Internet Resources
The American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara: a rich site featuring papers and speeches for every president since George Washington.
The Avalon Project: "ground zero" for virtually any document of relevance to American legal history. Peruse everything from the Code of Hammurabi and the Roman Twelve Tables to the Magna Carta and the Patriot Act.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project at Fordham University: a World History institution. Sourcebooks are arranged chronologically (Ancient, Medieval, Modern) as well as geographically/conceptually (African, East Asian, Global, Indian, Islamic, Jewish, Science, Women, LGBT).
Library of Congress: excellent visual, audio, and print resources from America's past.
The Miller Center at the University of Virginia: a dynamic place of documentaries, recent scholarship, and current debates. The "Presidency Project" includes fascinating online exhibits; a great place to brainstorm.
The Online Archive of California: a useful collection of Californian visual and print sources hailing from Eureka to San Diego.
The Our Documents Initiative: if you're looking for an important source--or what represents an "important source"--look no further. The OD Initiative holds 100 documents stretching from the 1776 Resolution for U.S. Independence to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The Smithsonian: "the world's largest museum, education, and research complex." Or so they say.
UC Libraries Calisphere: your avenue to the University of California's deep digital collection of materials.
U.S. National Archives: the official organization of American record keeping.
Library Databases
- America: History & Life with Full TextHistory and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals CollectionAmerican Antiquarian Society (AAS), the premier library documenting the life of America's people from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. It is a comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912.
- JSTOR
Includes full-text articles from academic journals, open research reports, Artstor images, and primary sources, supporting research and teaching across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
NEW for Fall 2023: Access has been expanded through the JSTOR Archival Journals and Primary Sources Collection; all Artstor content has been migrated to the JSTOR platform.
- Los Angeles Times Historical Newspapers (1881- 2000)Reproductions of every page from every issue of the Los Angeles Times in downloadable PDF files.
- Salem PressE-Book reference titles on topics in Literature, History, and Science. Articles, biographies, literary criticism, reports, and primary source documents.
Find Books at the GCC Library
Here are some recommended subject headings to use when searching for primary sources at the GCC Library catalog:
- United States -- History -- Sources
- United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
Enter the subject heading in the search box, then select Subject Browse:
