Our collections
Award-winning primary source collections for teaching and research.
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CollectionDescriptionPeriod covered
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1980s Culture and Society1980s
Directly compare official records with popular sources to explore the political and social issues of the decade.
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Africa and the New Imperialism: European Borders on the African Continent, 1870-19141870-1914
Study military conflicts, political and diplomatic rivalries, exploration, Christian missions, technological advancements, slavery and encounters between European colonisers and African communities during this major period of colonial expansion.
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African American Communities1863-1986
From communal struggle to creative outpourings: uncover the everyday lives of African Americans spanning two turbulent centuries.
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Age of Exploration1410-1920
Explore five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes and decades-long search and rescue attempts in this multi-archive collection dedicated to the history of exploration.
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America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts1939-1949
The stories of American military personnel and civilians during the Second World War through their oral histories, correspondence, diaries, photographs, artefacts and military records. This digital resource offers an insight into the personal experiences of those involved in the conflict, both on the United States home front and on deployment overseas in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, China, Burma and India.
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American Committee on AfricaTwentieth century
A key resource for the study of Africa’s liberation movements, international solidarity, and activism in the twentieth century.
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American History, 1493-19451493-1945The digital archive of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which holds one of the outstanding collections on American History. It is full of spectacular individual items, but it also has rich veins of manuscript research material. This makes it ideal for teaching survey courses on American History, but equally valuable as a platform for undergraduate essay work and postgraduate research.
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American WestEarly 18th to mid-20th century
Comprised of original manuscripts, rare printed books, maps and ephemeral material from the Everett D Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library in Chicago, American West is a source for the study of westward US expansion from the 18th to the 20th century. Including documents from 1718-1968, it has tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes and outlaws, as well as evidence of the growth of urban centres, the environmental impact of westward expansion and life in the borderlands.
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Amnesty International Archives: A Global Movement for Human Rights1961-1991
Explore the rise of the global human rights movement during the second half of the twentieth century through the International Secretariat records of Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Amnesty International.
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Apartheid South Africa, 1948-19941948-1994
British Government documents on the subject of South Africa during the first 32 years of the apartheid regime.
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Area Studies: China and Southeast Asia1743-1999A varied array of records of traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats, offering Western perspectives on many aspects of Chinese culture and society.
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Area Studies: India1712-1942A vital resource for the study of Empire, the British Raj, and the history, culture and literature of the Indian subcontinent
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Area Studies: Japan1400-1989A wide range of sources - from writers, diplomats, tourists, businessmen, missionaries and others - documenting the political, cultural and social history of Japan.
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British Newsreels, 1911-1930: Culture and Society on Film1911-1930
This exciting new video resource comprises around 7,000 early twentieth century Topical Budget newsreels drawn from British Film Institute and Imperial War Museums.
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Broadcasting America: The Rise of Mass Media and Communicationsc.1920-1980
Explore the history of twentieth century broadcasting in America through the papers of early pioneer, David Sarnoff, and the Radio Corporation of America.
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Business, Economic and Labour History1875 - 1970
A range of important sources from Britain and America, covering key subjects within this field including a complete run of The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book for 1875-1945.
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Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-19221834-1922
Official British government records relating to the region, from the decline of the Silk Road, through the diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires known as the “Great Game”, to the influence of the emergent Soviet Union in the 20th century.
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Children's Literature and Culture1820s-1920s
A collection of rare books, games, ephemera and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that reveals the socio-cultural history of these times. Showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature, from mass-produced chapbooks to richly illustrated ‘book-beautifuls’, this resource examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination which went on to fundamentally shape established notions of childhood.
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China, America and the Pacific18th and early 20th century
Covering the 18th and 19th centuries, China, America and the Pacific provides primary source materials for the study of the history of North American trade and cultural exchange with China. This collection also provides coverage of China’s and the United States' economic dealings with the whole of East Asia and the Pacific.
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China: Culture and SocietyMid 18th to early 20th century
Spanning three centuries (c1750-1929), this digital collection makes available for the first time extremely rare pamphlets from the Charles W Wason Collection on East Asia, at Cornell University Library; one of the oldest and most distinctive collections of its kind, and a very rich source for research on China.
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China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980Late 18th to late 20th centuryWith documents encompassing events from the earliest English embassy to the birth and early years of the People’s Republic, this resource collects sources from nine archives to give an incredible insight into the changes in China during the period of 1793-1980.
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Church Missionary Society Archive1619-1981A repository of source materials on the work of this globally influential organisation, founded in 1799 as an Anglican evangelical movement and still active today. It includes records of both the CMS and the many other missionary societies which have become associated or amalgamated with it over its lifetime.
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Church Missionary Society Periodicals1804-2009Discover two hundred years of worldwide missionary history. This online portal makes available periodicals from the Church Missionary Society Archive, a vital collection for students, researchers and teachers of missiology and world Christianity. It also contains valuable material on wider themes in global history, in particular the history of global education, healthcare and medicine.
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Colonial America1606-1822The complete CO 5 files from the National Archives, UK, 1606-1822, Colonial America is a 'game changing' development for historians and researchers of early America, the Atlantic world, the Caribbean and the nascent British Empire. Colonial America enables online access to the vast archive of circa 70,000 documents of manuscript materials that tell the story of British involvement in North America.