| Module Title | History Commons Landing Page | Collection Description |
| Accessible Archives (Search all modules) | https://history-commons.net | The most effective way to search all of your Accessible Archives modules is to use the History Commons home page. |
| Accessible Archives Open Access Content | https://history-commons.net/modules/hioa/ | There are currently three freely available books: Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman; Twelve Years a Slave; and, History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III. There are currently three freely available databases: The Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue; The Pennsylvania Newspaper Record; and, Reconstruction of Southern State: Pamphlets. |
| African American Newspapers (If purchased from Coherent Digital) | https://history-commons.net/modules/anco/ | This collection contains a wealth of information about African American cultural life and history and the abolition movement during the 1800’s and is rich with first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day. The collection also provides a great number of early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements embodying the African American experience. |
| African American Newspapers (If purchased from Accessible Archives) | https://history-commons.net/modules/aanc/ | Publications included: The Canadian Observer, The Christian Recorder; The Colored American; Frederick Douglass’ Paper; The Freedmen’s Record; Frederick Douglass Monthly; Freedom’s Journal; The National Era; The Negro Business League Herald; The North Star; Provincial Freeman; Weekly Advocate. |
| African American Newspapers in the South | https://history-commons.net/modules/ansc/ | These newspapers document the African American press in the South from Reconstruction through the Jim Crow era. Written by African Americans for African Americans, this collection provides a unique journalistic record of the African American experience in segregated southern America. Includes complete runs of representative newspapers from the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia. |
| African American Newspapers Part I | https://history-commons.net/modules/an01/ | Freedom's Journal, New York, 1827-Mar. 1829; Colored American, New York, 1837-Mar. 1840; The North Star, Rochester, NY, 1847-July 1849; National Era, Washington, DC, 1847-Dec. 1848. |
| African American Newspapers Part II | https://history-commons.net/modules/an02/ | Colored American, 1840-41; The North Star, July 1849-1851; Frederick Douglass’ Paper (continuation of The North Star), 1851-May 1852; National Era, 1847-Dec. 1850; Provincial Freeman, Toronto, ON, 1854-Dec. 18, 1855. |
| African American Newspapers Part III | https://history-commons.net/modules/an03/ | Frederick Douglass’ Paper, May 1852-Dec. 1852; National Era, Dec. 1850-Dec. 1853; Provincial Freeman, Dec. 1855-57; The Christian Recorder, Toronto, ON, 1861-April 1862. |
| African American Newspapers Part IV | https://history-commons.net/modules/an04/ | The Christian Recorder, May 1862-Dec. 1864; National Era, Jan. 1854-Dec. 1855; Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Jan. 1853-Dec. 1854. |
| African American Newspapers Part V | https://history-commons.net/modules/an05/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1865-June 1868; National Era, Jan. 1856-Dec. 1857; Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Jan. 1855-Dec. 1856. |
| African American Newspapers Part VI | https://history-commons.net/modules/an06/ | National Era, Jan. 1858-Mar. 1860; The Christian Recorder, July 1868-Dec. 1870. |
| African American Newspapers Part VII | https://history-commons.net/modules/an07/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1872-Dec. 1876. |
| African American Newspapers Part VIII | https://history-commons.net/modules/an08/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1877-Dec. 1882. |
| African American Newspapers Part IX | https://history-commons.net/modules/an09/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1883-Dec. 1887. |
| African American Newspapers Part X | https://history-commons.net/modules/an10/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1888-Dec. 1893 (excluding 1892) |
| African American Newspapers Part XI | https://history-commons.net/modules/an11/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1894-Dec. 1898 |
| African American Newspapers Part XII | https://history-commons.net/modules/an12/ | The Christian Recorder, Jan. 1899-1902 |
| African American Newspapers Part XIIS | https://history-commons.net/modules/an15/ | The Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Jan. 1859-Dec. 1863 |
| African American Newspapers Part XIII | https://history-commons.net/modules/an13/ | Freedmen’s Record, Jan 1865-Aprl 1874; The Negro Business League Herald, April-Nov. 1909 |
| African American Newspapers Part XIV | https://history-commons.net/modules/an14/ | The Canadian Observer, Dec. 1914-June 1919 |
| American County Histories | https://history-commons.net/modules/amch/ | Over a million pages of content encompassing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Research possibilities in local history, women and African American experiences, government, the medical and legal professions, churches, industry, commerce, education, geology, geography, weather, transportation, wars, noted celebrations, health, vital statistics, and more. |
| American County Histories: Alabama | https://history-commons.net/modules/alch/ | Alabama was admitted to the Union in 1819 as the 22nd state. Part of the frontier in the 1820s and 1830s, its constitution provided for universal suffrage for white men. Settlers rapidly arrived to take advantage of the fertile soil. Southeastern planters and traders from the Upper South brought slaves with them as the cotton plantations expanded. |
