Primary Sources

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. This digital archive of the magazine published by Time, Inc. from November 1936 to December 2000 covers national and international events and topical news, as told through documentary photographs and informative captions. Users can browse, search, and view photos of people and events and freely share, print, and post images for personal use.

This historical newspaper collection provides first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of politics, society, and events covering 1851-2020. Search historical local, regional, national, and international news using subject terms and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable full text, full page, and article-level images from the Historical New York Times.

This digital archive (1857 to 2014) of The Atlantic, one of the nation's oldest monthly magazines, covering major issues in politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and cultural trends, photography, education, technology, health, and science. Some of the founding sponsors of the magazine include prominent writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Greenleaf Whittier. Explore collections covering topics such as National Parks, Shakespeare, Gettysburg, Louisa May Alcott, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a case for reparations, votes for women, artificial intelligence, and the 2024 election cycle. Also access the podcasts, The Experiment, Floodlines, How to Build a Happy Life, and The Review.

This article database is a complete digital version of the Businessweek backfile, providing finance coverage from 1929 to 2010. In addition to economics, labor, marketing, technology, and wealth management, BusinessWeek has covered political issues that have impacted business throughout the 20th century and the start of the 21st century.

This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers, and scholars with first-hand accounts and coverage of the politics, society, and events from 1909-1975, including all articles, illustrations, and advertisements. Each issue has been fully digitized and indexed. With the majority of its readership outside the Chicago region, the Chicago Defender served as the de facto national Black newspaper in the U.S., and it was the most influential African-American newspaper of the 20th century.

This collection is the digital archive of Commonweal, a weekly review of literature, the arts, and public affairs, produced by the Calvert Publishing Corporation in New York, N.Y. Content spans from 1924 to the present.

As the oldest general-interest monthly magazine in America, Harper's explores the issues that drive our national conversation, providing a unique perspective on politics, society, the environment, and culture. Browse 175 years of essays, fiction, and long-form narrative journalism from both distinguished and promising new voices. Access includes the issues dating back to June 1850 until the current issue.

HarpWeek is a digital archive that offers comprehensive access to the complete run of Harper's Weekly, the influential American political magazine published from 1857 to 1916. This resource provides researchers, historians, and students with a wealth of primary source materials, including thousands of illustrations, articles, and political cartoons that document significant events and societal issues of the time. The database features advanced search capabilities, allowing users to explore content by date, keyword, and subject matter. Notably, it includes extensive coverage of the American Civil War, showcasing visual and written narratives that shaped public opinion. HarpWeek serves as an essential tool for understanding 19th-century American culture, politics, and history through the lens of one of the era's most prominent publications.

The La Follette Digital Archive is a comprehensive collection dedicated to preserving the papers and historical records of Robert M. La Follette, a prominent figure in American politics during the early 20th century. Known for his progressive ideals, La Follette served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and was a key figure in the Progressive Party. The archive includes a wealth of materials such as correspondence, speeches, writings, and records from his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives and as Governor of Wisconsin. Covering primarily the years 1894 to 1924, this digital resource provides valuable insights into La Follette's political strategies, his advocacy for reform, and the broader context of progressive movements in America. Researchers and historians can access these documents to explore the evolution of political thought and activism during a transformative period in U.S. history.

The Nation Magazine Archive is a fully searchable digital repository that offers access to over 150 years of content from one of America’s oldest weekly magazines. Founded in 1865, the archive contains a comprehensive collection of articles, editorials, letters, reviews, poems, and puzzles published since the magazine's inception. Researchers can explore thousands of historic pieces that cover a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, and social issues, reflecting the evolution of American thought and discourse. The archive includes PDF page images of all issues, allowing users to view articles as they originally appeared. With contributions from notable writers and thinkers throughout history, this resource serves as an invaluable primary source for scholars, students, and anyone interested in the history of progressive journalism in the United States.

This article database provides complete cover-to-cover coverage of National Geographic Magazine, including all articles, books, videos, photographs, maps, and advertisements from 1888 to 2015. Browse topics such as animals, the environment, national and world history, people and cultures, science and technology, and travel.

A digital collection of the prominent political and cultural opinion magazine, covering issues dating back to 1914. Provides full-text, indexing and abstracting. This is an essential tool for researches of American politics, current events, foreign policy, culture, and the arts.

This archive provides access to every page of The New Yorker going back to its first issue in 1925. This weekly magazine provides a mix of reporting on national and international politics and culture, profiles of people, humor and cartoons, fiction and poetry, and reviews and criticism of books, movies, theatre, classical and popular music, television, art, and fashion.

Since 1909, The Progressive, a monthly magazine, has aimed to amplify voices of dissent and those under-represented in the mainstream, with a goal of championing grassroots progressive politics. Content of this archive includes investigative reporting, political commentary, cultural coverage, activism, interviews, poetry, and humor.