Research Guides: Africana Primary Sources: Various Online Resources

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Age of Exploration Featuring rare manuscript and early printed material, highly illustrated maps and documents, diaries and ships' logs from some of the most well-known voyages in history, this collection provides access to key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c.1420-1920. – Publisher
America in World War Two: Oral Histories and Personal Accounts Comprising extensive collections sourced from The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, this digital resource shows how World War Two changed American society and the economy, how it impacted individuals and their families, and the legacy of the war in human terms. From enlistment and training to deployment on the US Home Front or on campaigns overseas, the personal stories of these men and women demonstrate the broad spectrum of American involvement in the conflict. – Publisher
Amnesty International Archives Amnesty International Archives: A Global Movement for Human Rights publishes the records of Amnesty International from the second half of the twentieth century. The material contains minutes, reports, correspondence, first-hand accounts, publicity materials and circulars relating to human rights violations of all kinds in all parts of the world. Amnesty International’s remit of campaigning for an end to human rights abuses means that this archival material inherently relates to the themes of oppression, cruelty and degradation. – Publisher
AM Research Skills AM Research Skills is an online learning tool for primary source literacy that can be used in classroom-based and online teaching. Comprising peer-reviewed essays, How-to guides and newly-commissioned video interviews, our learning tools introduce students to key concepts that underpin research in the humanities and social sciences, and share the core principles and practices for understanding and using primary sources. AM Research Methods includes hundreds of primary sources, drawn from AM Digital's archival partners across the globe. This diverse set of historical documents enables students to put their primary source literacy skills into practice. Over 140 case studies based on digitised sources demonstrate how to analyse, approach and interact with primary source material. Learn how subject experts work with specific types of sources such as correspondence, financial records and newspapers, or use source material to investigate themes such as revolution, indigenous histories or memory.
This resource is intended to provide practical guidance for students and instructors using primary sources to study and teach colonial and imperial history. The core content includes over 70 written essays and videos, in multiple categories, offering an introduction to key concepts within colonial history and research, and focused guidance on working with relevant primary source types and critically engaging with important topics of study and geographical regions. Alongside these written and video pieces sit nearly 200 primary sources, many of them the subject of core content pieces, which allow users to put the lessons learned through the core content into practice.
AM Search AM Search is a gateway to millions of pages of primary source content. AM’s (formerly known as Adam Matthew) collections provide access to digitized historical materials – manuscripts, government records, rare books, maps and more – across a wide range of disciplines, from History to English Literature, Gender Studies, Sociology, Economics, Area Studies, Political Sciences and more. Through AM's search, all the AM primary source content that Northwestern University Libraries has access to can be viewed and searched in a single interface.
Searches the content of: Africa and the New Imperialism; African American Communities; Age of Exploration; AM Research Skills; America in World War Two; American History, 1493-1945; American West; Amnesty International Archives; Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1994; Broadcasting America; Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1922; Children's Literature and Culture; China, America and the Pacific; China: Culture and Society; China: Trade, Politics and Culture, 1793-1980; Church Missionary Society Periodicals; Colonial America; Colonial Caribbean; Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966; Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969; Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969; Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961; Defining Gender; Early Modern England; East India Company; Eighteenth Century Drama; Eighteenth Century Journals; Empire Online; Ethnomusicology; Everyday Life & Women in America, c1800-1920; First World War Portal; Food and Drink in History; Foreign Office Files for China, 1919-1980; Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980; Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952; Foreign Office Files for Southeast Asia, 1963-1980; Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971-1981; Frontier Life; Gender: Identity and Social Change; Global Commodities; India, Raj and Empire; Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America; Indigenous Newspapers in North America; Interwar Culture; J Walter Thompson: Advertising America; Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954; Leisure Travel and Mass Culture; Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-1900; Literary Manuscripts Berg; Literary Manuscripts Leeds; Literary Print Culture; London Low Life; Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963; Market Research and American Business, 1935-1965; Mass Observation Online; Mass Observation Project; Medical Services and Warfare; Medieval Family Life; Medieval Travel Writing; Meiji Japan; Migration to New Worlds; Nineteenth Century Literary Society; Perdita Manuscripts, 1500-1700; Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975; Popular Medicine in America, 1800-1900; Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain; Race Relations in America; Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape; Royal Shakespeare Company Archives; Service Newspapers of World War Two; Sex & Sexuality; Shakespeare in Performance; Shakespeare's Globe Archive; Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice; Socialism on Film; The Gilded Age and Progressive Era; The Grand Tour; The Nixon Years, 1969-1974; Trade Catalogues and the American Home; Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History; Victorian Popular Culture; Victorians on Film; Virginia Company Archives; Women in the National Archives; World's Fairs.