| American County Histories: Alaska | https://history-commons.net/modules/akch/ | Alaska is divided into boroughs, not counties. Unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. An area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough. Alaska went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. |
| American County Histories: Arizona | https://history-commons.net/modules/azch/ | Arizona became the 48th state US state on February 14, 1912. It was the last of the contiguous states to be admitted. |
| American County Histories: Arkansas | https://history-commons.net/modules/arch/ | The Territory of Arkansas was organized on July 4, 1819 as a slave territory. When Arkansas applied for statehood, the slavery issue was raised in Washington DC. Congress eventually approved the Arkansas Constitution, admitting Arkansas on June 15, 1836 as the 25th state and the 13th slave state. |
| American County Histories: California | https://history-commons.net/modules/cach/ | California was given official statehood by Congress on September 9, 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850. Califiornia started with 27 counties and grew to 58 by 1907. |
| American County Histories: Colorado | https://history-commons.net/modules/coch/ | On August 1, 1876, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado as the 38th state. Colorado is nicknamed the “Centennial State” because it was admitted to the Union in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence. |
| American County Histories: Connecticut | https://history-commons.net/modules/ctch/ | Connecticut was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. Of its current eight counties four—Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven and New London—were created in 1666, two—Litchfield and Windham—were created during colonial times, and two—Middlesex and Tolland— were created in 1785. Six of the counties are named for locations in England, where many early Connecticut settlers originated. |
| American County Histories: Connecticut Part 2 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ctp2/ | |
| American County Histories: Delaware | https://history-commons.net/modules/dech/ | Delaware is located in the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula and is the second smallest state in area (after Rhode Island). The state is divided into three counties. From north to south, these three counties are New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. |
| American County Histories: District of Columbia | https://history-commons.net/modules/dcch/ | The signing of the Residence Act on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of a capital district located along the Potomac River on the country’s East Coast. The U.S. Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, which included the pre-existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria. Named in honor of George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia; in 1871, it created a single municipal government for the remaining portion of the District. |
| American County Histories: Florida | https://history-commons.net/modules/flch/ | Florida was under colonial rule by Spain and Great Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries before becoming a territory in 1822 of the United States. Two decades later, in 1845, Florida was admitted to the union as the 27th US state. |
| American County Histories: Georgia | https://history-commons.net/modules/gach/ | The Province of Georgia was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence. After the war, Georgia became the fourth state of the Union after ratifying the Constitution on 2 January 1788. |
| American County Histories: Hawaii | https://history-commons.net/modules/hich/ | Hawaii is the only state made up entirely of islands and contains five counties: Hawaii, Maui, Kalawao, Honolulu and Kauai. These counties enjoy somewhat greater status than many counties on the mainland as they are the only legally constituted government bodies below that of the state. |
| American County Histories: Idaho | https://history-commons.net/modules/idch/ | Idaho had four counties when it became a territory on July 4, 1863: Boise, Idaho, Nez Perce and Shoshone. By the time Idaho became a state 27 years later, there were 15 counties. The rest of the counties came into existence during the 30 years after Idaho became a state. |
| American County Histories: Illinois | https://history-commons.net/modules/ilch/ | Most counties in Illinois were named after early American leaders, as well as soldiers from the Battle of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812. Some are named after natural features or counties in other states. Some are named for early Illinois leaders. Two counties are named for Native American tribes, and one bears the name of a plant used as a food source by Native Americans. Several of the counties are named after Southerners, reflecting the fact that Illinois was for a short time part of Virginia, and settled in its early years by many Southerners. |
| American County Histories: Indiana | https://history-commons.net/modules/inch/ | Although Indiana was organized into the United States since the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, its land was not always available for settlement. The oldest counties are generally in the south near the Ohio River, whereas newer ones were in the north in territory acquired later. |
