Subject Expert
320 Media Lane
Cheney, WA 99004
Office Hours: By appointment.
Find Books, Videos
Having problems requesting items via Summit? Please contact the JFK Circulation Desk at 509.359.7888, circulation@ewu.edu, or in person on the main level.
- EWU Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
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Search for books, videos, articles and more at EWU Libraries, Summit Libraries and beyond. While not required, if you want the full functionality (save or request items, etc.), please sign in with your NetID.
Finding & Understanding Primary Sources
The following Web sites will explain the differences between primary and secondary sources.
Useful Words for Finding Primary Sources in Databases/Catalogs
To find books that reproduce primary sources on your topic, you need to enter the topic (or person) you are researching and one of the following subjects:
Archives, correspondence, diaries, interviews, letters, manuscripts, maps, memoirs, narratives (personal, slave, etc.), photographs, propaganda, sources, speeches.
If you want to find reproductions of important primary sources from U.S. history, then you can do a subject search for United States History Sources in the EWU catalog.
Databases Containing Primary Sources
- African American Experience This link opens in a new windowScholarly books and encyclopedias, as well as primary source documents for the history and culture of the African American community.
- American Indian Experience This link opens in a new windowScholarly books and encyclopedias, as well as hundreds of primary source documents and photographs for the histories and cultures of the Native American peoples.
- Early American Imprints 1639-1800 & 1801-1819 This link opens in a new windowBooks, pamphlets, broadsides and other imprints listed in the renowned bibliographies by Charles Evans (1639-1800) and Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker (1801-1819).
- American State Papers 1789-1838 This link opens in a new windowCongressional and Executive Branch reports, complementing the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.
- Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new windowThematic essays and data sets on population, economics, labor, government, crime, etc., from Colonial times up to to 2000. You may download the data into Excel as well as dynamically create graphs.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowBack files of core scholarly journals in the arts, business, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, from the first issue up to 3-5 years ago.
- Latino American Experience This link opens in a new windowPrimary and secondary sources,including biographies, on the history and culture of Latinos living in the United States.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowIndexing from magazines and a few journals.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set -- 1817-1980 This link opens in a new windowFull-text Congressional reports, documents & journals from 1817 to 1980.
Local Resources
- Archives West (formerly the Northwest Digital Archives)Archives West provides access to descriptions of primary sources in the Northwestern United States, including correspondence, diaries, or photographs. Digital reproductions of primary sources are available in some cases.
- Museum of Arts & CultureThe Eastern Washington State Historical Society/Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture collects art, artifacts and primary source material in three disciplines: Regional History, Fine Art, and American Indian and other cultures. The collections include over 68,000 objects representing fine art and material culture from the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
- Northwest Room (Spokane Public Library)The Spokane Public Library has an extensive Northwest collection which contains over 13,000 items. The collection consists of reference books, maps, directories, periodicals, government documents, and archival materials pertaining to the history, exploration, and settlement of the Pacific Northwest. The Northwest Room offers information on every period from the late 1700's to the present. Scroll down the main Webpage to access their digital collections.
- Spokane Historical (EWU's Public History Program)Spokane Historical is a web and mobile platform for telling stories of Spokane and Eastern Washington. It is a free app available on your Android or iPhone smart phone or tablet. Spokane Historical is a project of the Public History program at Eastern Washington University.
- Washington Digital NewspapersBrings together over 600,000 pages from Washington’s earliest Territorial newspapers to the present day. Freely accessible to the public, this growing collection complements the Washington State Library’s physical collection
- Washington State Archives Digital CollectionsFor the Spokane area, contact the Eastern Regional Branch located on the EWU campus (960 Washington Street, Tel.# (509)235-7508). Collections span the years from the territorial period to the present and include school census records, tax assessment rolls, court dockets and case files, photographs, maps, plats, and engineering drawings. You can also search their historical newspapers [https://www.sos.wa.gov/library/newspapers/newspapers.aspx].
EWU Resources
EWU Digital Commons [http://dc.ewu.edu/]: Documents focus on University and regional history. Our regional history collections focus on Cheney, Spokane County, Grand Coulee Dam and transportation in the Inland Northwest. Location of the physical EWU Libraries Archives & Special Collections: Lower level of the JFK Library (Tel.# 509-359-2475). Contact person: Steve Bingo, Archivist [sbingo@ewu.edu].