource.
Foreign Relations of the United States
Official documentation and historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity that have been declassified and edited for publication, going back to 1861. Produced by the Department of State's Office of the Historian.

U.S. Army Heritage
U.S. Army history and service, with profiles of veterans & timelines of wars.
The American Presidency Project
Public documents and papers of US presidents.
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Also contain thousands of other documents such as party platforms, candidates' remarks, Statements of Administration Policy, documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary, and election debates.
Central Intelligence Agency Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room
CIA website containing thousands of redacted documents released by the agency through FOIA requests. Documents were created between 1940 to present.

Historical Newspapers
Full-text content from U.S. & international newspapers from the 19th century to the late 20th century. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, cartoons, classifieds, and obituaries.
See title list of over 400 historical newspapers.
Christian Science Monitor (1908 - Present)
Nonprofit international news organization that publishes daily articles online and a weekly print edition.
Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982)
Index to popular periodicals published in the U.S. and Canada. Includes Time, Newsweek, US & World News Report, National Geographic, Harpers, The New Yorker, and many more.
American Newsreels in Video
US newsreels covering the years leading up to and during the Second World War, 1929-1946.
Over 35 hours of the American weekly newsreel produced by the U.S. Office of War Information from 1942 to 1946, complete with transcripts, from United Newsreel. Universal Newsreel provides over 200 hours of film with full transcripts from Universal Studios’ biweekly series that ran from 1929 to 1946.

Guide to News & Media
by Kelly Frost Last Updated Apr 2, 2025 49 views this year

Historical Magazines

Physical magazines available for browsing on the 2nd floor of the library.

Life
American general interest magazine known for its photography and social commentary.
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Behind the stairs on the 2nd Floor: 1936-1972, 1984-2000
Online: 1936-1972, 1996-2000
Time
American news magazine covering current affairs, politics, business, health, science, and entertainment.
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Behind the stairs on the 2nd Floor: 1930-2017
Online: 1923-Present
Newsweek
US news magazine provides news and analysis on US and global events. Also covers politics, business, science, technology, arts, and travel. Published weekly. Online Archive 1933-2012.
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2nd Floor: 1947-2010
Online: 1933-2012

Chinese Civilization
Second Floor Shelves DS721 .C517 1993

Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832 - 1953)
22 historical newspapers published in Beijing & Shanghai from 1832 to 1953. Most titles are in English.
Titles included are:
North China Herald (1850-1941)
Canton Times (1919-1920)
China Critic (1939-1946)
The China Press (1925-1938)
China Weekly Review (1917-1953)
Chinese Recorder (1868-1940)
Chinese Repository (1832-1851)
Peking Daily News (1914-1917)
Peking Gazette (1915-1917)
Peking Leader (1918-1919
Shanghai Gazette (1919-1921)
Shanghai Times (1914-1921)

Chinese Cultural Revolution Posters
Collection of posters relating to the Chinese Cultural Revolution. From the University of California San Diego.

Modern Japan by James L. Huffman
Collection of Primary Source documents.
Sources of Japanese Tradition, 1600 to 2000
Call Number: Second Floor DS821 .S68 2001

Modern Japan in Archives
Political history from the opening of the country to post-war. From the National Diet Library Japan.
American Occupation of Japan: Voices of the Key Participants
By Claremont Colleges Digital Library
National Diet Library, Japan
Amazing resources and digitized collections, many available in English.
MIT Visualizing Cultures - Images
Images of Japan in the modern world and early-modern China.

Okinawa

The Ryukyu-Okinawa History and Culture Website
Well researched collection of links and information on Ryukyu-Okinawa History.

Sourcebook of Korean Civilization
Call Number: Second Floor DS904 .S68 1993

Korea Times‎ (1956 - 2016)
English language Korean newspaper published daily.
Detailed explanation of ProQuest Historical Newspapers. *We own most but not all of the titles listed on the Guide.* Korea Times website: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/

North Korean Propaganda Posters
Reproductions of North Korean propaganda posters, dating from 1985-2002. From the University of California San Diego.

Cold War International History Project
Historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. From the Wilson Center.
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Project to integrate "new sources, materials and perspectives from the former "Communist bloc" and the non-Western world more generally with the historiography of the Cold War which has been written over the past few decades largely by Western scholars reliant on Western archival sources. It also seeks to transcend barriers of language, geography, and regional specialization to create new links among scholars interested in Cold War history."
The Cold War and the Marshall Plan
Resources from by the US National Archives.

Artstor
High-quality images of artworks and cultural objects from institutions and museums that have been rights-cleared for education and research.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Catalog
Photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings from Library of Congress collections. While international in scope, the collections are rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people.
Life Magazine Historic Photos on Google
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Prints, photographs, manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, illustrated books, printed ephemera, streaming video, and more from the New York Public Library Collections.
MIT Visualizing Cultures - Images
Images of Japan in the modern world and early-modern China.

Contextual Questions

Questions to ask of a primary source:

What kind of thing is this?
How was this produced?
Who had access to this?
How might a researcher use this? What questions could they ask?

Need help?

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