Research Guides: HIST 202b: Modern American History in Global Perspective: Immigration in the Longue Durée

Library Databases

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories
Includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database. Neat database feature: Go to Browse and then Places to see a list of geographic locations and documents associated with those locations. The Advanced Search form has lots of great options for refining your search--for example, you can search for letters and diaries written by immigrants from a specific country or written by immigrants who entered the US at a specific city.

Immigration Records of the INS, 1880-1930
Covers the investigations made by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) during the massive immigration wave of 1880-1930. The files cover Asian immigration, especially Japanese and Chinese migration, to California, Hawaii, and other states; Mexican immigration to the U.S. from 1906-1930, and European immigration.

Ethnic NewsWatch
Indexes and provides full text to over 200 newspapers, magazines and journals of the American ethnic, minority, and native press, 1960 to present. Starting dates vary.

Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
Digitized historical materials documenting voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression. From Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums.
Prelinger Archives
Ephemeral films, including advertising, educational, industrial, and amateur films
American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) Online Reading Room
Includes contributions from over 100 public media organizations across the US. Covers the 1940s to the 2010s. From WGBH and the Library of Congress.
FedFlix
Includes films produced by the US government, such as training films and works produced by U.S. Fire Academy and the Postal Inspectors.
Digital Public Library of America
Digitized materials from libraries, archives and museums around the country.