CMU LibGuides: History: Primary Sources: Letters and Diaries

Letters and Diaries

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
1,303 sources with 1,210 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans.
British And Irish Women's Letters And Diaries This link opens in a new window
Over 90,000 pages of diaries and letters by over 500 women.
Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
Narratives, diaries, journals, and letters of traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials.
Manuscript Women’s Letters and Diaries from the American Antiquarian Society This link opens in a new window
100,000 pages of the personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
Provides full color images of the original medieval manuscripts of five 15th century families.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
This collection includes 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information, so providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives. In selected cases, users will be able to hear the actual audio voices of the immigrants.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
This collection includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly, and content can be browsed by historical event, time period, demographics, and other limits.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
Women's travel accounts of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Documents, sources, and other material related the history of women in social movements. Scholar's Edition.

For More

African American History: Primary Sources
Women's History: Primary Sources
Distinctive Collections
The distinctive collections vary in content to include personal papers, university publications, and newspapers.

Searching Catalogs

The resources listed here are not the only ones available. Many others are in print or microform and can be found by searching library catalogs, like the library catalog, or Worldcat, a database of library holding throughout the world (though mainly U. S.). Use some of these terms combined with your topic:

personal narratives
diaries
sources
correspondence
interviews
pamphlets
speeches
early works to 1800

For example:

women and diaries
slavery and "early works"

The resources listed in the For More box on this page can provide you with additional subject specific resources.

History Librarian

Charlotte Kiger Price

she/her

Contact:

Hunt Library 109E
Pittsburgh, PA

Subjects: Education, First Year Writing, History, Language & Linguistics, Reference, Religion, Women's Studies