Resources by Topic
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia
Accessible Archives at HISTORY COMMONS
History Commons holds the content formerly hosted by Accessible Archives and that provides a comprehensive database of diverse primary resources related to 18th, 19th, and early-20th century American history and culture.
Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922: From the Library Company of Philadelphia
Encompassing nearly 400 years, the Afro-American Imprints Collection offers over 12,000 searchable books, pamphlets, and broadsides related to the history of Black life in the Americas from 1535-1922.
America’s Historical Imprints
America’s Historical Imprints contains 3 collections and 2 supplements of books, pamphlets, broadsides and other scarce printed material.
American song sheets, slip ballads, and poetical broadsides
The Edwin Wolf catalog contains American song sheets, slip ballads, and poetical broadsides from 1850-1870.
Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition provides access to documents recording the lineage of individuals from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and more.
Black Authors 1556-1922
Black Authors, 1556-1922, encompasses over 550 works written by black authors from various regions, including the Americas, Europe, and Africa. The collection covers an extensive range of genres, including personal narratives, autobiographies, histories, novels, essays, poems, and musical compositions.
Digital Paxton
Digital Paxton is a digital collection, critical edition, teaching platform devoted to the 1764 pamphlet war.
Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania
The Early American Newspapers database provides wide-ranging coverage of historical newspapers from Pennsylvania.
Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network
GPGN contains maps, atlases, city directories, site surveys, and more dating from the 17th century through the present day.
In Her Own Right
A collaborative digitization project, In Her Own Right includes collections on women’s advocacy in moral reform, abolition, education, work, relief for the poor, healthcare, and women’s own rights from the Philadelphia area between 1820-1920.
Pennsylvania Civil War Era Newspapers
The Pennsylvania Civil War Era Newspapers database contains all the words and images from selected newspapers published during the pivotal years before, during, and after the U.S. Civil War.
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
Historical data, digital images, and links to resources documenting buildings and structures within the city of Philadelphia or designed by Philadelphia architects.
PhillyHistory.org
PhillyHistory is an award-winning online archival project of historic photographs and maps directed by the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Records.
Popular Medicine in America
This database shows the development of popular medicine in America during the nineteenth century.
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia centers Philadelphia as a city and community in historical and future contexts.
The Pennsylvania Archives
The Pennsylvania State Archives provides 10 series of historical records in 138 volumes.
The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War
The Valley of the Shadow is a digital archive of primary sources that document the lives of people in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, during the era of the American Civil War.
Watson’s Annals
This digital source, from the US GenWeb Archives on Philadelphia County, provides the full text of collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of early 18th and early 19th century Pennsylvanian life.