New: African American Periodicals 1825-1995

[re-blogged from the VHL blog post]

The Vere Harmsworth Library has purchased online access to the resource African American Periodicals for the University.

Based on the work of James P. Danky in African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography (Harvard, 1998), this vast collection covers over 150 years of American history, from slavery up to the modern era. The collection features over 170 titles, written by and for African Americans.

Primary sources found here include news, commentary, advertisements, literature, drawings and photographs, Key titles in this unique resource include African Repository, El Mulato, The Black Warrior, Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Bulletin, Colored Harvest, Voice of the Negro, Horizon: A Journal of the Color Line, The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, Blue Helmet: A Magazine for the American Negro Soldier of All Wars, Harlem Pointer, African World, Black Pride Newsletter, Right On! and others from every region of the United States. Primary sources found here include news, commentary, advertisements, literature, drawings and photographs, helping to capture the voice of African American history and culture.

Our online platform allows our readers to search the African American Periodicals by full-text, or to browse by periodical title, historic period, or themes. Readers may also search via article type, such as advertisements, or opinion pieces. You may access the resource by clicking here

Bodleian readers may also search across our Readex databases, using Readex AllSearch. This allows researchers to cross-search across multiple primary resources, including the African American Newspapers and Ethnic American Newspapers.

Similar resources include:

If you would like any advice on using our databases or resources, please contact the Vere Harmsworth Librarian, Bethan Davies (bethan.davies@bodleian.ox.ac.uk).

New: Presidential Recordings Digital Addition

[re-blogged from Bethan Davies’ VHL Blog post of 13. Dec 2019.]

I am pleased to announce that the Vere Harmsworth Library, in partnership with the Social Science Library, have purchased online access to the Presidential Recordings Digital Edition for the University.

The Presidential Recordings Programme (PRP), was established by The Miller Center in 1998. Its aim was to make the previously secret taped conversations of six consecutive American Presidents (FDR to Richard Nixon) available for researchers. Covering historical events such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Kennedy Assassination, Vietnam and Watergate, the tapes offer “a unique and irreplaceable source for the study of U.S. history and American government.”

Previously, Oxford researchers could only access the curated transcripts hosted on the Miller Centre’s website. Now, through the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford researchers can access the Presidential Recordings Digital Edition (PRDE), the online portal for annotated transcripts of the White House tapes from the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon era. This includes a searchable database that allows full text searches for specific phrases and terms. It also includes options to filter search results based on dates, participants and topics. The PRDE is continually being updated with new transcripts and recordings, as they become available.

Similar Resources:

If you would like any advice on using our databases or resources, please contact the Vere Harmsworth Librarian, Bethan Davies bethan.davies@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

New eresources: African American Newspapers (1827-1998); Ethnic American Newspapers (1799-1971)

Our wonderful colleagues in the Vere Harmsworth Library have secured access to two more historical American newspaper resources, both funded by a very generous donation from the Association of American Rhodes Scholars. Here is what they blogged on 20 December 2018:

African American Newspapers (Series I), 1827-1998

Chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, African American Newspapers, Series 1, features 280 newspapers from 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. These titles published for or by African Americans constitute valuable primary sources for researchers exploring such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more. Beginning with Freedom’s Journal (NY)—the first African American newspaper published in the United States—the titles in this groundbreaking series include The Colored Citizen (KS), Arkansas State Press, Rights of All (NY), Wisconsin Afro-American, New York Age, L’Union (LA), Northern Star and Freeman’s Advocate (NY), Richmond Planet, Cleveland Gazette, The Appeal (MN) and hundreds of others from every region of the U.S.

Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971

Access to over 130 digitised newspapers published by and for ethnic groups in the United States, particularly those of Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Welsh descent.

