LibGuides: History of US Immigration: Home

Sources: Past Issues and Policies

Online Databases

These require a password when accessed from off the SH campus network

Newspapers

America's Historical Newspapers (NewsBank), 1690-2000 This link opens in a new window
Newspaper articles organized by significant periods in American history, from hundreds of U.S. newspapers, providing primary source content.
New York Times, Historical, 1851-2018 (with Index) This link opens in a new window
This is the archive of all issues of The New York TImes from 1851 through 2018.

Academic Journals

JSTOR This link opens in a new window Search full text academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in multiple disciplines

Statistics

Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850 to 2000
Longitudinal information about country of origin immigration over time and history of changes in data collection over time.

Reference

Oral History Association: Centers and Collections
A list, with links, of more than fifty collections and repositories of oral histories from the Oral History Association.

In any of our online databases, use a keyword search for your topic or person, then limit the search results by TYPE, to "Primary Sources".

These databases have many primary sources within them:

Biography in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
U.S. History in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
"Information on hundreds of... significant people, events, and topics in U.S. history from a variety of sources." Searchable by keyword, or browse the 420 "Topics", sets of information on a broad range of historical and current topics.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window

Digital Public Library of America
Library of Congress
Searchable by keyword, with thousands of online primary sources, including newspaper articles, personal diaries, magazines articles and more.
Library of Congress, Digital Collections
Sets of primary sources on 40 topics, including American History, African American History, War and Politics and Women's History,
Immigrant Voices: Oral Histories
Historical Census Data

Online Databases

These require a password when accessed from off the SH campus network

Opposing Viewpoints in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Pro and con arguments with contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues drawn from news articles, journals, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.
contains pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more on current issues with a focus on issues in U.S.

Health and Wellness Center (Gale)-- Immigration and Immigrants in the United States
News and other information re: a range of American immigration topics, from this past year

Access World News (NewsBank), 1972-present This link opens in a new window
Reliable, credible information ranging from 1972 through the present, from a wide variety of local, national, and international newspapers plus other news sources.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Search full text academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in multiple disciplines

Hispanic Life in America (NewsBank) -- Current News
Sources range from 1704 to the present. Can narrow searching to information specifically focused on LatinX immigration and the LatinX immigrant experience within each specific time period

Organizations-- Immigration Topics

Immigration Advocates Network-- Current News
Searchable by topic and date
Migration Policy Institute
National Immigration Law Center-- Issues
The NILC's homepage, with a link to "Issues" in the upper left tab. Within "Issues", find State Laws and Policies, Fact Sheets, and relevant Litigation.
Pew Research Center -- Immigration and Migration
Arizona State University, Immigration/Refugee Associations and Agencies
Links to multiple organizations focused on immigration and immigrants in the United States

Government Agencies

U.S. Census-- Place of Birth by Nativity and Citizenship Status
Data from 2022 on citizenship and non-citizenship status, for a range of ethnic identities and country of origin. Use the slider at the bottom of this data chart to see the full range of countries of origin and ethnic identities.
U.S. Census-- "Broad Diversity of Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Population"
United States Census Bureau
Homepage of the US Census

America's Historical Newspapers (NewsBank), 1690-2000 This link opens in a new window
Newspaper articles organized by significant periods in American history, from hundreds of U.S. newspapers, providing primary source content.
Black Life in America (NewsBank), 1704- present This link opens in a new window
"This primary source collection offers an expansive window into centuries of African American history, culture and daily life—as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent." Includes over 400 African American newspapers.
Hispanic Life in America (NewsBank), 1704- present This link opens in a new window
"The experience and impact of Hispanic Americans as recorded by the news media", from 1704 through today. Includes almost 450 Latino/a American newspapers.
New York Times, Historical, 1851-2018 (with Index) This link opens in a new window
This is the archive of all issues of The New York TImes from 1851 through 2018.
Newspaper Source Plus (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Newspapers.com (ON CAMPUS access ONLY) This link opens in a new window
Newspapers.com is only accessible via the SH campus network; it is not accessible from off campus. It contains both current and historic newspapers, from 1854-2021.