The 2026 theme for LGBT+ History Month aims to highlight the contributions of LGBT+ people, both historically and today, and to raise awareness of the individuals behind them.
Just in time for LGBT+ History month, we warmly invite Oxford researchers to explore and give feedback on two databases Sex & Sexuality and LGBTQ+ Life in America (see the VHL Blog post for more information).
Sex & Sexuality is an online resource providing access to key archival material related to human sexuality from leading archives across the world. It will be useful to students and researchers in gender / sexuality studies, history, sociology, anthropology, and medicine.
Please be aware that this resource contains material of a sexually explicit nature. Content includes, but is not limited to, descriptions and imagery of sexual violence; non-consensual sexual activity; sexual activity including minors; surgery and suicide.
The trial ends on 28 February 2026.
(c) AM Digital / Institute for Sex Research
From papers of leading sexologists to LGBTQI+ personal histories, Sex & Sexuality allows researchers to explore changing attitudes to human sexuality, gender and sexual behaviour. Geographic coverage is primarily in the United States, but also includes archival material from the UK and Australia.
Module I is sourced solely from the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections, making available the papers of the first three institute directors (including Dr Alfred C. Kinsey), papers and research files of sexologists and researchers, publications and ephemera from the Institute and other organisations and advocacy groups, as well as correspondence and queries from members of the American public.
Module II is sourced from US, UK and Australian archives, and focus on personal experiences and self-expression. It includes personal histories, as well as accounts of grass-roots organisations and activism from the late 19th Century to the present day. Resources include official records of pressure groups and community organisations, diaries and correspondence, photographs, objects, erotic fiction, papers of noted sexologists and more.
Historians, you now have ten new source databases at your fingertips. With your University SSO, you can do your research anywhere whether you are researching in a café, library or on a sofa.
The new resources will be of interest to historians working across early modern to modern history, from England to the far reaches of America, South Africa and India. Resources are on a variety of topics such as trade, administration, foreign affairs, slavery and anti-slavery, culture and environment. Most resources are digitised archival material (letters, accounts, reports) but also include historical newspapers.
In line with the Bodleian Libraries’ strategy (pdf) to enhance our collections, we have committed funding to a set of selected purchases of electronic research resources. These acquisitions reflect our ongoing commitment to supporting the University of Oxford’s world-class research community by providing access to high-quality, authoritative digital content across a wide range of disciplines.
These resources, and others in our extensive list of source databases, are all accessible via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University staff and students can access them anytime, anywhere, using their Single Sign-On (SSO) credentials.
This resource is useful for the study of the history of early modern London through the lens of the livery companies and trade. It provides access to the various livery companies records, providing a unique overview of trade in early modern London over a key three-hundred year period. They are also a useful commentary on pivotal events such as the Reformation, the Civil War, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London.
Livery companies evolved from London’s medieval guilds, becoming corporations under royal charter responsible for training in their respective trades, as well as for the regulation of aspects such as wage control, labour conditions, and industry standards. The companies’ rich and varied records document the central role that these institutions played in the economic, political, social, and cultural life of the city.
Sources
The source materials include full runs of all extant court minute books and wardens’ account books from six of the Great Twelve livery companies, up to the year 1750. These records are the heart of the companies’ day-to-day business. Some supporting records have also been selected from each company, including ordinances, charters, ledgers, and other financial records. Where indexes or handwritten transcripts exist for the court minutes or wardens’ account books, these have also been included and can be viewed alongside the original document using comparison functionality.
Handwritten Text Recognition has been applied to the handwritten materials but palaeographical skills will still be needed. Research Tools are provided to help users to find the hidden narratives.
