Research Guides: HIST 490: Global Disability Histories (Fall 2024): Primary Source Databases

Where to begin?

Your topic, scope, and questions will directly dictate where you begin your search for primary sources.

We do have a database for Disability Studies primary sources (Below) but most of your projects will require creativity when deciding where to start.

Disability in the Modern World This link opens in a new window
One person in seven experiences disability, yet the story of this community and its contributions is largely absent from the scholarly record. Access to the primary and secondary source materialswithin this collection enables you to include this important piece of the puzzle in your research.

Starting Points

Newspapers
W&M has a few hundred newspaper databases. Most are English language, with a reasonable number of papers in Spanish and Russian, as well as other languages
Government Materials
Mostly US, these are scanned of government publications (legal, legislative, diplomatic)
Historic Medical Publications in JSTOR
JSTOR has a large selection of scanned medical journals up until the early 20th century. Not great for 20th or 21st century questions, but very interesting for History of Science questions

Health & Fitness Magazine Archive (1950-2015) This link opens in a new window
The backfiles of consumer magazines devoted to health and fitness topics. With publications aimed at a male readership (e.g. Flex, Mens Health) and womens titles (e.g. Womens Health, Womens Health Activist), this collection supports research in topics such as the history of sex roles, body image, fitness/exercise, public health, food/nutrition, and medicine. The backfile of Prevention (from 1950) offers over six decades of content reflecting contemporary developments in these areas. Coverage: 1950 - 2015
Health Source - Consumer Edition This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Health topics, including the medical sciences, food sciences & nutrition, childcare, sports medicine, and general health. Consumer health magazines, health-related pamphlets, and health reference books. Coverage: Varies by title.
MEDLINE This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Medical topics relating to research, clinical practice, administration, policy issues, dentistry, nursing, and health care. Citations to journal articles, from the US National Library of Medicine. See also PubMed. Vendor: Proquest. Coverage: 1940-present.
Popular Medicine in America, 1800-1900 This link opens in a new window
This unique collection showcases the development of 'popular' medicine in America during the nineteenth century, through an extensive range of material that was aimed at the general public rather than medical professionals. Explore an array of printed sources, including advertisements, posters, broadsides, rare books, pamphlets, trade cards, and visually-rich advertising ephemera.

So Many Options

Depend on your topic, you may need to skim our Full List of primary sources databases. Examples:

For advertisements, see Advertising America
For depictions in Colonial America, see American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection
For interviews, see American History in Video
For inventions and patents, see American Inventor
For depictions in magazines, see American Periodicals Series Online or British Periodicals
For historic images, see Associated Press Images Collection
For collections of documents about disability and children, see Childrens Literature and Culture