Spanning the Early Republic’s Open Door Era to the Era of Liberalization in the mid-1960s, Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection covers two centuries of immigrant life in the United States. Nineteenth-century topics include the denial of citizenship to “nonwhites”; the founding of nativist political movements, including the anti-immigrant “Know-Nothing” party; the 1849 discovery of gold in California, which lured people from all over the world; New York City’s place as the world’s largest Irish city in 1860 with more than 200,000 Irish-born citizens; and the Immigration Act of 1882, which levied a tax on all immigrants landing at U.S. ports.

In addition to the major contributions of immigrants to business, music, science, education, labor movements and war efforts, later topics include the Naturalization Act of 1906, which for citizenship required immigrants to learn to speak English; the 1921 Emergency Quota Act, which favored northern and western Europeans; the 1942 internment in “War Relocation Camps” of Japanese Americans, several of whom published newspapers; Truman’s 1953 Commission on Immigration and Naturalization, which revealed the positive impact of immigrants; and much more.

Both collections are now available via SOLO / Databases A-Z.

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Also of interest:

New: The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas

Our wonderful colleagues in the Vere Harmsworth Library have also arranged permanent access to the eresource collection The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas.

They write:

“We’re delighted that once again thanks to a generous donation, we now have access to another new eresource collection: The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas.

Part of the Cengage Archives Unbound platform, this collection contains records and papers from the US National Archives and US State Department. The bulk of these date from 1812-1814 and include letters of marque to private vessels engaged in the conflict, passenger lists, passport records, and correspondence relating to prisoners of war.

Access is available via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University members can use single sign-on for remote access.”

New: The American Revolution from a British Perspective, 1763-1783 – Congressional Hearings 1824-1979

Our colleagues in the Vere Harmsworth Library have arranged permanent access to the online The American Revolution from a British Perspective, 1763-1783. 

They write:

“We are delighted to announce that thanks to generous donations, the Bodleian Libraries now have access to the following new eresources for American history:

The American Revolution from a British Perspective, 1763-1783

A collection of pamphlets published in Britain between 1763 and 1783 relating to American affairs and providing a British perspective on the American Revolution.

Congressional Hearings, 1824-1979 (ProQuest Congressional)

Includes the full text of published committee hearings from the US Congress from 1824-1979. Published hearings are the official record of committee hearings proceedings held to enable committees to gather opinions and information to help Members make decisions regarding proposed legislation or to help them fulfill their oversight and investigation responsibilities. Official hearings publications may include: written and oral statements of witnesses, transcripts of question-and-answer sessions, reports and other materials submitted for the record, and correspondence and other materials submitted by interested parties.”

The collections may be accessed via SOLO or our new Databases A-Z listing; University members can use single sign-on for remote access.”

New: American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection (1684-1912)

Our colleagues in the Vere Harmsworth Library have arranged permanent access to the online American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection (1684-1912). They write:

“We’re delighted to announce that Oxford users now have access to all five parts of the American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection from EBSCO.

The collection provides digital access to the full text of thousands of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912, digitised from the collections of the American Antiquarian Society. Titles cover a broad range of subjects and interests related to every aspect of American life and culture, from politics to religion, science, law, literature and the arts.
>>More information on the AAS periodicals collection

Access is available via Databases A-Z – use single sign-on for remote access.”

From the VHL Blog post [accessed 15 March 2018]

Also useful:

Trial until 8th February: American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection

The Vere Harmsworth Library has set up a trial to the full online American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection. The trial ends Friday 8th February.

The collection provides digital access to the full text of thousands of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912, digitised from the collections of the American Antiquarian Society. Titles cover a broad range of subjects and interests related to every aspect of American life and culture, from politics to religion, science, law, literature and the arts. >>More information on the AAS periodicals collection.

Access is available via OxLIP+ – use single sign-on for remote access.