Themes
Each record is rich in content and broad in scope and all of these themes below might be useful:
• Charity and Philanthropy • Citizenship • Civic Ceremonies, Music, Drama and Pageantry • Civic Government • Commerce • Craft and Regulation • Education • Immigration • Politics • Prices and Wages • Property and Estates • Religion
Contributing Archives
Trade in Early Modern London includes material from three UK archives:
The Drapers’ Company
The Goldsmiths’ Company
The London Archives, from which source is included:
This newly digitised collection complements the existing Burney Newspaper Collection by offering new titles and additional issues of already digitised titles. The expansion includes c 200 additional newspapers, newsbooks, and broadsheets.
For historians, literary scholars, and researchers in related fields, Burney Newspapers Collection offers a rich collection of primary sources that highlight the cultural, political, and social landscapes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. You can gain deeper insights, cross-reference information, and explore previously unavailable content, enriching your research and contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of this pivotal era.
This module complements others already available. It includes India Office Records F The Board of Commissioners: Expansion, Control and Education and focuses on the Board of Commissioners, which exercised supervision over the Company’s policies. Material covers key events in the history of India and the Company including the Government of India Act 1833, which removed the Company’s trade monopolies and gave the Board of Control full power and authority over the Company, the First Opium War, the Anglo-Afghan War, and the English Education Act, which reallocated funds from the East India Company towards education and literature in India.
The Age of Emancipation includes numerous rare documents related to emancipation in the United States, as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. This collection supports the study of many areas, including activities of the federal government in dealing with former slaves and the Freedmen’s Bureau, views of political parties and postwar problems with the South, documents of the British and French government on the slave trade, reports from the West Indies and Africa, and other topics.
Content advisory: This archive provides access to primary sources created by groups and individuals that were products of their time. Therefore, users may come across content that is upsetting such as outmoded language, cartoons and caricatures, and other imagery that may be offensive because of its representation of race, gender, sexuality, beliefs, or other characteristics.
Due to the nature of the subject and the time period in which the sources were published, Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive, contains racist and outdated discussions of race, racial stereotypes and offensive imagery.
This resource brings together primary source material from archival collections in the UK, USA and Australia to reveal the shifting and expanding theatre world of the nineteenth century. Featuring material such as prompt books, programmes, company records, photographs and playbills, users can explore the multi-faceted nature of the nineteenth-century theatre industry, the lives and careers of well-known actors and actresses and the production, performance and reception of popular plays of the time.
This resource brings together material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, to provide valuable primary source material created for local audiences by local actors during a period of enormous global change. After the Second World War, decolonization movements around the world gathered pace, and from the small port colony of Aden to the vast Indian sub-continent, new borders were set, and new nations built.
The development of party politics, trade unions and other local and national movements in former colonies and Commonwealth nations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Australasia, and the Americas took many different forms. This archive allows insight into the variety of systems and modes of national and international political thought that became prominent in the twentieth century, including socialism and communism, anti-imperialism, regional independence movements, trade unionism, student activism, Pan-Africanism, and many modes of constitutional democracy.
The range of materials from across the world permits analysis and comparison of different political movements within a country, as well as the different paths and politics in the transition to self-rule in different nations, and the ways in which former colonies and Commonwealth nations negotiated their own agency and their own futures. Researchers can explore economic and social development, domestic politics and international relations, media and culture, labor history and strikes, civil rights movements and moments of political violence, alongside the constitutions and manifestos of many different parties and groups.
Content advisory: This database contains material representing various historical viewpoints related to race, gender, terrorism, and other subjects, and includes a variety of terms applied to different groups of people reflecting ideas and prejudices at their point of creation. Some of these terms and attitudes will appear pejorative and expressive of ideas that are no longer regarded as acceptable, such as segregated and apartheid systems, and imperial or colonial rhetoric.
This resource brings British government files from the Foreign Office, Colonial Office and the Ministry of Overseas Development and Overseas Development Administration together to provide information and insight into environmental issues and human-environment interactions throughout the globe, particularly in those places of influence of the former British Empire.
The files chart the development of colonial attitudes towards the natural world. They also provide insight into global colonial policy, changing attitudes towards land and natural resources, and the relationship between people and the natural world before the advent of environmental movements and activism later in the century. The environmental impact of colonialism can be explored through these files, from large-scale forestry and mining, to irrigation, soil surveys, pollution, industrial change, research into tropical diseases, agriculture, industry and conservation, as well as material on trade and commodities such as oil, cocoa, animal hides and skins, minerals and timber.
Continues Part I. Includes documents which chart the continued development towards the attempted implementation of grand apartheid. Sources are largely British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominions, and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1975. These previously restricted letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activists’ biographies and first-hand accounts of events give unprecedented access to the history of South Africa’s apartheid regime.
This archive treats U.S. foreign affairs during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. Notable subjects include the Arab-Israeli Conflict; the Camp David Accords; China; Panama Canal treaties; Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT); the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and U.S. responses to the intervention; the Iran Hostage Crisis; human rights; among other topics.
This collection complements our existing subscription to BBC Monitoring which provides access to the broader BBC Monitoring service and current content.
BBC Monitoring tracks, translates, summarises and analyses local media sources around the world. Its stated specialisms include: Russia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Disinformation.
BBC Monitoring was founded in 1939 at the start of WWII. Its purpose was to listen to radio broadcasts and gather open-source intelligence to help Britain and its allies understand global dynamics and assess emerging global threats. Over the next 60 years, the scope of its monitoring grew quickly. Trained specialists transcribed broadcasts of speeches, current affairs, political discussions, and social and cultural events worldwide. Transcripts, in turn, were translated into English and critical content was selected for publication. Finally, selections were curated into daily reports that comprise the Summary of World Broadcasts. These original daily reports often included commentary and evaluation by subject experts, as well as synopses and specialist briefings.
Come and meet over 50 specialists to talk about resources for your dissertation topic!
The Fair is an excellent opportunity for students to gain a wider perspective on the wealth and riches of research sources available for your field of study.
At the Fair you can learn about resources you may not yet have yet considered and meet the curators of collections who can guide you towards relevant material or useful finding tools.
30 stalls will cover many areas:
Special Collections, libraries and archives, e.g.
Archives & manuscripts
College Libraries (Special Collections) & College Archives’ Collections
Early Printed Books
Oxford Brookes University Special Collections and Archives
Oxfordshire History Centre
UK Government and International Intergovernmental Publications
Topical stalls, e.g.
Biography
Economic & Social History
English
Digital Scholarship
LGBTQ, Gender & Sexuality
History of Science & Medicine
Visual culture
and more
Geographical stalls, e.g.
Africa & Commonwealth
East Asia & South Asia
Eastern Europe and Russia
Great Britain & West Europe
Middle East, Hebrew & Judaica, Caucausus & Central Asia
Latin America
United States
You will also have an opportunity to speak to other students who have previously written dissertations and learn about their TOP 10 TIPS.
At our Information Skills stall, learn what courses are laid on to help you develop the skills you will need.
The format of the Fair encourages you to explore and discover new materials at your own pace, to be curious, to network and to make connections to experts and their peers while also learning about creative use of sources in Digital Scholarship.
Accessibility
The main entrance to the Examination Schools is stepped. There is a ramped entrance immediately to the left of the main entrance. There is lift access throughout the building, two wheelchair accessible toilets and hearing support systems that can be deployed where needed throughout the building. Most areas of the building have level access.
The accessible toilet is gender neutral and is at the bottom of the staircase opp. Room 8.
Doing research on your thesis also means that you will need to learn new skills, deepening your knowledge of resources and sources and how to go about locating and using them.
To help you on this exciting journey, the library has organised a series of talks, classes, and workshops which are designed to
Upskill your information searching and research skills;
Learn about the rich sources available to them in Oxford (and beyond) and know how to access them;
Learn how to handle the material, incl. archives, correct citation practices, ethical research practice, etc.;
Get to know relevant experts in Oxford libraries and archives.