Apartheid South Africa 1948-1980 Apartheid South Africa makes available British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1980.
Apartheid Through the Eyes of South African Political Parties, 1948-1994 Apartheid was a system of white minority rule that prevailed in South Africa for much of the 20th century. This collection contains various materials published by political parties on both sides of the racial and ideological divide. The bulk of the documents are drawn from the archives of the main opposition movement, the African National Congress (ANC). The main party of government, the National Party, is also well represented, as are several minor parties and independent candidates. - Publisher
Colonial Africa in official statistics, 1821-1953 The late nineteenth century 'Scramble for Africa' saw European colonial powers carve up the African continent between themselves. The United Kingdom controlled the largest portion of territory, with its Colonial Regulations requiring an ‘Annual Blue Book’ to be submitted from each colony to the British Colonial Office. The Blue Book was an attempt to standardise statistical reports, primarily covering economic development as well as demographic, ecclesiastical, and public records. This collection contains Blue Books and other archival material from 13 British colonies and protectorates in Africa compiled during the period 1821-1953. The standardised nature of the Blue Books enables comparisons to be drawn geographically (between colonies) and over time on issues from the slave trade and colonial economic practice to education and public health. – Publisher
Colonial Law in Africa, 1808-1919 Originally known as the 'Government Gazettes', each item contains the colonial laws for the year they were published. The legal records also include property for sale, probate records and bankruptcy notices. This is the first part of the three part series 'Colonial Law in Africa'. These items cover the Napoleonic Wars, the Boer War and the First World War. They also cover the abolition of the legal status of slavery. These gazettes were published alongside the African Blue Books of Statistics during the 19th and 20th centuries. - Publisher
Colonial Law in Africa, 1920-1945 Originally known as the 'Government Gazettes', each item contains the colonial laws for the year they were published. The legal records also include property for sale, probate records and bankruptcy notices. This is the second part of the three part series 'Colonial Law in Africa'. These records cover the transfer of Southern Rhodesia from the British South Africa Company to colonial rule. A series of legal notices also reveal the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Tanzania. The Second World War then led to a series of new laws in these colonies. These gazettes were published alongside the African Blue Books of Statistics during the 19th and 20th centuries. - Publisher
Colonial Law in Africa, 1946-1966 Originally known as the 'Government Gazettes', each item was originally published as the Government Gazette for a colony and year. Their contents include tenders of property, probate records and insolvency notices. This is the third part of the three part series Colonial Law in Africa. These papers cover the Mau Mau uprising, the creation of the first legislative councils and legal changes to transfer power to those councils. These gazettes were published alongside the African Blue Books of Statistics during the 19th and 20th centuries. – Publisher
Confidential Print. Africa, 1834-1966 The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government 1820-1970, is a fundamental building block for political, social and economic research. Confidential Print: Africa covers coastal trading in the early 19th century and the Conference of Berlin of 1884 and the subsequent Scramble for Africa. They follow the abuses of the Congo Free State, fights against tropical disease, Italys defeat by the Abyssinians, World War II, apartheid in South Africa and moves towards independence.
Confidential Print. Middle East, 1839-1969 The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government 1820-1970, is a fundamental building block for political, social and economic research. The collection covers Middle Eastern history from 1839-1969; countries included are: Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Persia, Suez Canal, Turkey, Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Syria.
Defining Gender, 1450-1910 Original source material from British and European libraries and archives, including a strong core of document images from the Bodleian Library, Oxford and the British Library; Cambridge University Library; Leeds University Library; Birmingham Central Library; etc. Sources include ephemera, pamphlets, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, manuscript journals, poetry, receipt books and conduct and advice literature.
East India Company East India Company offers access to a unique collection of India Office Records from the British Library, London. Containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1595 to 1947.
eHRAF World Cultures eHRAF Collection of Ethnography is a collection of full-text primary source materials (mainly published books and articles, and some unpublished manuscripts) on selected cultures or societies representing all major areas of the world. It focuses on pre-industrial cultures and on North American immigrant groups. Searchable and browseable by culture and subject, the files are indexed at the paragraph-level with over 700 subject codes from the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM)
Empire Online Empire Online is a collection of documents relating to Empire Studies, including manuscript and printed materials representing both the European and non-European perspective. Materials include, but are not limited to, journals, diaries, periodicals, correspondence, and much more.
