LibGuides: History: Primary Sources On Campus

Getting Started

Get started by checking out the UT Libraries' Digital Collections. Narrow by library, language, topic, type of material, etc.

Another great place to start for digital archives on campus and in Texas is Texas Archival Resources Online. Use TARO to search archival collections from institutions across the state of Texas. Be sure to notice where the archive is located (not all of them are in Austin). Let us know if you have questions about access!

Benson Latin American Collection--Archival Resources

Texas Archival Resources Online - contains finding aids with descriptions of the archival holdings of the Benson. you can search for names of collections, subjects, specific materials or countries that are represented in our rare books and manuscripts collection. Once you enter a keyword, limit your search to the Benson Latin American Collection, as this database represents a consortium of Texas archives.

World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
1492 - 1986. Unlimited users.
Provides access to a rich collection of primary source documents about Latin America and the Caribbean. The archive includes historical monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, and maps from the archives of the United States and Europe.
ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. Unlimited users.
ArchiveGrid includes over four million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, it helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
AILLA (The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America) This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. Unlimited users.
A digital archive of recordings and texts in and about the indigenous languages of Latin America. Includes recordings of naturally-occurring discourse in a wide range of genres, including narratives, ceremonies, oratory, conversations, and songs. Many of these recordings are accompanied by transcriptions and translations in either Spanish, English, or Portuguese. Also collects materials about these languages, such as grammars, dictionaries, ethnographies, and research notes.
Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. Unlimited users.
The National Security Archive is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University.Updated annually. The Digital National Security Archive includes 53 collections of declassified documents, consisting of over 94,000 indexed documents, with more than 733,000 total pages. Each of these collections, compiled by top scholars and experts, exhaustively covers the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post World War II through the 21st century. Glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs are included.
The National Security Archive is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1 This link opens in a new window
Colonial times - 1960. Unlimited users.
Provides access to a digital collection of historical content pertaining to U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture. Includes historical articles, newspapers, religious pamphlets, broadsides, historical books, letters, short stories, poems, advertisements, and more. The content is in Spanish (80%) and English (20%), and is searchable in both languages. Materials are drawn from the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project.
Brazilian and Portuguese History and Culture: The Oliveira Lima Library This link opens in a new window
1801 - 1983. Unlimited users.
The Oliveira Lima Library contains 2,800 pamphlets, including 100 Brazilian incunabula. Most of the pamphlets relate specifically to Brazil. They are on Brazilian subjects, or their authors are Brazilian, whether the pamphlets were published in Brazil or elsewhere. The most important subject areas of the pamphlets are history, politics and literature. Other topics include social and economic conditions, travel, agriculture, immigration, indigenous peoples, religion, women’s rights, biography, diplomacy, law, education, the press, medicine, public health, railroads, ports, foreign and international relations, geography, geology, art, academic societies, Pan-Americanism, positivism, the First World War, the Portuguese and Spanish empires, and Spanish American history and culture. The chronological span of the subjects covered is primarily from 1500 to 1930. The majority of the material was published in Brazil or Portugal.
Caribbean Literature This link opens in a new window
19th century - present. Unlimited users.
Updated biweekly. A searchable collection of poetry and fiction from every Caribbean country produced during the 19th and 20th centuries. Titles include numerous rare and hard-to-find works written in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and various Creole languages. The database currently has over 10,000 pages.
Classic Mexican Cinema This link opens in a new window
1902 - 1965. Unlimited users.
The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema is illuminated in this collection of popular movie periodicals. Not only does it include chief magazines such as Cinema Reporter (1943-1965) and Cine Mundial (1954-1955), it also features extremely rare copies of El Cine Gráfico from 1935 and of the weekly El Mundo Ilustrado (1902-1910). The true extent of the popularity of Mexican film is illustrated by Cinelandia (1931-1947), which was published in Hollywood both in Spanish and in English. This collection also includes dozens of film flyers as well as the personal scrap books of Fernando de Fuentes (1894-1958), one of the leading Latin-American filmmakers to this day. These volumes contain reviews, movie stills, programs, and advertisements.

