LibGuides: Practice of History: Rock 'N' Roll and American Society: Primary Sources

Primary Source Databases and Websites

Below are links to databases and websites containing a huge quantity of primary sources of all types that are available online that might be useful for your research for this class. Choosing where to search can be overwhelming - start by thinking about what type of source you're looking for, then read the description below each link. Remember, too, that this list is not exhaustive. If you're not finding what you're looking for, please feel free to contact me and I can try to help.

Rock 'n' Roll: Beginnings to Woodstock
Set of online primary sources on the history of rock 'n' roll.

Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
An archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to the 21st century. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles. Issues have been scanned in high-resolution color, with granular indexing of articles, covers, ads and reviews. Randall Library has access to the following collections: EIMA1: Music, Radio and The Stage; EIMA2: Cinema, Film and Television (Part 1); EIMA3: Cinema, Film and Television (Part 2); EIMA4: Rock, Folk and Hip-hop.
American Periodicals
Contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. It includes American Periodicals Series and American Periodicals from the Center for Research Libraries. Find more information.

Archive of African American Music and Culture
Collection from post-World War II surveying African American musical genres and topics. Also provides materials related to the documentation of Black radio.
Cornell Hip Hop Collection
Digital collection providing significant manuscripts and artifacts related to the genre of hip hop.

Ethnic NewsWatch
Ethnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. The database now also contains Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.

Grateful Dead Archive Online
Collection of over 45,000 digitized items drawn from the UCSC Library's extensive Grateful Dead Archive (GDA) and from digital content submitted by the community and global network of Grateful Dead fans. Digitized content includes concert recordings, decorated fan envelopes, fanzines, photographs, posters, radio interviews, tickets, T-shirts, and videos. External sites provide resources such as annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics and fan recordings of concerts.

Historical Newspapers
This collection of historical newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.

Library of Congress: Digital Performing Arts Collection
A variety of digital collections on different musical and performing arts genres.

Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive
The complete online fully-searchable edition of the TLS from the first edition in 1902 onwards. An important resource for studying and researching literary activity and critical opinion makers of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Polices, and Reproductive Rights
Features collections from the Schlesinger Library, Margaret Sanger Papers, and records of National Woman's Party, Women's Action Alliance. Part of the History Vault database. Find more detailed information.

Women Who Rock (University of Washington Libraries)
Archive exploring "the role of women and popular music in the creation of cultural scenes and social justice movements in the Americas and beyond."