Ethnographic Video Online, Vols. I & II: Foundational Films Online in streaming videos. Contains classic and contemporary documentaries; previously unpublished footage from working anthropologists and ethnographers in the field; and select feature films.
Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings Produced in collaboration with the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings is comprised of over 60 field collections from ethnomusicologists dating from the mid-twentieth century to the early twenty-first century. This resource also features material from the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archive relating to prominent ethnomusicologist Robert Garfias. The audio recordings, videos, field notebooks and journals in this resource document musical traditions and how music interacts with different societies and cultures all over the globe. There are recordings from Alaska to the Pacific Islands, West Africa to Indonesia, including religious music, secular music, celebrations and funerals. There are interviews with musicians, slides and photographs of field sites and photographs of instruments being played and in isolation. - Publisher
First World War The First World War portal makes available invaluable primary sources for the study of the Great War, brought together in four thematic modules. From personal collections and rare printed material to military files, artwork and audio-visual files, content highlights the experiences of soldiers, civilians and governments on both sides of a conflict that shook the world. – Publisher
Food and Drink in History Explore a wide range of primary source material, including printed and manuscript cookbooks, advertising ephemera, government reports, films, and illustrated content revealing the evolution of food and drink within everyday life and the public sphere. The unique material in this collection has been sourced from across the globe to reflect a wide range of food cultures and traditions, creating an unparalleled resource for research. – Publisher
Gambia Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1881-1966 This comprehensive collection explores in detail Gambia’s history under British colonial rule through extensive governmental reports. Beginning near the end of the nineteenth century with the formation of Gambia as a British colony and protectorate, this collection tracks the wide-ranging administrative duties of various governmental departments within Gambia up until the country’s independence in the 1960s.From recording crime and disease levels throughout the territory, to in-depth reports concerning agricultural reform. These documents contributed by The British and Commonwealth Office provide a thorough level of insight into Gambia’s history as a British colony. - Publisher
Ghana and Togo Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1843 – 1957 Ghana and Togo Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1843–1957 contains papers from the colonial governments in Ghana and Togo. They shed much light on British rule in these territories. Throughout the period covered by this collection Ghana and Togo were known as the Gold Coast and British Togoland. Their records are published together because Togoland included land which is part of modern-day Ghana. The government reports contained in this collection cover the First and Second World Wars and the rise of African sleeping sickness from the Tsetse fly. They also document the administration of social services prior to independence. This collection provides students and academics with insights into the histories of Ghana and Togo and their experiences of British colonialism. – Publisher
Grand Tour The Grand Tour was a rite of passage for many wealthy and aristocratic young men, and some women, of the eighteenth century and a phenomenon which shaped the creative and intellectual sensibilities of some of the greatest artists, writers and thinkers of the time. These accounts of the British abroad, c. 1550-1850, highlight the influence of continental travel on British art, architecture, urban planning, literature and philosophy. This collection of manuscript, visual and printed works, including many from private sources, allows scholars to compare a range of documents on the history of this travel. – Publisher
International Documentation Network on the Great Lakes Region of Africa The Network is an international program aiming at collecting and editing "grey literature" documents about recent events and economic, social and politic prospective for the Great Lakes region of Africa. Countries covered include Burundi, Rwanda and the regional context (Kenya, Ouganda, Tanzania and Democratic Republique of Congo - DRC)
Kenya Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1907-1964 Kenya Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1907–1964 contains papers from the British colonial government in Kenya. The documents in this collection reveal the approach that the British took to colonial rule throughout the country. British settlers exploited Kenya’s natural resources, forcing indigenous farmers onto infertile land and making them work on European-owned farms and plantations.The government reports contained in this collection cover several important developments and events in twentieth century Kenyan history, including the period that the country was controlled by the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, the Mau Mau uprising that began in 1952, and the achievement of Kenyan independence in 1963. - Publisher
Leisure, Travel & Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This resource presents a multi-national journey through well-known, little-known and far-flung destinations unlocked for the average traveller between 1850 and the 1980s. Guidebooks and brochures, periodicals, travel agency correspondence, photographs and personal travel journals provide unique insight into the expansion, accessibility and affordability of tourism for the masses and the evolution of some of the most successful travel agencies in the world. - Publisher
Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-1900 Life at Sea explores the lives of seafarers in the Anglo-American maritime world during the period 1600-1900. The emphasis of the resource is largely on narrative content, giving accounts of life onboard a variety of ocean-going vessels, including merchant and naval vessels, whalers, and pirate ships. A large amount of this content is sourced from journals written by sailors at sea but also from memoirs written by sailors reflecting on their lives. Another major source of narrative content are court records, especially from depositions and witness statements, including the examinations of pirates and court martials within the Royal Navy. – Publisher
Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963 Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963 provides complete coverage of the Cabinet conclusions (minutes) (CAB 128) and memoranda (CAB 129) of Harold Macmillan’s government, plus selected minutes and memoranda of policy committees (CAB 134). The Cabinet conclusions are taken by the secretary of the Cabinet or one of their assistants and consist of summaries of all discussions in Cabinet, together with a note of decisions reached. Cabinet memoranda consist of all papers circulated to members of the Cabinet and to other ministers for information or as a basis for discussion. These classes provide a distillation of the work of all the other departments of government, ranging in subject matter from agricultural policy and trade to nuclear policy and issues of international diplomacy. – Publisher
Malawi Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1907-1967 Malawi Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1907-1967 contains papers from the colonial government in Malawi. They reveal the approach the British took to colonial rule in this country. The reports are divided into nine distinct volumes for convenience. These are Administration, Finance, Judicial and Police, Natural Resources (1), Natural Resources (2), Social Services, Transport and Public Works, Communication and Post Office Savings, and Miscellaneous. - Publisher
Mass Observation Online This resource provides integrated access to hundreds of thousands digital images of material on British social history collected between 1937 and 1972 during a project called the Mass Observation. The archives include essays, photographs, file reports, diaries, day surveys and links to other sites.
Mass Observation Project: 1981-2009 The Mass Observation Project was launched in 1981 by the University of Sussex as a rebirth of the original 1937 Mass Observation, its founders' aim was to document the social history of Britain by recruiting volunteers to write about their lives and opinions. Still growing, it is one of the most important sources available for qualitative social data in the UK. This collection consists of the directives (questionnaires) sent out by Mass Observation in the 1980s and the thousands of responses to them from the hundreds of Mass Observers. Included in this is Module I: 1980s, Module II: 1990s and Module III: 2000s.
Medical Services and Warfare The resource is provided in two modules, 1850-1927 and 1928-1949. It tells the story of medical advances during warfare from the mid-nineteenth century to the outbreak of the influenza epidemic in 1918, the discovery of penicillin in 1928, and up to post-war reforms such as the foundation of the British National Health Service. The wealth of documents cover multiple conflicts as well as interwar developments from a range of perspectives. Material has been sourced from across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Europe to enable comparisons on key areas of systematic reform, improvements to sanitation and the treatment of disease, rehabilitation, nursing care, surgical techniques and wound treatment. – Publisher
Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound Smithsonian Global Sound is a network of international cultural institutions working to preserve and distribute music from archives worldwide, and to foster appreciation for traditional roots music. Through its Web site, Global Sound will offer audio and video downloads, streaming media, educational resources, and detailed liner notes to music lovers, students, historians, teachers, and the academic community.
Nigeria and Cameroon Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1887 – 1962 Nigeria and Cameroon Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1887–1962 contains papers from the colonial governments in Nigeria and Cameroon. The reports are divided into ten sections: Administration, Finance, Judicial and Police, Natural Resources, Social Services, Transport and Public Works, Communications and Post Office Savings, Commerce, Miscellaneous, and reports relating to the British Cameroons. The government reports contained in this collection cover several important developments and events including the establishment of the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos, the First and Second World Wars, and the creation of the independent Nigerian state. The reports provide students and academics with unique insights into the histories of Nigeria and Cameroon. They likewise shed light on the broader development, and eventual dissolution, of British colonial rule in West Africa. – Publisher
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest delivers monographs, manuscripts, and newspaper accounts covering key issues of economics, world politics, and international strategy.
The Nixon Years, 1969-1974 This collection provides complete FCO 7 and FCO 82 files for the entire period of Richard Nixon’s presidency. Top-level Anglo-American discussions and briefing papers dominate these papers. There is also a wealth of material on social conditions, domestic reforms, trade, culture and the environment.
ProQuest History Vault - Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, Africa and Middle East, 1960-1969 This collection offers a detailed view of U.S. foreign relations in Africa and the Middle East during the 1960-1969 period.
ProQuest History Vault: Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and State Department Intelligence and Research Reports, 1941-1961 During World War II and the first decade and a half of the Cold War, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the State Department assigned leading scholars to write special, classified reports about Asia, Europe, the Soviet Union, Latin America, and Africa. At the time, the reports helped to shape U.S. foreign policy decisions, and, now, as part of History Vault, the over 3,500 reports in this module provide an excellent source for studying the major areas of the World during the period from 1941 to 1961. These reports are not contained in the State Department's foreign relations series or the armed forces' official histories.
Reporting on Africa: From Apartheid to Pan-Africanism, 1949-1995 This collection contains a range of his writings and reports on twentieth century African politics. This includes material on Pan-Africanism, including on the Organisation of African Unity, articles documenting and attacking the Apartheid regime in South Africa, as well as an exploration of African politics against the backdrop of decolonisation and the Cold War. - Publisher
Sabinet African Archives – An Online Index to Africa’s Rich and Diverse History Note: Personal registration required for access. As recognised leaders in the South African information industry, Sabinet has spent over three decades bringing the world’s information to Africa and Africa’s information to the world.
The Sabinet African Archives objective is to make it as easy as possible for researchers and historians to find the relevant African archive that they are searching for. Sabinet African Archives is a growing index of thousands of consolidated African archives as well as special collections consisting of manuscripts, newspaper clippings, photographs, articles and more, to researchers with an interest in Africa. - Publisher
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This digital collection brings together primary sources from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world documenting key aspects of the history of slavery worldwide over six centuries.
Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa brings together materials from various archives and libraries throughout the world documenting colonial rule, dispersion of exiles, international intervention, and the worldwide networks that supported successive generations of resistance within the region.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History Women's travel diaries and correspondence from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. Includes manuscripts, diaries, travel journals, correspondence, photographs, postcards and ephemera, from 1818 to the 1970s. The geographical area covered by these diaries is far-reaching, with travel to countries within the British, French, Chinese and American empires and discussion of empire and nationalism, as well as description of the post-colonial world. A great variety of modes of transport are covered, including sea voyages, road trips, wagon trains and air travel.
Uganda Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1903 - 1961 Uganda was a colonial creation that was formed by joining the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro. In 1894, Uganda became a protectorate of the British Empire and was thereby administrated by the British. This collection provides a unique opportunity to explore this administration in Uganda in more detail. The collection compromises of over 50,000 pages of progress reports written by various government departments in Uganda. – Publisher
Vanderbilt Television News Archive Search the Vanderbilt Television News Archive of network television news programs and other news-related programming recorded since August 5, 1968. Streaming video of NBC and CNN content is available. The Archive makes all the items in its collection available to the public through a loan service. See a librarian for more information.
Women Travelers, Explorers, and Missionaries to Africa In February 2008 this English-language database contained over 1828 citations from 1763 onward. The database started as a way of inventorying Davis Bullwinkle's unique collection.
Worlds Fairs A Global History of Expositions Collating material from archives around the world, this resource offers a unique insight into the phenomenon of international expositions by presenting official records, monographs, personal accounts and ephemera for more than 200 fairs together for the first time.
Zimbabwe Under Colonial Rule, in Government Reports, 1897-1980 This collection provides a unique opportunity to explore the British administration in Zimbabwe by looking at annual governmental reports. In the 1880s, Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company started to make inroads into the region that is now known as Zimbabwe. In 1895 the British South Africa Company adopted the name “Rhodesia” for the area, as an honour to Cecil Rhodes. However, in 1898 the official name of the region became Southern Rhodesia. In October 1923, following a new constitution, Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony. While the colony was self-governing and technically could draft its own legislation it was still subject to supervision. This collection allows you to explore this in more detail. The collection compromises of over 90,000 pages of progress reports written by various government departments in Zimbabwe. - Publisher

Other Online Resources

Database of African Theses and Dissertations
Published by the Association of African Universities. (Direct database link.)
DISA: Digital Innovation South Africa
A variety of scholarly resources, including primary sources.
World Heritage Sites - Aluka
Explore the archaeology, history and culture of Africa through its heritage sites and landscapes.