Three especially useful ways to find primary sources:
Creative Commons licensed image from Flickr user katiew
LIFE Magazine's photo archives are available online at Life.com.
The GSU Library also has LIFE available in paper and on microfilm:
These collections are available to GSU students, faculty, and staff only.
If you are off campus, you should be asked to provide your Campus ID and password after you click on the links.
History Vault's Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century is a collection of primary sources, including government records, organizational papers, speeches, and other documents. It also includes ProQuest's University Publications of America (UPA) and Black Freedom Struggle I and II.
AS THE ONLY major daily newspaper in the Atlanta area, The AC provides a glimpse into the political, economic, cultural, and social life of the southeastern United States. Content ranging from Reconstruction through the late 20th century.
Founded in 1928 by W. A. Scott, the Atlanta Daily World became the first successful African American daily newspaper in the United States.
(Newspaper collections are listed separately in the Historical Newspapers guide)
These online collections include digital versions of many out-of-copyright works including government documents, historical magazines and other periodicals, and books published before 1923. Coverage can be spotty, but these sites are worth searching... just in case.
George Mason University's National History Education Clearinghouse has published reviews of over 1000 history-oriented websites.
The National Endowment for the Humanities' Edsitement! site's History/Social Studies section also includes many approved websites featuring historical material.
Browse, or use keywords to search for a website or digital library relevant to your topic.
Many libraries and organizations are making digital materials available online.
To find these collections, use this search string in Google or another search engine, in addition to keywords relevant to your topic, for example:
digital collection library site:.edu "vietnam war" (use quotes to search for a phrase)
You can also try the same search limiting to site:org rather than site:edu BUT:
Be careful!
EDU = educational institution
ORG = organization, which can mean almost ANY kind of noncorporate organization. If you aren't familiar with the organization, do some research on it! Who are they? What do they promote? Are they reliable?
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For more information about evaluating websites, see the Evaluating Information guide.
Many state-based libraries and organizations are digitizing materials relating to the their state.
The Library of Congress has assembled this list of state digital libraries. Search by state, or check out the Multi-State options.