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Ethnographic Video Online, Vols. I & II: Foundational Films This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. Unlimited users.
A comprehensive resource for the study of human culture and behavior. Features cross-searchable access to the acclaimed Ethnographic Video Online and Anthropology Online collections and provides anthropologists, sociologists and cultural historians with an expansive and multifaceted survey of the discipline. Researchers can explore a wide range of materials—from documentaries and field notes to written ethnographies and reference works.
Thematic areas include: family and race, material culture, language and culture, kinesthetics, body language, food and foraging, cooking, economic systems, social stratification and status, caste systems and slavery, male and female roles, kinship and families, political organization, conflict and conflict resolution, religion and magic, music and the arts, culture and personality, marriage, gender, and family roles.
Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930 This link opens in a new window
1880 - 1930. Unlimited users.
Primary source documents of investigations made by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the massive immigration wave of 1880-1930. The files cover Asian immigration, especially Japanese and Chinese migration, to California, Hawaii, and other states; Mexican immigration to the U.S. from 1906-1930, and European immigration. There are also extensive files on the INS’s regulation of prostitution and white slavery and on suppression of radical aliens.
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Series A: Subject Correspondence Files:
- Part 1: Asian Immigration and Exclusion, 1906-1913
- Part 1: Supplement: Asian Immigration and Exclusion, 1898-1941
- Part 2: Mexican Immigration, 1906-1930
- Part 3: Ellis Island, 1900-1933
- Part 4: European Investigations, 1898-1936
- Part 5: Prostitution and White Slavery, 1902-1933
- Part 6: Suppression of Aliens
Latin America in Video This link opens in a new window
Dates of coverage vary. Unlimited users.
Provides access to documentaries produced in Latin America, by some of the most important producers and independent filmmakers in Latin America. The documentaries cover Latin American issues, such as cultural identity, political history, human rights, popular culture, agribusiness, education, religion, and more. The collection’s materials are presented in their original language with abstracts and indexing in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
Latin American Women Writers This link opens in a new window
Colonial period - present. Unlimited users.
Updated regularly. An extensive searchable collection of prose, poetry, and drama by women writers from Mexico, Central, and South America. Also included are essays by Latin American feminists and revolutionaries, who address both the universal concerns of women in every age and the distinctive issues of their struggles in the region.
Currently contains 14,300 pages of prose and poetry and 13 plays; will contain approximately 100,000 pages of prose, poetry, and essays and 300 plays when complete.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories
1840 - 1950. Unlimited users.
Updated quarterly (until completed). Provides a view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. When completed, will include more than 100,000 pages of personal narratives including letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories. Currently contains 342 authors and approximately 37,500 pages of information.
Sabin Americana This link opens in a new window
1500 - 1926. Unlimited users.
Provides over 14,000 primary source titles based on Joseph Sabin's bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana. Materials describe every aspect of life in the Western Hemisphere from 1500 to the 1890s. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. Searchable in a variety of ways, including: author, title, year of publication, and subject.

Latin American, Latinx, Caribbean and Iberian Studies online resource repository

Briscoe Center Digital Collections

The Briscoe Center houses a large number of collections on U.S. and Texas history. It's located on the Northeast end of campus, near the LBJ Presidential Library.

Browse and search the Briscoe Center's Digital Collections here.

Harry Ransom Center

The Harry Ransom Center increasingly makes its unique resources available online for free. Explore their digital collections here.

Harry Ransom Center materials can also be access through the UT Libraries catalog. Once you start a keyword search, use "Available Online" and "Library--Harry Ransom Center" in the left-side limiter menu to narrow your search.

You can also check out the Harry Ransom Center's subscribed databases here.

LBJ Library Digital Collections

From the LBJ Library:

Selected photos
Daily Diary
Telephone conversations
Selected oral histories - Additional Oral Histories are available at the Miller Center or by contacting the LBJ Library.
Selected audio and video recordings - Many more videos are available on the LBJ Library YouTube channel.
National Security Action Memoranda (NSAMs) - While all available NSAM are represented here, the collection also contains supporting documents and reports which may be referred to in the NSAM and are not available online. Please call (512) 721-0212 for more information.
The Pentagon Papers - The Pentagon Papers collection is available for research at the LBJ Library. A digital copy is available through the National Archives website.

The National Archives and Records Administration manages all of the presidential libraries. Use the Advanced Search to get started, and then click on the "Available Online" tab in the search results.