LibGuides: Primary Sources/Archival Material: Home

ARCHIVAL MATERIALS NATIONWIDE

ArchiveGrid Identify historical collections of primary source materials in archives and repositories throughout the United States.
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National Union Catalog of Manuscript Materials Describes archival and manuscript collections and individual manuscripts in public, college and university, and special libraries located worldwide.
National Archives & Records Administration Preserves the records of our Government which includes military records and naturalization records.
Death Indexes for the U.S. A directory of links to websites with online death indexes, listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices and registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery and burial records.
State and Local Government Listing Contains links to state and local government websites.
U.S. State Historical Societies & State Archives Directory List of state websites.
State Libraries List of all state libraries.
State Public LIbraries Comprehensive list of all state public libraries.

LOCAL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

Massachusetts Historical Society Possesses a remarkable assembly of personal papers of three presidents, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. The collections also contain accounts of the lives of thousands of ordinary Americans.
Massachusetts State Archives Search foundation records, legislative records, and state secretary records.
Massachusetts State Library Provides historical information for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its cities and towns. Resources include papers and photos of state political figures, preserved newspapers and maps dating back to the early 1800s and other historical documents.
Massachusetts County Historical Archives Search vital records, census information, and passenger lists.
The Yvonne Pappenheim Library on Racism The Yvonne Pappenheim Library is a free lending library of materials about racism and white privilege in the United States. You can search the online catalog or stop by the library which is located in Boston.

TIPS & TRICKS

Not all archival resources are available freely on the Internet and not all archival resources have websites. So how do you find what you are looking for?

Look at the bibliographies of books and articles about your topic. There may be references to archival material present.
Contact libraries, historical societies, churches, and county/parish courthouses in communities that the individual(s) lived or the events occurred.
Contact organizations the individual was associated with.
Search college and university websites for their Archives and Special Collections Department.

INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES

Specific Country Archives Directory Search by country to see links to their archival materials.