| American County Histories: Iowa | https://history-commons.net/modules/iach/ | Iowa Territory became Iowa, the 29th state on 28 December 1846, by which point 44 counties were in existence. The first two, Des Moines County and Dubuque County, were created in 1834 when Iowa was still part of the Michigan Territory. Counties continued to be created by the state government until 1857, when the last county, Humboldt County, was created. |
| American County Histories: Kansas | https://history-commons.net/modules/ksch/ | Organized as the Kansas Territory in 1854, Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861. It has 105 counties, the sixth-highest total of any state. Many of the counties in the eastern part of the state are named after prominent Americans from the late 18th and early-to-mid-19th centuries, while those in the central and western part of the state are named for figures in the American Civil War. Several counties throughout the state bear names of Native American origin. |
| American County Histories: Kentucky | https://history-commons.net/modules/kych/ | After the American Revolution, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County. Eventually, the residents of Kentucky County petitioned for a separation from Virginia. In 1790, Kentucky’s delegates accepted Virginia’s terms of separation, and a state constitution was drafted at the final convention in April 1792. On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state to be admitted to the union. |
| American County Histories: Louisiana | https://history-commons.net/modules/lach/ | Louisiana became the eighteenth U.S. state on April 30, 1812; the Territory of Orleans became the State of Louisiana and the Louisiana Territory was simultaneously renamed the Missouri Territory. |
| American County Histories: Maine | https://history-commons.net/modules/mech/ | Maine was officially part of Massachusetts and was called the District of Maine prior to being granted statehood in 1820. Nine of its sixteen counties had their borders defined while Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and thus are older than the state itself. Even after 1820, the exact location of the northern border of Maine was disputed with Great Britain, until the question was settled and the northern counties took their final official form by treaty in 1845. |
| American County Histories: Maryland | https://history-commons.net/modules/mdch/ | Maryland was the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution and has 23 counties and the independent city of Baltimore. |
| American County Histories: Massachusetts | https://history-commons.net/modules/mach/ | Massachusetts consists of 14 counties. Eleven other historical counties have existed in Massachusetts, most becoming defunct when their lands were absorbed into the colony of New Hampshire or the state of Maine, both of which were created out of territory originally claimed by Massachusetts colonists. The oldest counties still in Massachusetts are Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk, created in 1643 with the original Norfolk County which was absorbed by New Hampshire and bears no relation to the modern Norfolk County. Hampden County, created in 1812, is the most recently created. |
| American County Histories: Michigan | https://history-commons.net/modules/mich/ | The origin of some Michigan county names is unclear and credible scholarly sources disagree on the meaning (or intended meaning). The wholesale renaming of counties in the early 19th century made several cultural and political points. |
| American County Histories: Mid-Atlantic States - Part I | https://history-commons.net/modules/mast/ | Comprises the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania |
| American County Histories: Midwest States | https://history-commons.net/modules/mwst/ | Comprises the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin |
| American County Histories: Minnesota | https://history-commons.net/modules/mnch/ | Minnesota gained legal existence as the Minnesota Territory in 1849 and became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858. At that point 57 counties had been established, beginning with the first nine in 1849. |
| American County Histories: Mississippi | https://history-commons.net/modules/msch/ | The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina. It was later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the United States and Spain. On December 10, 1817, Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union. |
| American County Histories: Missouri | https://history-commons.net/modules/moch/ | The “Missouri Compromise” allowed Missouri to enter the Union in 1820 as a slave state and Maine as a free state, thus keeping the balance of slave and free states equal in Congress. It has 114 counties and one independent city, St. Louis. |
| American County Histories: Montana | https://history-commons.net/modules/mtch/ | Montana became a territory in 1864. In 1865 the first legislature created the nine original counties. Additional Territorial counties were added between 1866 and 1888, Statehood counties between 1889 and 1909 and Homestead Era counties between 1910 and 1925. |
| American County Histories: Nebraska | https://history-commons.net/modules/nech/ | The history of Nebraska dates back to its formation as a territory by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The territory was settled extensively under the Homestead Act of 1862 during the 1860s, and in 1867 was admitted to the Union as the 37th state. |
| American County Histories: Nevada Part 2 | https://history-commons.net/modules/nvch/ | Eight days prior to the presidential election of 1864, Nevada became the 36th state in the Union. Nevada is notable for being one of only two states to significantly expand its borders after admission to the Union. It achieved its current southern boundaries on May 5, 1866, when it absorbed the portion of Pah-Ute County in the Arizona Territory west of the Colorado River, essentially all of present day Nevada south of the 37th parallel. As of 1919 there were 17 counties. |
