HIS132 (Civil War Era to Present) - HIS131/132 - American History - InfoGuides at Central Piedmont Community College

HIS132 American History II (Civil War Era to Present)

On this page, you will find links to primary source collections and resources from Central Piedmont as well as other libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions related to your course.

To find secondary and tertiary sources, visit the Start Here tab.

Primary Sources - Central Piedmont Databases

The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries

This collection of diaries, letters, and memoirs contains firsthand accounts and anecdotes from the American Civil War era (1861-1865).

Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires Since 1820

This database explores prominent themes in world history since 1820, such as conquest, colonization, and resistance, as told through women's voices.

The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974

This database brings the 1960s alive through diaries, letters, autobiographies, oral histories, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary.

Black Thought and Culture
Black Thought and Culture contains approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history.
Human Rights Studies Online
This database provides primary and secondary materials related to major human rights violations and atrocity crimes worldwide from 1900 to 2010, including Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Darfur, and others.
LGBT Thought and Culture
This database includes books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social, and cultural movements throughout the 20th century and into the present day.
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries
This collection brings together thousands of the personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, displayed as high-quality images of the original manuscripts.
News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive 1918-2015
This collection contains 15 major magazines, spanning current events, international relations, and public policy. These titles offer multiple perspectives on the contemporary contexts of the major events, trends, and interests in these fields throughout the 20th century.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories
Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, this collection provides a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
This database contains a variety of newspapers, like the New York Tribune/Herald Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, and much more, spanning from 1764-2021.
Religious Magazine Archive 1845-2015
An archive of magazines devoted to religious topics, spanning 19th-21st centuries. A wide variety of religions and denominations are represented, allowing for comparative studies of religions during these periods.
Revolution and Protest Online
Materials from this database focus on important events and themes related to revolutions, protests, resistance, and social movements from the 18th century through the 21st century.
Explore More Primary Source Databases
The Central Piedmont Library has over 35 primary source databases. Browse through this list further to find additional sources related to your topic.

Primary Sources - External Databases and Collections

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) makes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to everyone in one location. They also provide Primary Source Sets that include photographs, audio clips, drawings, letters, and much more.

Explore the Digital Public Library of America further to find more primary sources related to your topic.

Library of Congress (LOC)

The Library of Congress (LOC) makes millions of primary sources available online. Here are a few ways to discover LOC's primary sources:

U.S. History Primary Sources Timeline - Contains collections related to the Rise of Industrial America, Progressive Era to New Era, Great Depression and World War II, and Post War United States.
LOC's Digital Collections - Contains collections from the Civil War to Civil Rights to the present.
Primary Source Sets - Contains materials related to the Civil War and Reconstruction, Rise of Industrial America, Progressive Era to New Era, and Great Depression and World War II.
LOC's Research Guides - Includes over 40 guides dedicated to primary source documents in American History.
Free to Use and Reuse - Contains Civil War drawings, World War I posters, and images of African American women changemakers.

North Carolina Digital Collections

The NC Digital Collections brings together content from the State Archives of North Carolina and the State Library of North Carolina. It contains photographs, state government publications, manuscripts, and other resources on topics related to North Carolina. Here are some primary source collections that might be of interest:

Explore NC Digital Collections further to find more primary sources related to your topic.

Additional Collections and Resources

Colleges & Universities

Digital Library of Georgia's Civil Rights Digital Library
Harvard University's CURIOSity Collections
Middle Tennessee State University's Discovering American Women's History Online
Sam Houston State University's U.S. History: Primary Source Collections Online Research Guide
UNC Chapel Hill's Documenting the American South (DocSouth)
University of Washington's Primary Source: 19th Century Research Guide
University of Washington's Primary Source: 20th Century Research Guide

Museums, Historical Societies, and Other Organizations

American Battlefield Trust's Civil War Collection
Massachusetts History Society's Digital Collections
New York Public Library's Digital Collections
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1800-1900 and 1900-Present Collections
Wilson Center's Cold War Origins Collection

Additional Help

HIS131/132 - American History

HIS132 American History II (Civil War Era to Present)

Primary Sources - Central Piedmont Databases

The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries

Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires Since 1820

The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974

Human Rights Studies Online

LGBT Thought and Culture

Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries

News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive 1918-2015

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories

ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Religious Magazine Archive 1845-2015

Revolution and Protest Online