My Fave Research Resources (Patreon)

Hey! People often ask where I get my sources from, so here's a starting list of fourteen to get you going. This is in addition to books, modern news sites, and finding retro footage on youtube to draw from!

1. Archive.Org- This site has a BUNCH of free books, videos, website captures from the olden days of the internet, and more. It’s essentially a library that I always check before buying something https://archive.org/--
2. Various college archives- Pretty much any major research institution has digitized archives that can provide excellent regional history lessons and resources. You can directly go to college websites, but there are databases that list out collections, like the attached link. Navigating these pages takes a bit of finesse because things are organized differently on each site. Try out a bunch of keywords in different time periods and regions. You can go in looking for nothing, clicking aimlessly, or you can search specifically by subject. The Harvard Library digital collection is especially lit. https://www.oedb.org/ilibrarian/250-plus-killer-digital-libraries-and-archives/
3. Public Library Collections— Similar to the above, except you’re dealing with state library collections. These tend to be a bit more organized thematically, and you’re always bound to find some fun photos and maps. Check out what your city/state has to offer and expand your search to include other locales that interest you. https://dp.la/primary-source-sets
4. Public Museum Collections— I’m currently obsessed with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture collection, but a bunch of local museums in your city/state have things online if you harness the power of google. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/collection/search?edan_local=1
5. National Archives Centers— There are 16 federal archive locations that are great for genealogy, news clippings, microfilm, etc. When I visited the Atlanta federal records center, I got to hold and analyze documents from the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments, as well as learn about documenting STD’s in american soldiers during WW1. Visit websites of the centers you’re going to and browse their holdings prior to your visit, because it may be overwhelming. They also may be strict about items you can bring near materials, so check ahead. https://www.archives.gov/frc/locations
6. Free E-Books at Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/
7. Various Out-of-Print Magazines thanks to Google Books (from Ebony and Jet to The Advocate:) https://books.google.com/books/magazines/language/en
8. Library of Congress has a bunch of good stuff— like this is where I found Rosa Parks’ handwritten peanut butter pancake recipe, but a bunch of stuff on here is only available in person. I’ve racked up a long list of things I want to find when I eventually visit DC. https://www.loc.gov/
9. UNC Chapel Hill North American Slave Narratives https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/
10. JSTOR— The best $20 academic text database a girl can have. There are SOOOOOO MANY journals (not all, and they’re more humanities leaning than STEM leaning), and they’re both retro (perfect for unpacking and contextualizing past attitudes) and modern (perfect for contextualizing current events). There are also lots of images and underground publications that can make your work more dynamic. https://www.jstor.org/
11. Academia.edu-- The best FREE academic text database. This site is great because it allows you to see various writers other works, peer-reviewed commentary, and even shows you papers related to what you've read recently. Be mindful that some of these are dissertations and can be quite dense. https://www.academia.edu/
12. Newspapers.com— The GOAT newspaper archive, that I pair with NY Times, WaPo, Baltimore Sun, and other individual newspaper subscriptions
13. Google News-- This is a little less visually pleasing for me to navigate, but it's free-- and they've got papers like The Village Voice. https://news.google.com/newspapers
14. Pew Research Center-- Objective statistics from studies and surveys on everything from race to religion and gender. This site is free and amazing! https://www.pewresearch.org/

I hope this list is helpful! Four more ways to find good stuff:

a)  read the footnotes, baby. You'll find all kinds of goodies.

b) searching for the specific historical event you're looking for along with the term "digital archives", "memorial", "collection", "primary sources", "pdf", etc

c) if you come across an article you enjoy from the past (especially the 1980s onward), it is not uncommon for writers to have a website of all of their old writings, so search their name and you may stumble upon genuine scans and their other work from the era

d) some magazines have their entire publications online, like D Magazine,  MacLeans, and Time Magazine

Let me know what you use so we can become better researchers together! <3