| American County Histories: New England States - Part I | https://history-commons.net/modules/nes1/ | Comprises the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont |
| American County Histories: New Hampshire | https://history-commons.net/modules/nhch/ | New Hampshire has 10 counties, five of which were created in 1769 when New Hampshire was still an English colony. The last counties were created in 1840. The counties tend to be smaller in land area towards the more heavily populated southern end of the state and larger in the less populous north. |
| American County Histories: New Jersey | https://history-commons.net/modules/njch/ | New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which every county is deemed urban by the U.S. Census Bureau with 13 counties included in the New York metropolitan area, seven counties in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and Warren County part of the heavily industrialized Lehigh Valley metropolitan area. |
| American County Histories: New Mexico | https://history-commons.net/modules/nmch/ | The compromise of 1850, created the current boundary between New Mexico and Texas. It is also considered during this time a surveyors error awarded the Permian Basin to the State of Texas, which included the city of El Paso. Claims to the Permian were initially dropped by New Mexico in a bid to gain statehood, in 1911. Congress admitted New Mexico as the 47th state in the Union on January 6, 1912. |
| American County Histories: New York I - Southeast | https://history-commons.net/modules/ny01/ | |
| American County Histories: New York II - Central | https://history-commons.net/modules/ny02/ | |
| American County Histories: New York III - West | https://history-commons.net/modules/ny03/ | |
| American County Histories: New York IV - North | https://history-commons.net/modules/ny04/ | |
| American County Histories: New York, Part 1 | https://history-commons.net/modules/nyp1/ | New York became an independent state on July 9, 1776, and enacted its constitution in 1777. The state ratified the United States Constitution on July 26, 1788, to become the 11th member of the United States. Since 1777, New York has grown to 62 counties. |
| American County Histories: New York, Part 2 | https://history-commons.net/modules/nyp2/ | New York became an independent state on July 9, 1776, and enacted its constitution in 1777. The state ratified the United States Constitution on July 26, 1788, to become the 11th member of the United States. Since 1777, New York has grown to 62 counties. |
| American County Histories: North Carolina | https://history-commons.net/modules/ncch/ | On April 12, 1776, the colony became the first to instruct its delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from the British crown. North Carolina is divided into 100 counties and ranks 28th in size by area, but has the seventh-highest number of counties. |
| American County Histories: North Dakota | https://history-commons.net/modules/ndch/ | North Dakota was admitted as the 39th state in 1889 and the region was first organized as part of the Minnesota Territory. It became part of the Dakota Territory in 1861 – named after the Dakota Indian tribe that lived in the region – and was set off from South Dakota when statehood was achieved |
| American County Histories: Ohio | https://history-commons.net/modules/ohch/ | There were nine Ohio counties at the time of the Ohio Constitutional Convention in 1802. A tenth county, Wayne, was established on August 15, 1796, and encompassed most of Northwest Ohio. During the Convention, the county was opposed to statehood, and was not only left out of the Convention, but dissolved; the current Wayne County is unrelated to the original. |
| American County Histories: Oklahoma | https://history-commons.net/modules/okch/ | Deliberations to make the territory into a state began near the end of the 19th century when the Curtis Act continued the allotment of Indian tribal land. Attempts to create an all-Indian state named Oklahoma and a later attempt to create an all-Indian state named Sequoyah failed but the Sequoyah Statehood Convention of 1905 eventually laid the groundwork for the Oklahoma Statehood Convention, which took place two years later. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma was established as the 46th state in the Union |
| American County Histories: Oregon | https://history-commons.net/modules/orch/ | The Oregon Territory was created in 1848 and admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859. Oregon county names have diverse origins derived from Indian tribes, army generals, influential citizens such as U.S. senators and presidents, and prominent geographic sites, including rivers and mountains. |
| American County Histories: Pennsylvania I – East | https://history-commons.net/modules/pa01/ | |
| American County Histories: Pennsylvania II – Central | https://history-commons.net/modules/pa02/ | |
| American County Histories: Pennsylvania III – Southwest | https://history-commons.net/modules/pa03/ | |
| American County Histories: Pennsylvania IV – Northwest | https://history-commons.net/modules/pa04/ | |
| American County Histories: Pennsylvania, Part 1 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pap1/ | Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Pennsylvania historically has one of the largest European American populations and a strong African American population. It comprises 67 counties including Philadelphia County which is a combination city-county government. |
