Welcome to the guide for HIST 111: American History Since 1877! Here you will find links to library resources (and beyond) that will help you with research for the class.

If you need assistance finding sources or using the library, please contact me, Erin Hvizdak, at erin.hvizdak@wsu.edu. I'm a Humanities Librarian and work with students and faculty in numerous departments on campus.

Newspapers databases can be an excellent place to search for a primary source that relates to your topic. An article that addresses your topic, published at the time of the event you are researching can be helpful. Historical newspaper articles can bring an event to life, providing a tangible snapshot of the past and illuminate the impact of an event. Consider this February 13th, 1952 article from the Seattle Times related to Seattle rotation troops serving in Asia:

Primary sources for family research might include:

Civil and Church Vital records (birth, marriage, death, baptismal documents)

Military Service Records

The databases listed below each has its own scope, and it is therefore advisable that your try searching more than one of the resources listed. There is some overlap in the journals that each indexes, but each of these databases also indexes unique titles that are not necessarily discoverable through other sources.

Libraries, universities, archives, museums, and organizations host a wide variety of digital collections. Below is a small selection of what is available online. Most of the materials found through these sites are considered primary sources, however some of these collections do include secondary sources as well, so be certain to evaluate the item if you choose it as a primary source for your research. To find other materials, try a Google search using language related to your topic, and include the phrase "digital collections". For example: polio and "digital collections."