America in records from colonial missionaries, 1635-1928
We are pleased to announce that Oxford researchers now have online access to 14 collections of the Anglican missionary archive, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), which have been digitized by British Online Archives. Previously only available in the Weston Library, the digitised material can now be accessed throughout the University and remotely with the Oxford SSO.
The USPG is a UK-based Anglican missionary organisation, founded in 1701, which sent missionaries to many parts of the world and was involved in educational, charitable and medical work as well as evangelization. The material also throws light on social conditions, travel and daily life abroad from the view point of British missionaries and their families.
The digitized material is relevant to British, Commonwealth and global history, covering the 17th to mid-20th centuries. It has been organised into 14 collections which can be found via SOLO or Databases A-Z:
The digitized material dates from 1635 to 1967 and includes letters, journals, reports, minute books, financial records, statistical returns, drawings, leaflets, questionnaires, school records, press cuttings, and printed books and magazines.
The geographical coverage is wide including the American colonies before independence, Canada, the Caribbean, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
the establishment of the Anglican Church in north America
the American War of Independence
slavery and its abolition
the establishment of Christian schools
indigenous communities
women missionaries
the impact of colonialism
philanthropy
the experience of wars including the two World Wars and the Sino-Japanese War
The digitized material represents a proportion of the whole USPG archive which is held on deposit in the Bodleian Library and is available for consultation in the Weston Library.
Lucy McCann, Senior Archivist, Special Collections, Bodleian Libraries
We are delighted to report that a major new discovery tool for Oxford archives and manuscripts, MARCO, is now available. Oxford’s very own Professor Lyndal Roper, Regius Chair of History, launched the service in a ceremony on 26 October 2023.
It is for all users of manuscript and archive collections held at the Bodleian Libraries and Oxford colleges and is the easiest place to start your search for manuscripts and archives held in Oxford, allowing searching across all online descriptions of the collections.
The discovery tool will allow researchers to deep-dive into detail but also discover material they may not have expected to be held in Oxford.
Where there is a digital copy in Digital.Bodleian, a link will be provided.
ELEVEN CATALOGUES = ONE SEARCH
The descriptions are drawn from eleven online catalogues, extending from Greek papyrus fragments from the 5th century BC to 21st century born-digital archives.
The collections include works of literature, medieval legal charters and deeds, politics, science, medicine, theology, law, music, photographic material and religious devotion, as well as many forms of documentary material produced by individuals and institutions.
The project unifies information about individuals, ensuring that whichever spelling or variation of a name you use, you will still find relevant materials:
You can also use keyword searching for find relevant materials.
What is not included?
Please note that not all manuscripts and archives are described online. Many of the catalogues are works-in-progress, and some collections are not yet described online at all. For more information, see below.
Continue to search individual catalogues
Existing users of the individual catalogues, or users who know which individual catalogue describes material they need, can still search the source catalogues directly.
About the project
The project aims to create a researcher-driven and easy to use discovery interface, MARCO, which will allow manuscript and archival materials from the Bodleian and Oxford’s colleges to be searched together. This discovery layer will enable new and existing audiences to better access the materials and will offer a fit-for-purpose environment for finding information about Oxford’s unique collections.
MARCO realizes the Bodleian Libraries’ vision of a connected, user-friendly, robust and adaptable digital environment for the University of Oxford’s manuscripts and archives.
Huge congratulations are due to the very many colleagues involved in designing and launching this project which is part of the Mellon Foundation funded FAMOUS project.
While you are here:
Access to Bodleian Libraries archives: The Bodleian Libraries’ welcome academics, students and researchers to consult special collections in person. Information on how to do so can be found on the Using Special Collections page.
Guides and Finding Aids. For an overview of the special collections held at the Bodleian Libraries, see the Special Collections section of Bodleian Libraries website. This includes:
Subject Guides, which provide an overview of all the Libraries’ special collections, not just those catalogued online, with links to further information.
Detailed finding aids, which give specific information working with individual collections.
This collection provides access to a wide range of materials to help understand the inception of slavery in Africa and its rise as perpetuated on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, with particular focus on the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.