| American County Histories: Pennsylvania, Part 2 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pap2/ | Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Pennsylvania historically has one of the largest European American populations and a strong African American population. It comprises 67 counties including Philadelphia County which is a combination city-county government. |
| American County Histories: Rhode Island | https://history-commons.net/modules/rich/ | Rhode Island was established in the 17th century and was the first of the thirteen original American colonies to declare independence from British rule in 1776, signaling the start of the American Revolution. It has the second lowest number of counties — five — of any state, all of which were established before the Declaration of Independence. |
| American County Histories: South Carolina | https://history-commons.net/modules/scch/ | On March 26, 1776, the colony adopted the Constitution of South Carolina and in February 1778, South Carolina became the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. In May 1788, South Carolina ratified the Constitution, becoming the eighth state to enter the union. The state comprises 46 counties. |
| American County Histories: South Dakota | https://history-commons.net/modules/sdch/ | The first permanent American settlement was established at Fort Pierre by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, and the territory was incorporated into the union on November 2, 1889, along with North Dakota. It is the only state with five counties entirely within Indian reservations: Corson, Dewey, Shannon, Todd and Ziebach. |
| American County Histories: Tennessee | https://history-commons.net/modules/tnch/ | Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later the Southwest Territory, before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. After admission, the number of counties grew to 95. |
| American County Histories: Texas | https://history-commons.net/modules/txch/ | As early as 1837, the Texas Republic made several attempts to negotiate annexation with the United States. Opposition within the republic from the nationalist faction, along with strong abolitionist opposition within the United States, slowed Texas’s admission into the Union. Texas was finally annexed when the expansionist James K. Polk won the election of 1844. On December 29, 1845, Congress admitted Texas to the U.S. as a constituent state of the Union. |
| American County Histories: Utah | https://history-commons.net/modules/utch/ | Utah’s original seven counties were established under the provisional State of Deseret in 1849. The first legislature re-created the original counties plus three more under territorial law. All other counties were established between 1854 and 1894 by the Utah Territorial Legislature except for Daggett and Duchesne created by popular vote and by gubernatorial proclamation after Utah became a state. |
| American County Histories: Vermont | https://history-commons.net/modules/vtch/ | Vermont is one of seventeen U.S. states that once had a sovereign government. In 1791, Vermont joined the United States as the fourteenth state, the first outside the original Thirteen Colonies. It abolished slavery while independent and upon joining the Union was the first state to have done so. In 1777, Vermont had two counties. The western side of the state was called Bennington County and the eastern was called Cumberland County. In 1781 Cumberland County was broken up into three counties in Vermont, plus Washington County, which eventually became part of New Hampshire. Today, Vermont has 14 counties. |
| American County Histories: Vermont Part 2 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vtp2/ | |
| American County Histories: Virginia | https://history-commons.net/modules/vach/ | In 1776, Virginia and the rest of the American Colonies, declared independence from Great Britain, precipitating the Revolutionary War. Virginia was the tenth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on June 25, 1788. It comprises 95 counties. |
| American County Histories: Virginia Part 2 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vap2/ | |
| American County Histories: Washington | https://history-commons.net/modules/wach/ | Washington’s first counties were created from unorganized territory in 1845. Eight were created by Oregon governments prior to the organization of Washington Territory. Most of the rest were created during Washington’s territorial period, and a few after Washington became a state. Washington is the second most populous state on the west coast and in the western United States after California. |
| American County Histories: West Virginia | https://history-commons.net/modules/wvch/ | An application for admission to the Union was made to Congress by the western counties under the Wheeling Convention, and on December 31, 1862, an enabling act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln admitting West Virginia, on the condition that a provision for the gradual abolition of slavery be inserted in its constitution. There are 55 counties. |
| American County Histories: Wisconsin | https://history-commons.net/modules/wich/ | The land that eventually became Wisconsin was transferred from British to American control with the 1783 signing of the Treaty of Paris. It was an unorganized part of the Northwest Territory until 1802 when all of the land from St. Louis north to the Canadian border was organized as St. Clair County. The state of Wisconsin was created from the Wisconsin Territory on May 29, 1848, with 28 counties. |
