Environmental History
Primary Sources in Books
Primary sources can be published in books. Use Library Search and include search terms personal narratives, sources, diaries, memoirs, papers, speeches, documents, or letters.
Personal narratives is a term assigned by librarians and is used for first person accounts. Diaries and memoirs are terms used by writers and editors to describe their document. These are also normally in the first person.
Autobiography is often assigned to diaries and memoirs.
Letters and correspondence are published correspondence and occasionally include both outgoing and incoming letters.
Papers include correspondence, speeches and other previously unpublished items by the author.
Speeches were written to be spoken and have often been published.
Sources is another term assigned by librarians and often includes all of the types of documents listed above as well as government records.
The Environmental Debate by ISBN: 9781592376766Publication Date: 2011This unique collection of primary documents examines the evolution of concern about environmental degradation, pollution, and resource conservation in America from the Colonial period the present.
The Great Famine in China, 1958-1962: A Documentary History by ISBN: 9780300175189Publication Date: 2012Beginning soon after the implementation of the policies of the Great Leap Forward of 1958-1961, when the drive to collectivize and industrialize undermined the livelihoods of the vast majority of peasant workers, China's Great Famine was the worst famine in human history. In addition to claiming more than 45 million lives, it also led to the destruction of agriculture, industry, trade, and every aspect of human life, leaving large parts of the Chinese countryside scarred forever by human-created environmental disasters.
Primary Sources on the Internet
Image and document collections:
- New York Heritage Digital Collections
Digital collections about people, places, and events from New York State history.
Contents: Photographs, letters, diaries, newspapers, and books.
- Digital Public Library of AmericaDPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions.
- Biodiversity Heritage LibraryTo document Earth’s species and understand the complexities of swiftly-changing ecosystems in the midst of a major extinction crisis and widespread climate change, researchers need something that no single library can provide – access to the world’s collective knowledge about biodiversity.
- Internet ArchiveStart with a broad search of the metadata for a general topic and drill down from there.
- European History Primary SourcesThe purpose of EHPS is to provide an easily searchable index of scholarly digital repositories that contain primary sources for the history of Europe.
- EurodocsConnect to European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated.
Newspapers
- New York Times (1851-2020) (ProQuest)
This collection of articles from the New York Times is a subset of U.S. Major Dailies -- Historical Newspapers.
Contents: Full-text, digitized NY Times articles. 1851-2020.
- Wall Street Journal (1889-2012) (ProQuest)
This collection of articles from the Wall Street Journal is a subset of U.S. Major Dailies -- Historical Newspapers.
Contents: Full-text, digitized articles from The Wall Street Journal from 1889-2012.
- U.S. Major Dailies: Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
Newspaper titles covered includes The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Wall Street Journal.
Contents: Full-text, digitized newspaper articles including full-page views, front-page headlines, classified ads, marriage and death announcements, comic strips, reviews, display advertising, editorials, birth notices, and photographs.
Other newspapers are freely available on the internet. These are a few samples:
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersSearch America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963.
- NYS Historic NewspapersThe NYS Historic Newspapers project provides free online access to a wide range of newspapers chosen to reflect New York's unique history
- California Digital Newspaper CollectionA freely accessible repository of digitized California newspapers from 1846 to the present.
