Research Guides: HIST 301: The Historians Craft (Sheriff, Spring 2024): Primary Source: Published Diary

Finding Diaries in the library catalog

In the Library main catalog, use the term diaries as a subject term in one search box, and your topic as a keyword in the second search box.
Then limit the search results to your time period of interest (eg 1800-1899). Limit to Books and Ebooks.
You can also try the subject term narratives too.

Main Library Catalog
Search for your topic (ex. Pirates, trade, religion, etc) and then limit the publication date the exclude items before 1776. The catalog will search many of our major primary source databases for you, as well as Hathi Trust and other resources.
Example search for diaries by abolitionists 1800-1860
NOTE: limit to books and ebooks to make sure you find PUBLISHED diaries

Databases with Diaries

AM Explorer: Americana This link opens in a new window
Cross-searchable access to millions of pages of essential American history, literature and culture. Uncover captivating manuscript and typescript letters, diaries, notebooks, journals, newspapers, plus incredible art works, illustrations, photographs, video and 360-degree objects.
Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment contains 1,482 authors and over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
North American Women's Letters and Diaries includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. Includes Canadian authors. Coverage: Colonial to 1950

Full list of databases with Diaries below:

Full list of databases for memoirs and narratives

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
This release contains 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs. Includes 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts such as the letters of Amos Wood and his wife and the diary of Maryland Planter William Claytor.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories 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 relating to American and Canadian immigrants.