| American County Histories: Wyoming | https://history-commons.net/modules/wych/ | The region had acquired the name Wyoming by 1865, when Representative J. M. Ashley of Ohio introduced a bill to Congress to provide a “temporary government for the territory of Wyoming”. Wyoming was divided into four counties at the time of its organization as the Wyoming Territory, at which time a portion of Utah and Idaho, extending from Montana to the Wyoming-Utah boundary, was annexed and named Uinta County. As the territory, and later the state, became settled, additional counties were carved from the original five. |
| American Inventor | https://history-commons.net/modules/aico/ | This publication was one of the most prominent of the late 19th Century illustrated mechanical journals. Under publisher and proprietor, J.S. Zerbe and published in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1878 to 1887, the American Inventor grew to a large nationwide circulation. In its advertising, it claimed “contains in a year reading matter equal to 800 book pages and 300 illustrations of everything new in the field of mechanical thought.” In 1882, the publication included 400 more illustrations than any other mechanical periodical published. |
| Anatomy of Protest in America, 1701-1928 | https://history-commons.net/modules/apco/ | This compilation delivers a unique opportunity to investigate through newspaper articles, editorials, and books the people, places, events, organizations, and ideas, so important to Americans that they took action, exercised their rights, and stood up to protest. |
| Colonial Newspapers | https://history-commons.net/modules/coco/ | Rich with first-hand stories and news reports on life in Colonial America, including: politics and political commentary; economics and trade; agriculture and farm products; religious activities; events in Europe; slavery; relations with Native Americans; and military activities, including the French & Indian War. In addition, in-depth articles regarding American society are addressed including: the growing abolition movement; discussion of the monetary and economic issues in the colonies; fashion from London; “strange and unusual beasts in the forest and environs around…”; a variety of outlying settlements; movement westward over the Appalachians, and more. |
| Complete Collection of Historical American Newspapers, Books and Journals | https://history-commons.net/modules/aasp/ | Diverse primary source materials reflecting broad views across American history and culture have been assembled into comprehensive databases. These databases allow access to the rich store of materials from leading books, newspapers and periodicals then current. |
| Frank Leslie’s Weekly, 1855-1922 | https://history-commons.net/modules/lwco/ | Full run of issues and includes articles on: slavery and abolition; politics, elections, and political parties; the Civil War; industrialization and technology development; business, commerce, and commodities; society and culture; women’s rights and suffrage; African American society and economics; immigration; the world in conflict; labor and radicalism; religion; and featured columns on music, the stage, fashion, fine arts, sports, and literature. |
| Godey’s Lady’s Book: 1830-1898 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glco/ | Comprised of articles on fashion, entertainment, health and hygiene, recipes, and remedies, morality, gems and jewelry, handcrafts, marriage, education, suffrage, “hearth and home,” dating and marriage, African American and immigrant women, the role of women in foreign countries, brief biographies of leading personalities, literature, and more. Includes the full color plates as they originally appeared. |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part I, 1830-1845 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb1/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part II, 1846-1855 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb2/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part III, 1856-1865 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb3/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part IV, 1866-1875 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb4/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part V, 1876-1880 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb5/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part VI, 1881-1885 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb6/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part VII, 1886-1889 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb7/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part VIII, 1892, 1893, 1896 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb8/ | |
| Godey's Lady's Book Part IX, 1890, 1891, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1898 | https://history-commons.net/modules/glb9/ | |
| National Anti-Slavery Standard, 1840-1870 | https://history-commons.net/modules/asco/ | Comprises the full run of issues that were published and featured writings from influential abolitionists fighting for suffrage, equality and most of all, emancipation. It contained essays, debates, personal accounts, speeches, events, reports, and anything else deemed newsworthy in relation to the question of slavery in the United States and other parts of the world. |
| National Anti-Slavery Standard Part III, 1850-1854 | https://history-commons.net/modules/asl3/ | |
| National Anti-Slavery Standard Part IV, 1855-1859 | https://history-commons.net/modules/asl4/ | |
| National Anti-Slavery Standard Part V, 1860-1864 | https://history-commons.net/modules/asl5/ | |
| National Anti-Slavery Standard Part VI, 1865-1870 | https://history-commons.net/modules/asl6/ | |