It covers a wide spectrum of subjects related to the history of slavery: legal issues; economics; the Caribbean; children and women under slavery; modes of resistance; and much more, from 1490 to 1896.
Sources include monographs and individual papers, account ledge books, diaries, names of slave ships, lists of captains and crews, details of slave ship seizures as well as description of slave conditions, company records, newspapers, and a variety of government documents.
The resource is also useful for finding European travellers and missionaries accounts (often the only records available to document the evidence of slavery in Africa) and European business records (particularly valuable for piecing together the many wars and commercial disputes among the African powers on the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia area.
Geographical coverage
This resource is particularly relevant in its significant coverage of France, Haiti, Jamaica, Denmark, Portugal, Brazil, Senegal, and many other countries and regions.
Source institutions
The sources come from a variety of institutions including The National Archives (esp. Colonial Office records), Company of Royal Adventurers of England Training with Africa, British Library manuscripts, US Customs Service Records, and more. Material used in this collection include:
U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana Inward Slave Manifests, 1807-1860
U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana Outward Slave Manifests, 1812-1860
Exploration and Colonization of Africa
Selected Records of the Danish West Indies, 1672-1917: Essential Records Concerning Slavery and Emancipation
Appellate Case File No. 2161, United States v. The Amistad, 40 U.S. 518
Records of the U.S. District and Circuit Courts for the District of Connecticut: Documents Relating to the Various Cases Involving the Spanish Schooner Amistad
Records of the Spanish Governors of Puerto Rico, Registro Central de Esclavos, 1872 (Slave Schedules)
Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading with Africa and Successors: Records
Heartman Manuscript Collection at Xavier University Library, New Orleans: Manuscripts on Slavery
Africa Squadron, 1843-1861; Letters Received by the Secretary of the Navy from Commanding Officers of Squadrons
The Yale University Collection of Latin American Manuscripts, Part V: The Caribbean
Oliver Pollock Papers, 1767-1788
Vernon-Wager Papers, 1654-1773
Jamaica Manuscripts Collection, 1774-1950
British Library Collections
Aaron Thomas papers, 1798-1799
Sensitive content
Please note that you may encounter harmful and/or offensive material during your research. It is important to approach sensitive topics with cultural awareness and respect for the lived experiences of marginalized groups and individuals.
We are delighted to run the History Thesis Fair for second-year undergraduates this year. Come and meet over 50 specialists to talk about resources for your dissertation topic.
Thursday 4 May afternoon (week 2)
Colleges B-N: 2-3pm & College O-W: 3-4pm
North Writing School, Examination Schools
The Fair is an excellent opportunity for students to gain a wider perspective on the wealth and riches of research sources available for your field of study.
At the Fair you can learn about resources you may not yet have yet considered and meet the curators of collections who can guide you towards relevant material or useful finding tools.
Over 30 stalls will cover many areas:
Special Collections, libraries and archives, e.g.
Archives and Manuscripts 1500-1800
Archives and Modern Manuscripts 1800-
College Libraries (Special Collections)
College Archives’ Collections
Early Printed Books
Institute of Historical Research Library / Senate House Library
Oxford Brookes University Special Collections and Archives
Oxfordshire History Centre
UK Government and International Intergovernmental Publications
Topical stalls, e.g.
Biography
Community History
Digital Scholarship
Disability History
Legal History
LGBTQ+ History
History of Science & Medicine
Oxford and Empire
and more
Geographical stalls, e.g.
Africa & Commonwealth
East Asia & South Asia
Eastern Europe and Russia
Great Britain & West Europe
Middle East, Hebrew & Judaica, Caucus & Central Asia
Latin America
United States
You will also have an opportunity to speak to other students who have previously written dissertations and learn about their TOP 10 TIPS.
The format of the Fair encourages you to explore and discover new materials at your own pace, to be curious, to network and to make connections to experts and their peers while also learning about creative use of sources in Digital Scholarship.
