History and Social Sciences Resources
Premium Resources
19th Century U. S. Newspapers Digital Archive
Digital images for hundreds of 19th century United States newspapers. Includes The Galveston Daily News (Texas' oldest newspaper) from 1874 until 1897.*
Access Newspaper Archive (In Library Use Only)
The largest historic newspaper source online containing tens of millions of searchable newspaper pages, dating as far back as the 1700s.
American Civil War: Letters and Diaries
This database of primary source material contains over two thousand authors and approximately one hundred thousand pages of diaries, letters and memoirs.*
American Civil War: Research Database
Online resource for researching the soldiers, regiments, and battles of the American Civil War contains indexed, searchable information on over four million soldiers and thousands of battles, together with fifteen thousand photographs.*
American Decades
American Decades covers the events, people and social trends that have had impact on contemporary history. Covers the decades from 1900-2009.*
American Song
American Song is a history database that allows people to hear and feel the music from America's past.The database includes songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys. Included in the database are the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more. *
Atlanta Daily World Historical Archive
The Atlanta Daily World had the first black White House correspondent and was the first black daily in the nation in the 20th century. Search fulltext from 1931 to 2003.*
Bibliography of Native North Americans (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Contains citations covering all aspects of native North American culture, history, and life.*
Britannica E-Books
A collection of online reference titles especially useful for homework assignments. Titles for older students cover science, literature, and history. Titles for younger users introduce basic concepts such as shapes and numbers. *
Civil War Era
Includes the fulltext of 6 regional newspapers from all sides of the conflict from 1840-1865 as well as 2,000 slavery, anti-slavery Civil War pamphlets and stock quotes.*
Civil War: Sources in U.S. History
This digital archive examines the war; its battles and campaigns, the home front and the military campground, from its causes to its consequences.*
CultureGrams
CultureGrams goes beyond basic facts and figures on more than 200 countries, detailing daily life and culture, history, customs, and lifestyles. The States Edition describes the diversity and history of each U.S. state and includes maps, flags and symbols.*
EBSCOhost eBooks (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Read e-books on all subjects including some vocational textbooks, technical manuals, and Texas history. Note: downloadable e-books available by remote use only.*
Economia y Negocios (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Spanish language citations on business and economics.*
Economist Historical Archive
The Economist has presented timely reporting, concise commentary and comprehensive analysis of global news every week. The Economist Historical Archives covers from 1843, the year the Economist started, to 2006.*
Encyclopedia of Human Rights
An electronic reference book offering comprehensive coverage of all aspects of human rights theory, practice, law, and history. Focusing primarily on developments since 1945 coverage includes major figures, organizations and institutions, human rights events and crises, and human rights norms.*
Fold3
This database contains almost 40 million images of primary source materials. Many are available here for the first time.*
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Full-text reference books on topics including biography, business, the environment, history, law, social sciences, medicine, religion, the sciences, and multicultural studies.*
GreenFILE
Offers a unique perspective on the positive and negative ways humans affect the environment. Indexes scholarly and general interest titles, as well as government documents and reports.*
Historical Annual Reports
Over 800 companies' annual reports (1844-current) available through searchable PDF images.*
Historical Newspapers
Search the historical archives of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Defender, Atlanta Daily World, and New York Amsterdam News at one time.*
HistoryGeo (Available at Clayton Library Only)
Contains land-ownership maps, historical atlases and other content indispensable for recreating frontier neighborhoods and tracking migrations of families across the United States.
Military & Government Collection (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Articles from periodicals related to the military.*
New York Amsterdam News Historical Archive
A leading Black newspaper of the 20th century, especially the 1940s. Search fulltext from 1922 to 1993.*
New York Times Historical Archive
Full page view of the New York Times from its first issue in 1851 through 2006.*
Oxford Companion to World Exploration
An online reference e-book that offers information on all topics of exploration worldwide, including advances in navigation, the discovery of the New World, polar expeditions, and the space age. In addition to examining the lives and expeditions of heroic and influential explorers, the book covers navigational and marine sciences and ranges from ancient cultures through modern space exploration.*
Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
An online reference e-book offering the most complete picture available of ancient Egyptian civilization, from the predynastic era to its eclipse in the seventh century CE. Here is the Egyptian world in illuminating, accessible detail: art, architecture, religion, language, literature, trade, politics, everyday social life and the culture of the court.*
Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History
An online reference e-book international in scope and spanning all time periods of human history, articles range from entries on inventors, theoreticians, and industry leaders to overarching essays on markets, industries, and labor with coverage ranging from accounting and advertising to zoning and zoos. *
Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States
An online reference e-book offering comprehensive, reliable, and accessible information about the fastest growing minority population in the United States. The Encyclopedia draws together the diverse historical and contemporary experiences in the United States of Latinos and Latinas from around the world by addressing such broad topics as identity, art, politics, religion, education, health, and history.*
Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History
An online reference book covering the entire history of seafaring, from ancient Egyptian shipbuilders to the nuclear submarines and supertankers of today placing maritime affairs in their larger historical context.*
Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History
An online reference book that comprehensively covers the role women have played throughout world history with over 650 biographies of influential women and over 600 topical articles covering topics such as geography and history, culture and society, organizations, movements, and gender studies.*
Texas Digital Sanborn Maps (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Sanborn maps are historical large scale plans of a city drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch. These maps are used to trace the history and development of cities and are also helpful in genealogical and historical research.*
Texas Reference Center (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Full text journals and books about Texas history, biography, ethnic & cultural diversity, gender studies, literature, public health, business as well as home & garden and sports & leisure.*
World History Collection (Provided by the Texas State Library’s TexShare Program)
Offers a global look at history with full text content from Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe and the Middle East.*
World Vital Records (Available at Clayton Library Only)
Includes all images and indexes for US censuses 1790-1940. Also contains over 1 billion newspaper articles, full text of modern U.S. newspaper obituaries, and enhanced Social Security Death Index (SSDI) records.
Recommended Websites
50states.com
Extensive information on all 50 of the United States.
Any Day in History
Find out about historic events and birthdates that occurred on a selected day.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Statistics on crime and criminals, victims, and the justice system.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Search and read newspapers from 1836-1922 and find information about American newspapers from 1690-present. Includes The Houston Daily Post (12/1/1893--2/28/1903) and The Jewish Herald (Houston) (9/24/1908--12/29/1910).
CIA World Factbook
Information on countries around the world.
Core Documents of Our Democracy
Major documents of the United States from 1776 to the present.
Digital Public Library of America
The DPLA offers a single point of access to millions of items--photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more--from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States.
Handbook of Texas Online
Encyclopedia of Texas history, geography, and culture.
Houston History
Brief overview of Houston's history from 1836 to present.
Houston Oral History Project
Houston Oral History Project is an effort to record and preserve the dynamic history of Houston through the stories and experiences of its residents. It is a collaboration between the Mayor's Office, Houston Public Library and University of Houston.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Includes access to websites dating back to 1995 as well as a digital library of free books, music, and movies.
Library of Congress American Memory
American Memory provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
Making of America
Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.
Photographic Archives: Houston Metropolitan Research Center Collection
Contains records of over 2,200 images. This collection highlights historical events and glances of day-to-day life in Houston from the 1860s to the 1960s.
Portal to Texas History
Digital materials from collections covering the whole gamut of Texas history from prehistory to the present day. Along with all known Republic of Texas Era newspapers, you may discover anything from an ancestor's picture to a rare historical map.
Salem Witchcraft in 1692: A Bibliography
This is a list of sources with historical and other background information on the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692.
Texas Archival Resources Online
Searchable database of finding aids to archival materials in Texas, including those of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center.