Research Guides: HIST 301: The Historians Craft (Sheriff, Spring 2024): Primary Source: Unpublished Letters

Finding unpublished letters

In the Library main catalog, use the term Letters as a KEYWORD or TITLE 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. After you get your results, limit the results to archival materials & manuscripts

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Example search for unpublished letters in the catalog, 1800-1860 about the slave trade

This trick also works in WorldCat:

Search Letters as a Subject or Title term, Then search your topic as a keyword, then limit to your time period.

Under advanced options, limit to archival materials.

NOTE these materials typically do not circulate and cannot be ordered via ILL because they are held in a university archive. You can, however, go to the archival website and see if the material has been digitized.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
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Materials held by thousands of libraries in the US and abroad. Books, websites, computer programs, films, slides, journals, magazines, papers, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, newspapers, sound recordings, videotapes, etc. Coverage: Before 1000BC-present.

Database with unpublished Letter collections

NOTE some of these are published letters too, so pay attention to the source.

In the search results, limit to "letters" as a source type.

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.
America's Historical Newspapers (includes Early American Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Newspapers from all 50 states with eyewitness reporting, letters, advertisements, obituaries, etc. Includes access to Series I (1690-1876), Series II (1758-1900), Series III (1829-1922), Series IV (1756-1922), and Series V (1777-1922). Coverage: 1690-1922.
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.
History Vault [ProQuest] This link opens in a new window
Researchers can access digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and many more primary source materials taken from the University Publications of America (UPA) Collections. Includes multiple sub-collections in broad subject areas like Civil Rights; Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; American Indians and the American West; American Politics and Society; International Relations and Military Conflicts; Women's Studies; and Workers and Labor Unions. Focus of American History primary sources is largely after 1775.
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries from the American Antiquarian Society, 1750-1950 brings together 100,000 pages of the personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, displayed as high-quality images of the original manuscripts, semantically indexed and online for the first time.
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.
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
War Department and Indian Affairs, 1800-1824 This link opens in a new window
The relationship between the US government and Native American nations. Letters to and from the War Department, speeches, proceedings of conferences, licenses of traders, passports for Indian country, instructions to commissioners, superintendents, agents & other officials, etc. An Archives Unbound database. Coverage: 1800-1824.
War of 1812 : diplomacy on the high seas This link opens in a new window
A collection of documents from the National Archives and the U.S. Department of State Library dealing with private armed vessels used during the War of 1812. Documents include correspondence concerning letters of marque for privateers, agreements for the exchange of prisoners of war, passenger lists of vessels sailing from the U.S., and intercepted correspondence. An Archives Unbound database. Coverage: 1814 (with some documents from 1789-1807).
Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000 , Scholar's Edition This link opens in a new window
US history and US women's history. Primary documents, books, images, scholarly essays, book reviews, web site reviews, the biographical dictionary Notable American Women, and all publications of local, state, and national commissions on the status of women since 1963. Coverage: 1600-2000.
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.