Accessibility
The main entrance to the Examination Schools is stepped. There is a ramped entrance immediately to the left of the main entrance. There is lift access throughout the building, two wheelchair accessible toilets and hearing support systems that can be deployed where needed throughout the building. Most areas of the building have level access.
The accessible toilet is gender neutral and is at the bottom of the staircase opp. Room 8.
Doing research on your thesis also means that you will need to learn new skills, deepening your knowledge of resources and sources and how to go about locating and using them.
To help you on this exciting journey, the library has organised a series of talks, classes, and workshops which are designed to
Upskill your information searching and research skills;
Learn about the rich sources available to them in Oxford (and beyond) and know how to access them;
Learn how to handle the material, incl. archives, correct citation practices, ethical research practice, etc.;
Get to know relevant experts in Oxford libraries and archives.
Our wonderful colleagues in the Weston Library have launched their new online request service for archives and manuscripts. This should help readers with a more flexible and efficient way of ordering, e.g. from the comfort of your sofa or ordering in advance of a research trip.
Bodleian Archives and Manuscripts Requests makes it easier for both readers and staff to order material for consultation in the Reading Rooms. You can make request directly from one of our online catalogues, e.g. archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk, medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk, hebrew.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Just look out for the ‘Request’ button on the record. You can also track your orders and access your full order history in your account.
Once you have found your item(s), click on the Request button to order it to the reading room.
You must register!
For more information see our Special Collections webpages or register for the new service at requests.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/logon. If you created an account while the system was being tested, this will still be valid so there is no need to create a new one. Even if you are already a registered Bodleian Libraries reader or have a University card, you will need to register separately for this service.
This resource provides access to content from The British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS). Founded 1831 and renamed in 2009 to The British Science Association, its main aim was to improve the perception of science and scientists in the UK. The BAAS collection documents the efforts of the British scientific community to establish science as a professional activity and make Britain into a globally competitive centre for science. Many of the prominent names of British science since the early 19th century are associated with the BAAS.
This collection is complemented by material drawn from 10 British universities. The aggregated university collections serve to connect the manuscripts, papers and correspondence of some of the most important scientists of the 19th and early 20th centuries into a singular source for research. These collections were selected and curated on the recommendation of prominent academics working in the History of Science. These include collections contributed by University College London, Leeds University, Senate House Libraries, London, and Liverpool University. Further collections are in the process of being confirmed. The collections cover the work of scientists including Charles Wheatstone, Oliver Lodge, Samuel Tolansky and William Ramsay.
The BAAS collection contains a broad collection of document types: Reports, manuscript materials, newspaper clippings, photographs, brochures and catalogues; Field reports and minutes; Annual reports.
The collection spans a wide variety of interdisciplinary research areas and supports educational needs in a broad range of subjects and disciplines, including: History of Science, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Engineering, Area Studies, Colonial, Post-Colonial and Decolonisation Studies, Development Studies, Environmental Degradation, History, Sociology, Geology, International Relations, Trade and Commerce, Law and Policy relating to Science.
NEW SESSION ADDED! This session will also run Tue 25 Feb, 2-3.30pm.
Are you looking to level up your researching skills? Want to start your archival research and don’t know when to start? This session, run by Weston Library Senior Archivist Lucy McCann is for you!
Fri 28 February, 2-3.30pm
Lecture Theatre, Weston Library
This session provides an introduction to using archives for research and will cover
defining archives
archival arrangement
the practicalities of working with archival material
finding relevant archives
archives in the Bodleian, the University and further afield
web archives
No need to book. Just turn up.
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![Snippet of results list when searching for Nat Turner. The 1st items is:
Southard, Nathaniel. Why work for the slave? [U.S.]: [s.n.], [1838?]. Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (accessed July 30, 2025).](http://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/history/wp-content/uploads/sites/118/2025/07/Gale-Slavery-AntiSlavery-IV-Nat-Rurner-search.png)