| National Citizen and Ballot Box, 1876-1881 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws02/ | The National Citizen and Ballot Box was a monthly journal deeply involved in the roots of American feminism. It was owned and edited by Matilda Joslyn Gage, an American women’s rights advocate who helped to lead and publicize the suffrage movement. In 1878, Gage bought The Ballot Box, a publication of a Toledo, Ohio, suffrage association, renamed it The National Citizen and Ballot Box, and stated her intentions for the paper in a prospectus: “Its especial object will be to secure national protection to women citizens in the exercise of their rights to vote… it will oppose Class Legislation of whatever form… Women of every class, condition, rank and name will find this paper their friend.” |
| Native Americans in History, 1663-1928 | https://history-commons.net/modules/naco/ | This compilation delivers a unique opportunity to investigate through newspaper articles, editorials, and books the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples and their interactions with governments, settlers, and the U.S. military from the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries. |
| North American Women's Magazines & Newspapers | https://history-commons.net/modules/woco/ | These publications include articles, stories, illustrations, advertisements, and social and political commentary on the changing traditional female role, educational opportunities, clothing, leisure time activities, sexuality, courtship, marriage, childbirth, employment, and the women's rights/suffrage movement. Rich with first-hand stories on Women’s and Girl’s issues of the day, including: relationships and experiences of mothers and fathers; wives and husbands, and children; courtship; health and medical care; education; social and familial roles; fashion. Women were essential to the abolition and temperance movements in the 19th century. |
| Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue | https://history-commons.net/modules/pgca/ | This database primarily is a listing of marriages, deaths and obituaries from The Village Record, published in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Users will find information about emigration patterns, customs and traditions, important events, medical history, biographical data, and more within this collection. |
| Pennsylvania Newspaper Record | https://history-commons.net/modules/pnra/ | This database documents the move to industrialization from a predominantly agrarian culture established by Quaker farmers in the 18th century. The collection contains full-text transcriptions of articles, advertisements and vital statistics, providing insight into technology, business activity and material culture in a down-river milling and manufacturing community at the height of the Industrial Revolution. |
| Quarantine and Disease Control in America, 1736-1928 | https://history-commons.net/modules/qdco/ | Deadly epidemics have been challenging the populace since the earliest settlers came to American shores. You can research and read first-hand accounts of American infectious diseases in newspapers and county histories. |
| The 19th Amendment Victory - A Newspaper History, 1762-1922 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws07/ | The 19th Amendment collection begins with newspaper articles from the 1760s and concludes with those surrounding legal victory in the 1920s. Accessible Archives has carefully uncovered over 18,000 articles from its rich historical archive not previously included in the Suffrage collection to bring you this exceptional cumulation in one searchable database. Included are African American, Civil War, World War I, and numerous state newspapers. |
| The 19th Amendment Victory - Books, 1812-1922 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws08/ | The 19th Amendment collection begins with books from 1812 and concludes with those surrounding legal victory in the 1920s. Accessible Archives has carefully uncovered over 3,000 documents from of its rich historical archive of county histories and books not previously included in the Suffrage Collection to bring you this exceptional compilation. |
| The Civil War Collection | https://history-commons.net/modules/cwco/ | Coverage in relation to the Civil War is both informative and eclectic. Slavery is an important topic, and countless editorials discuss pre- and post-war attitudes from both sides, as well as troop movements during the war. Newspaper and e-book content is subdivided into these parts: A Newspaper Perspective, The Soldiers’ Perspective, The Generals’ Perspective, A Midwestern Perspective, Iowa’s Perspective, Northeast Regimental Histories, and Abraham Lincoln Library Abolitionist Books. |
| The Civil War Collection Part I, A Newspaper Perspective | https://history-commons.net/modules/cwal/ | Contains news articles, eye-witness accounts and official reports of battles and events, editorials, advertisements and biographies gleaned from over 2,500 issues of The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury and the Richmond Enquirer, published between November 1, 1860 and April 15, 1865. Coverage begins with the events preceding the outbreak of war at Fort Sumter, continues through the surrender at Appomattox and concludes with the assassination and funeral of Abraham Lincoln. |
| The Civil War Collection Part II, The Soldiers’ Perspective | https://history-commons.net/modules/cw02/ | The Soldiers’ Perspective, provides an in-depth look at the day-to-day actions of the troops themselves primarily in the form of regimental histories. |
| The Civil War Collection Part III, The Generals’ Perspective | https://history-commons.net/modules/cw03/ | The Generals’ Perspective allows a look into the way the battles within the war were fought. Here the emphasis is on strategies and tactics as planned and executed by the commanding officers, with a longer-term view as opposed to daily concerns. |
