LibGuides: U.S. History: Industry, Progressive Era, & WWI 1878-1929

World War I

With the recent 100th anniversary of the First World War, cultural heritage institutions all around the world went to great effort to digitize their archival holdings related to the war, and a wealth of primary sources are now available online unlike ever before.

First World War Portal This link opens in a new window
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The First World War Portal comprises the following three modules:
1. Personal Experiences contains individual experiences, trench literature and images of war;
2. Propaganda and Recruitment includes anti-war protests, recruitment and training, morale at home and in the front line, efforts to control public opinion through censorship, undermining the enemys position, dissension and the potential impact of mutinies and revolution;
3. Visual Perspectives and Narratives offers a wide variety of primary sources on recruitment, training, morale, public opinion, censorship and the development of different forms of propaganda during the First World War.

Library of Congress WWI Resources
The Library of Congress is uniquely prepared to tell the story of the United States' participation in the Great War. The Library’s unparalleled collections include posters, recordings, newspapers, sheet music, photographs, and veterans’ stories as well as publications, exhibitions, educational tools, and research guides related to World War I.
National Archives WWI Resources
The National World War I Museum and Memorial and
Explore the National WWI Museum and Memorial's online collections database, which allows you search the digital records of the global collection that began in 1920.
UK National Archives WWI Resources
Curated resources from the UK's archives and millions of digitized items.

Primary Sources 1878-1929

American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
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American Periodicals Series includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home and more.
Historical Los Angeles Times (1881-1994) This link opens in a new window
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Historical Los Angeles Times offers completely searchable full text and full image coverage from 1881-1994. It gives quick and accurate Web access to articles, editorials, classified ads, comics, cartoons, photos, maps, and graphics. The collection provides access to every page from every available issue. For electronic access to current Los Angeles Times from 1985 to present, use Los Angeles Times (1985-present).
Historical New York Times (1851-2019) This link opens in a new window
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The New York Times (1851-2019) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Every issue of each title includes the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
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A standard source for the quantitative facts of American history. Data (1790-2000) include history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade. The database is fully searchable and downloadable.

Margaret Sanger Papers This link opens in a new window
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Margaret Sanger's personal papers and records of the birth control movement. Beginning in 1900 and continuing until her death in 1966. Documents relate to birth control, women's rights, suffrage, feminism, reform and social work, arts, and middle-class family life
Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights This link opens in a new window
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This collection of materials from the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College tells the story of the fight for voting rights for women at the national, regional, and local levels. The papers of key national leaders like Julia Ward Howe, Anna Howard Shaw, and Matilda Gage are included.
Equally important are the papers of lesser known state and local leaders like Catharine Waugh McCulloch of Illinois, Olympia Brown of Wisconsin, and Nellie Nugent Somerville of Mississippi. In addition to the Voting Rights papers, this module also includes records on women involved in national politics, like Mary Dewson and Jeannette B. Rankin. Finally, the last piece of this module is records from the Schlesinger Library’s family planning oral history project and records of Mary Ware Dennett and the Voluntary Parenthood League.
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
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Manuscript Women’s Letters and Diaries from the American Antiquarian Society brings together 100,000 pages of the personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The letters and diaries reveal, in each woman’s own hand, the details of the authors’ daily lives, their activities and concerns, and their attitudes towards the people and world around them.
Struggle for Women's Rights, Organizational Records (1880-1990) This link opens in a new window
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This database comprises records of three women’s rights organizations: the National Woman’s Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s Action Alliance.
Women's Magazine Archive (1846-2005) This link opens in a new window
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Women’s Magazine Archive provides access to the backfiles of the foremost titles of leading women's interest consumer magazines, including, such as Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Woman’s Day, Parents, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Essence. Topics covered in these collections include family life, home economics, health, careers, fashion, and more.

