Course Guides: American History Primary Sources: Primary Sources: 19th century

Searching for primary sources in books

When searching a database of books (think: OneSearch, Google Books, or WorldCat):

Use keywords associated with primary sources, like: diaries / journals / sources / personal narratives / correspondence / letters / documents

Also, look for Library of Congress Subject Headings with those terms. For example:

African Americans and Jim Crow This link opens in a new window
African Americans and Reconstruction This link opens in a new window
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938 This link opens in a new window
At the conclusion of the Slave Narrative project, a set of edited transcripts was assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. In 2000-2001, with major support from the Citigroup Foundation, the Library digitized the narratives from the microfilm edition and scanned from the originals 500 photographs, including more than 200 that had never been microfilmed or made publicly available. This online collection is a joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs divisions of the Library of Congress.
Slavery And Anti-Slavery This link opens in a new window
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law (from Hein Online) This link opens in a new window