Research Guides: HIST 443 Nearby History (Dr. Cebula): Primary Sources

EWU Databases Containing Primary Sources

American Indian Experience
Scholarly books and encyclopedias, as well as hundreds of primary source documents and photographs for the histories and cultures of the Native American peoples.
Native American Tribal Histories: 1818-1880 (Readex)
Explore nineteenth-century primary source documents on 1,046 Native American tribes. The content is largely from the National Archives and Records Administration's records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Can narrow by Tribe Name, Treaty, Event, etc. This database is courtesy of a donation from Dr. Bill Youngs.
Newspapers.com
Newspapers.com Library Edition is an extensive online database of 4,000+ historical newspapers from the early 1700s into the 2000s. This collection contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in the U.S. and other countries.
Nineteenth Century British Pamphlets
19th Century British Pamphlets, created by Research Libraries UK (RLUK), contains the most significant British pamphlets from the 19th century held in research libraries in the United Kingdom.
Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (EBSCOhost)
Indexing from magazines and a few journals.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set -- 1817-1980 (Readex)
Full-text Congressional reports, documents & journals from 1817 to 1980.
Women’s Studies Archive (Gale Primary Sources)
Provides a history of the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives and offers a look at the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Access to diaries, letters, photographs, news clippings, organizational records, and journals on issues such as societal contributions, social status, and women's movements and more.

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 & Culture
The 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 Newspapers
Brings 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 Digital Newspapers (Chronicling America)
Washington State Archives Digital Archives
For 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].

National Resources

National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)
Browse the National Archives by topic.