African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new window
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The African American Historical Serials Collection is an archive of periodicals that document the history of African American religious life and culture between 1829 and 1922. It includes newspapers and magazines, plus reports and annuals from African American religious organizations, including churches and social service agencies.
African American Newspapers 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
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African American Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1827-1998, provides online access to more than 350 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This collection includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states, features many rare 19th-century titles.
Lesson Plans: Easy-to-use assignments
African American Periodicals 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window
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African American Periodicals, 1825-1995, features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports, and other genres.
Lesson Plans: Easy-to-use assignments
African American Studies: Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
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This archive provides an interdisciplinary collection devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of African Americans, covering the tumultuous period from 1900 to present day. Researchers can explore a breadth of experiences ranging from U.S. nation-building in Liberia to Freedom Riders, the Rastafari movement, and FBI surveillance.
Baltimore Afro-American This link opens in a new window
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The Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) was the most widely circulated black newspaper on the Atlantic coast. It was the first black newspaper to have correspondents reporting on World War II, foreign correspondents, and female sports correspondents.
Black Life in America 1704-1975 This link opens in a new window
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Black Life in America is sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 African American publications. At a time when social justice is a prevalent topic, this three-part collection is an invaluable resource for exploring issues of equity, race, and related topics. The collection includes two series: Series 1 1704-1877: Arrival in America through Reconstruction; Series 2 1878-1975: Jim Crow through the Civil Rights Movement.
Lesson Plans: Easy-to-use assignments
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
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Black Thought and Culture is a collection of approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history. The ideas of over 1,000 authors present an evolving and complex view of what it is to be black in America.
Chicago Defender This link opens in a new window
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The Chicago Defender (1910-1975): A leading African American newspaper, with more than two-thirds of its readership outside Chicago. Part of the ProQuest Historical Black Newspaper Collection.

American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
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This database contains manuscripts, artwork, and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. It includes a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals.
Introduction & Guide
American Indian Newspapers (1828-2016) This link opens in a new window
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The collection includes a diverse collection of print journalism from Indigenous peoples of the US and Canadathe. The newspapers include national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications. The 45 unique titles also include bi-lingual and Indigenous-language editions, such as Hawaiian, Cherokee, and Navajo languages.
Coverage: 1828-2016
Introduction & Guide
American Indians and American West (1809-1971) This link opens in a new window
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This database consists of a large variety of collections from the U.S. National Archives, a series of collections from the Chicago History Museum, as well as selected first-hand accounts on Indian Wars and westward migration. The two major collections on the 20th Century in this module are Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Records from the Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes.

Hispanic American Newspapers 1808-1980 This link opens in a new window
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Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980, represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century.
Lesson Plans: Easy-to-use assignments
Hispanic Life in America 1704-2009 This link opens in a new window
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Hispanic Life in America is a comprehensive digital archive of primary source documents related to Hispanic American life. Replete with material unavailable elsewhere, this two-series collection is sourced from more than 17,000 global news sources, including over 700 Spanish-language or bilingual publications, dating from 1704 to 2009. Series 1 1704-1942: Spanish colonialism through World War II. Series 2 1943-2009: Immigration, labor rights and civil rights.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1 This link opens in a new window
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Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection is an archive of publications focused exclusively on U.S. Hispanic history, literature, and culture from colonial times until 1960. Available in two series, Series 1 focuses on the creative life of U.S. Latinos and Hispanics. Content is written, indexed, and searchable in Spanish and English.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 2 This link opens in a new window
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Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection is an archive of publications focused exclusively on U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture from colonial times until 1960. Available in two series, Series 2 focuses on Hispanic American civil rights, religion and women’s rights from the 18th through the 20th century. Content is written, indexed and searchable in Spanish and English.

Immigration: Records of the INS (1880-1930) This link opens in a new window
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This module covers the investigations made by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the massive immigration wave of 1880-1930. The files cover Asian immigration, especially Japanese and Chinese migration, to California, Hawaii, and other states; Mexican immigration to the U.S. from 1906-1930, and European immigration.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
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North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories provide a personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada. With more than 100,000 pages of personal narratives, including letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories. Several thousand pages of Ellis Island Oral History interviews are included, along with thousands of political cartoons.

Theodore Roosevelt Papers at the Library of Congress
Presidential term: September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909
Roosevelt's papers thoroughly document his career of public service, especially his presidential administration from 1901 to 1909. The papers provide documentation on his service as President and vice president of the United States, governor of New York, New York City police commissioner, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, cavalry officer in the Spanish-American War, and his family life.
William H. Taft Papers at the Library of Congress
Presidential term: March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913.
The papers of William Howard Taft (1857-1930), twenty-seventh president of the United States and tenth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, consist of approximately 676,000 documents (785,977 images), which have been digitized from 658 reels of previously reproduced microfilm.

University Library

U.S. History

World War I

Primary Sources 1878-1929