Henry Buhl Library: U.S. History 2: 1870 to Present: Late 19th Century America

Encyclopedias & Books

Salem History Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to the Great Lives & Great Events encyclopedias as well as the Decades in America series (1920's through the 2000's), and the Defining Documents series.

Encyclopedia of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Call Number: Ref E 661 .E53 2005 v. 1-3
Provides definitive coverage of all the social and cultural developments of the period as well as its political and economic history. The set features original documents, sidebars, and in-depth essays on major themes and developments, as well as hundreds of detailed entries on issues, events, people, and ideas.
Reforming America: a Thematic Encyclopedia and Document Collection of the Progressive Era
Call Number: Ref E 661 .R44 2017 v. 1-2
Presenting a detailed look at the individuals, themes, and moments that shaped this important Progressive Era in American history, this valuable reference spans 25 years of reform and provides multidisciplinary insights into the period. Includes primary sources.
Encyclopedia of the United States in the 19th Century
Call Number: Ref E 169.1 .E626 2001 v.1-3
An A to Z reference of articles covering topics such as education, slavery, women, cities, the Civil War, naval technology, politics, and the South.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History
Includes topics ranging from the westward movement of settlers and farmers in the 18th and 19th centuries, the transformation of work over time, the women's suffrage movement, counterculture, leisure activities, to the issues of voting habits, population movements and racial divides.

Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers
Call Number: Ref HQ 1236 .R29 2001 v. 1-2
The first comprehensive guide to women activists from every part of the world, illuminating the broad range of women's struggles to reform society from the 18th century to the present. Featured Entries: Jane Addams, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Tubman
Encyclopedia of Women in American History
Call Number: Ref HQ 1410 .E53 2001 v. 1-3
Each volume includes historical surveys and thematic essays on central issues and political changes affecting women's lives during the period. Includes profiles of notable American women from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. Primary sources and original documents are included throughout.

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Contains over 19,000 biographies of significant, influential, or notorious figures from American history written by prominent scholars. The American National Biography (ANB) is the successor to The Dictionary of American Biography (DAB).
Salem History Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to the Great Lives & Great Events encyclopedias as well as the Decades in America series (1920's through the 2000's), and the Defining Documents series.

Suggested search terms

Cities and towns -- United States -- History
Industrialization -- United States -- History -- 19th century
United States -- History -- 1865-1898
United States -- Social Conditions -- 19th century

Journal Article Databases

America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present with indexing for 1,700 journals from as far back as 1910
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Contains citations and abstracts for articles from 2,300+ academic journals back to 1955 for world history (excluding US and Canada) from 1450 to present
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archival Database of full text scholarly journal articles
Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Offers full text of 300+ journals providing current news and information pertaining to all branches of the military and government.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Large collection of full-text scholarly articles and books supporting research in the humanities and social sciences.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Covers a wide range of subject matter in both popular and scholarly periodicals.
Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,600 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,500 journals and nearly 10,000 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. This scholarly collection offers unmatched full text coverage of information in many areas of academic study including: animal science, anthropology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women's studies, zoology, and many other fields. Academic Search Complete offers critical information from many sources unique to this massive collection. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for 1,000 journals.

Journal articles are very specific.

Finding articles is easier after you have read up on your topic.

Use more than one article database.

No database searches everything.
For thorough research, use more than one database and try different search terms.

A to Z List of Journals
Always check the A to Z list to see if we have access to the journal title and date of publication you need!

Need an article that isn't full text? Access the request form below.

Document Delivery Forms

Remember, scholarship is international.

You may come across some great articles in which the titles (and thus the articles) are not in English.

So, when you can, it is a good idea to limit your searches to articles in English.

Primary Sources

Reforming America: a Thematic Encyclopedia and Document Collection of the Progressive Era
Call Number: Ref E 661 .R44 2017 v. 1-2
Presenting a detailed look at the individuals, themes, and moments that shaped this important Progressive Era in American history, this valuable reference spans 25 years of reform and provides multidisciplinary insights into the period. Includes primary sources.
Defining Documents in American History: The Emergence of Modern America
Call Number: E 661 .E447 2014
Defining Documents in American History: The Emergence of Modern America offers in-depth critical analysis of 60 primary source documents.
Defining Documents in World History: The 19th century (1801-1900)
Call Number: D 351 .A19 2018 v. 1-2
These volumes highlight important historical documents from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, including speeches, letters, manifestos and more -from influential figures during this century.
American Presidency Project
Call Number: Search HENRY by President as AUTHOR for call numbers
Search the papers of the presidents from George Washington through Joe Biden. Users can search by president, date, keyword, document type, and more.
The American Nation
Call Number: Oversz E 173 .A747 2008
The American Nation makes available, in one volume, many of the most crucial documents necessary for understanding the variety of policies and viewpoints driving American public life during an important, substantive part of American history. Covers the Civil War through our entrance into WWII.
Documents of American History
Call Number: Ref E 173 .C66 1963 and Ref E 173 .C66 1973b v.1-2
Includes a selection of primary documents related to American history. Coverage begins in 1492 and continues into the twentieth century. Highlighted documents include: documents from the First Continental Congress, accounts of the Battle of Lexington, and the Articles of Confederation.
Milestone Documents in American History
Includes important primary sources related to American history from 1763 to 2003.
Milestone Documents in American History, 2nd ed.
Call Number: Oversz E 173 .M62 2020 v. 1-4
Includes documents from African American history, women's history, immigration history, as well as 21st-century issues ranging from terrorism to campaign finance to LGBTQ rights. Vol. 1 1619-1831. -- v.2 1832-1898. -- v.3 1901-1956. -- v.4 1957-2019.
Milestone Documents of American Leaders
Call Number: Oversz E 173 .M62 2009 v.1-4
Milestone Documents of American Leaders features important full-text sources written by presidents, jurists, legislators and other influential people who helped shape the nation.

Military & Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Access to journal and magazine articles, books, government documents, speech transcripts, etc. relating to the military and government. Both primary and secondary sources are available here.
Congressional Record This link opens in a new window
Provides users with the ability to search and access the full-text of the Congressional Record (1873 to date), as well as its forerunners, the Annals of Congress (1789-1824), the Register of Debates (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873). It is an indispensable resource for political science, American history, and legal studies. Coverage: 1789 -- Present

Search Across Multiple Titles

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 1-5 This link opens in a new window
Collection of over 7,500 early American periodical titles published from the seventeenth through the late nineteenth century.
New York Times (1851-current) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text of the complete run of the New York Times, including full page and article images (1851 - current)
Coverage dates: 1851-current

Individual Journals & Magazines

Harper's
Access the Harper's Archive, 1850 - present. Full text availability.
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Harper’s is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S., beginning in June 1850 when it was launched as Harper's New Monthly Magazine

Suggested search terms

United States -- History -- 1865-1921 -- Sources
United States -- History -- War of 1812
United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865

Simply, add "primary sources" to your search.

Visit the locate primary sources page for a refresher.

HENRY
The Library Catalog