Research Guides: HIS 400: Gender, Sexuality, and Colonialism: Finding primary sources

The source-driven junior paper

Often, the best work arises from close engagement with a primary source. As you read, you'll think of questions or begin to shape an argument. The hard part is to find a primary source that addresses the broad general area of interest. Here are some strategies for finding primary sources:

Check the footnotes, endnotes and bibliography of a good academic book on your topic.
Use the word sources as a keyword when searching the Main Catalog.
Consult the subject guides at http://libguides.princeton.edu
Search the finding aids for collections in Special Collections and Mudd Manuscript Library.

The Big Four Online Primary Source Providers

Adam Matthew, Gale, Proquest, and Readex provide a large portion of our online primary source materials. Each company has created a consolidated search engine which allows you to search all of the materials they provide.

AM explorer (Adam Matthew)

Gale Primary Sources (Gale)

Proquest History (Proquest)

Readex AllSearch (Readex)

Library collections spotlight: primary source material

British Online Archives This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to several collections on the history of the Atlantic world, from British archives.
Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera This link opens in a new window
Steadily growing repository containing a previously unavailable subset of Princeton’s Latin American Ephemera Collection as well as newly acquired materials being digitized and added on an ongoing basis.

European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century
United States State Department records on the colonial endeavors of European nations in the first part of the 20th centry.

Proquest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Indexes publications of the U.S. Congress such as hearings 1824+ (including previously unpublished hearings: Senate 1824-1992 and House 1833-1982), committee reports, documents and prints. Material is available in microfiche and/or electronic. Essential tool for doing legislative history research. Includes Congressional Research Reports from 1916+, Bills & Laws 1789+, U.S. Serial Set from 1789+, Annals of Congress from 1789-1824, Register of Debates from 1824-1837, Congressional Globe from 1833-1873, and Congressional Record from 1873+. Also includes Executive Branch Documents 1789-1948 and Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations 1789+.
South Asia Archive This link opens in a new window
The South Asia Archive is a resource for students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences, and the historical documents within it cover colonial and early post-colonial India and the wider sub-continent. Comprising material sourced from collectors and archivists by the South Asia Research Foundation, this Archive brings together primary and secondary content.
South Asia Open Archives This link opens in a new window
The South Asia Open Archives (SAOA), a subset of the South Asia Materials Project (SAMP), creates and maintains a collection of open access materials for the study of South Asia. This major collaborative initiative is aimed at addressing the current scarcity of digital resources pertinent to South Asia studies and at making collections more widely accessible both to North American scholars and to researchers worldwide.
South Asian Ephemera Collection This link opens in a new window
The South Asian Ephemera Collection is an openly accessible repository of items that spans a variety of subjects and languages. Newly acquired materials are being digitized and added on an ongoing basis.
World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to historical newspapers in Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
Includes the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers from 1715 to the present (with supplementary material back to 1688) and the House of Lords Papers from 1715-1910. Includes searchable full text and subject indexing. The Parliamentary Papers are an essential primary source for Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. They are the working documents of government for all areas of social, political, economic, and foreign policy. 1688+

Primary source: world history

Africa: primary sources
by Alain St. Pierre Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 620 views this year
Canadian history
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Modern Europe
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Russia, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe
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South & East Asia: primary sources
by Alain St. Pierre Last Updated Feb 25, 2019 649 views this year
Latin America, Spain and Portugal: Guide to Library Resources at Princeton
by Fernando Acosta-Rodríguez Last Updated Aug 26, 2024 1193 views this year

Middle East: primary sources
by Alain St. Pierre Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 784 views this year

South Asian Studies
by Ellen Ambrosone Last Updated Oct 10, 2024 918 views this year

Primary sources: British history

British Parliamentary Papers
by Alain St. Pierre Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 183 views this year
Finding British government documents at Princeton
by Alain St. Pierre Last Updated Jul 16, 2024 1538 views this year
Finding historical world newspapers at Princeton
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Modern Britain
by Alain St. Pierre Last Updated Jul 16, 2024 228 views this year

Primary sources: American history

U.S. economic, business and labor history
by Steven Knowlton Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 103 views this year
Twentieth-century U.S. society and politics
by Steven Knowlton Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 2632 views this year
U.S. presidential papers
by Steven Knowlton Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 431 views this year
Twentieth-century U.S. foreign affairs
by Steven Knowlton Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 205 views this year
Finding historical U.S. newspapers at Princeton
by Steven Knowlton Last Updated Aug 28, 2024 2120 views this year