Please send comments and feedback to jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

[from the VHL Blog post on 9 Jan 2018]

Trial until 24 December: San Francisco Chronicle, 1865-1984

The Vere Harmsworth Library is running a trial of the San Francisco Chronicle 1865-1984.  Researchers at Oxford are invited to explore it and send any comments or feedback to jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

We now have trial access to the San Francisco Chronicle, 1865-1984, via Readex’s America’s Historical Newspapers platform. Access is available via OxLIP+ until 24th December…

Source: Trial until 24 December: San Francisco Chronicle, 1865-1984

New: Gallup Analytics – US public opinion data since 1935 & world polls since 2005

Gallup Analytics - landing pageI am delighted to announce that Social Science Library colleagues have subscribed to  Gallup Analytics. It is now accessible via SOLO or Databases A-Z.

Note that the subscription is limited to only one user at a time so here’s a plea to close your browser when you are finished or are going for a cup of tea so that others can access it.

Gallup Analytics is a searchable resource of unique public opinion data and analysis compiled by Gallup, Inc. It includes answers to more than 125,000 questions, and responses from more than 3.5 million people interviewed in the Unites States since 1935.

With this data resource you can:

  • perform detailed searches on hundreds of U.S. and global metrics
  • examine data by demographic and socio-economic groups, including income, education, age and gender
  • export data to create custom data tables, trends, charts and scatter plots

Gallup Analytics comes in three parts:

  1. Gallup Brain (historic surveys going back to 1935)
  2. Gallup World Poll (surveys from 160+ countries since 2005)
  3. Gallup Daily Tracking (daily surveys across the US since 2008).

Gallup Brain (historic content 1935-2000s)

Historians are most likely going to be interested in Gallup Brain. As it’s not very obvious how to find it, here are some tips:
To access the historic content, click on Gallup Brain (bottom of the homepage)

Gallup Analytics - GallupBrain for historic data

You can browse surveys by decade or search by keyword:

GallupBrain - 1940s

Gallup World Poll (post-2005 surveys)

Here is an example where I’ve asked for mapped EU responses in which EU country immigrants would find a “good place”. Comparing it to 2016 makes a very interesting comparison!

Immigrants – European Union: 55% (2006) Good place – Aggregate

Immigrants – European Union: 55% (2006) Good place – Aggregate

Modernists can find surveys which cover many other topics, amongst others:
  • economic confidence
  • employment
  • entrepreneurial energy
  • confidence in leadership
  • confidence in military and police
  • religion
  • food access
  • corruption
  • freedom of media
  • life evaluations

 

New: European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750

European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 is a freely accessible comprehensive guide to printed works about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. It is provided by EBSCO.

European Views of the Americas - logoThe database contains more than 32,000 entries and is a comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. It covers the history of European exploration as well as portrayals of Native American peoples. There is good content from continental Europe.

The European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 database addresses the following subjects and themes:

  • America in literature
  • Botany
  • British in America
  • Catholic Church
  • Commerce
  • Discoveries
  • Dutch in America
  • Economics
  • Fisheries
  • French in America
  • Geography
  • Great Britain–Colonies
  • Indians
  • Jesuits (and other religious orders) in America
  • Law
  • Mines & mineral resources
  • Natural history
  • Navigation
  • Pirates
  • Shipping
  • Slave-trade
  • Spain–Colonies
  • Tobacco
  • Voyages around the world

You can locate material by searching in a variety of ways or browsing for publication (A-Z) or name and geographic lists of publishers, printers and booksellers.

European Views of the Americas - sample

“The database is derived from the seminal reference work, European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed in Europe Relating to the Americas, 1493-1750. Commonly known as the Alden-Landis bibliography (after the co-editors John Alden and Dennis Landis), this reference work features documents produced in Europe that make some mention of the discovery and emerging awareness of the Americas. The work is arranged in chronological order across six volumes. The database is searchable by every category of information found within the printed volumes and will be an invaluable resource for researchers interested in the subject.” http://support.ebsco.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=4994, accessed 21 July 2016

You have a good choice of saving and exporting your citations with permalinks and citation assistance also provided.

Also of interest: