Research Guides: ECON 101: Did Economics Win Two World Wars? (Gordon): Find Primary Sources

Online Collections of Historical Documents

Avalon Project This link opens in a new window
An extensive collection of digital documents at the Yale Law School Library relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government covering time periods from pre-18th century to the 21st century. Documents include charters, constitutions, declarations, diplomatic documents, papers, speeches and treaties. Click here to access their World War II collection. This timeline arranges documents by date.

Guide to World War II Materials
This site compiles links to resources from the Library of Congress and external Web sites focusing on the Second World War.
Historic Government Publications from World War II: A Digital Library
From the Central University Libraries at Southern Methodist University, this is a collection of reproductions of several hundred government documents from World War II.
World War II Poster Collection
World War II-era posters Issued by various U.S. government agencies. They represent the government's effort, through art, illustration, and photographs, to pull the American people together in a time of adversity for the country.
National Archives Military Records
World War II Records

Archival Collections

The University Libraries holds a number of archival collections that document WWII activities on campus, among students and staff and within departments, among others. These are print documents with online finding aids.

America First Movement collection, 1930-1941
This collection contains materials from three sources: the America First Committee, other American groups with similar goals, and German propaganda in the 1930s. Materials include pamphlets, small monographs, serials, correspondence, flyers, posters, political ephemera, and photographs. These items are a sample of the kinds of material generated before U.S. entry into World War II. Taken individually, the items in this collection provide only a fragmentary record of the times; considered as a group, this collection gives an impression of the turbulence of the period, the political issues that were involved, and the propaganda that was published in the attempt to prevent U.S. entry into the war.
Records of world war I & II
The Records of World Wars I and II related to Northwestern University fill two archival boxes and span the years 1914 to 2005. The records are divided into WWI and WWII with the majority of the records relating to WWII. Records document both activities during the Wars and commemorative activities postwar and include information about both general programs and specific individuals.

Wartime News Sources

News stories written at the time events took place are generally considered to be primary sources. The resources below will help you find wartime news coverage. Popular articles and editorials of the time can also help illustrate public attitudes during the wars.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text PDF articles from several major U.S. newspapers, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and many others.
Readers' Guide Retrospective 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles published in the most important popular magazines published in the United States from 1890 until 1982.Provides some links to full text. A key resource for identifying what was published in the popular press during this era.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941 - 1996 This link opens in a new window
Created by the U.S. intelligence community to benefit policy makers and analysts, FBIS Daily Reports offer foreign views and perspectives on historical events from thousands of monitored broadcasts and publications. These comprehensive media reports from around the globe include news, interviews, speeches and editorial commentary.
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Full text of the Times of London from 1785 to 2011.