| The Civil War Collection Part IV, A Midwestern Perspective | https://history-commons.net/modules/cw04/ | A Midwestern Perspective section of our Civil War collection consists of seven newspapers published in Indiana between the years of 1855 and 1869.These newspapers provide pre-and post-Civil War information, in addition to coverage of the Civil War itself. |
| The Civil War Collection Part V, Iowa’s Perspective | https://history-commons.net/modules/cw05/ | This collection consists of memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories that provide battle perspectives from both soldiers and generals, with additional accounts of Midwest action. Iowa provided more troops per capita than any other Union state, and these writings reflect the experiences of Iowa soldiers as they fought in nearly all the campaigns and major battles throughout the war years. |
| The Civil War Collection Part VI, Northeast Regimental Histories | https://history-commons.net/modules/cw06/ | These Union regimental histories provide details on the organization and achievements of particular units, including such items as regimental rosters, transportation documents, honor rolls and casualty statistics and promotion and court martial documents. |
| The Civil War Collection Part VII, Abraham Lincoln Library Abolitionist Books | https://history-commons.net/modules/cw07/ | This unique collection brings together a disparate group of abolitionist era reference materials. Ranging from memoirs to speeches, biographies to essays, sermons to proceedings minutes, these publications provide an intimate insight into the social, political and religious natures of these contentious times. |
| The Liberator, 1831-1865 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tlco/ | Includes printed or reprinted letters, broadsides, reports, sermons, debates, conference proceedings, and news stories relating to American slavery, emancipation, appeals for funding, anti-African colonization, slave codes, women’s rights, the break with Frederick Douglass, “bleeding Kansas,” slave unrest in the West Indies and more. |
| The Liberator Part I, 1831-1835 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl01/ | |
| The Liberator Part II, 1836-1840 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl02/ | |
| The Liberator Part III, 1841-1845 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl03/ | |
| The Liberator Part IV, 1846-1850 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl04/ | |
| The Liberator Part V, 1851-1855 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl05/ | |
| The Liberator Part VI, 1856-1860 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl06/ | |
| The Liberator Part VII, 1861-1865 | https://history-commons.net/modules/tl07/ | |
| The Lily, 1849-1856 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws01/ | The Lily was the first U.S. newspaper edited by and for women. It was published from 1849 to 1853 by Amelia Jenks. While the newspaper initially focused on temperance, it soon broadened its focus to include the many issues of women's rights activists in the 1850s. It grew in its distribution as a result of its discussion of bloomers, a comfortable fashion popularized by Bloomer in the paper. |
| The National Standard, 1870-1872 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws06/ | The National Standard: A Women’s Suffrage and Temperance Journal exploded onto the popular stage in 1870, supporting two of the major social movements in the late 19th century: the Woman Suffrage Movement and the Temperance Movement. The publication provided an outlet and forum for women’s viewpoints on social and political reform and literary culture, and it highlighted efforts to ban the scourge of alcohol. |
| The New Citizen, 1909-1912; The Western Woman Voter, 1911-1913 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws04/ | Considered the first woman newspaper publisher in Washington State, Missouri Hanna was the founder and editor of The New Citizen, the successor to her earlier suffrage publication Votes for Women. Established to serve all women voters throughout the western U.S., Western Woman Voter began publication following the passage of suffrage in Washington State. Adella Parker, a popular Seattle lawyer and prominent suffragist, was the driving force behind both it and the suffrage movement. It also served as a print forum for Parker’s progressivist sympathies regarding political and social reform. |
| The Pennsylvania Gazette Folio I, 1728-1750 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pgp1/ | “Benjamin Franklin’s Newspaper” (1728–1750) |
| The Pennsylvania Gazette Folio II, 1751-1765 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pgp2/ | “The French & Indian War” (1751–1765) |
| The Pennsylvania Gazette Folio III, 1766-1783 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pgp3/ | “The American Revolution” (1766–1783) |
| The Pennsylvania Gazette Folio IV, 1784-1815 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pgp4/ | “The New Republic and Jeffersonian Democracy” (1784–1815). |
| The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1815 | https://history-commons.net/modules/pgco/ | Comprises content related to: “Benjamin Franklin’s Newspaper” (1728–1750), “The French & Indian War” (1751–1765), “The American Revolution” (1766–1783), and “The New Republic and Jeffersonian Democracy” (1784–1815). Includes articles, editorials, letters, news items, travel stories, classified ads, employment notices, lost and found goods and advertisements, covering the Western Hemisphere, from the Canadian Maritime Provinces through the West Indies and North and South America. |
| The Remonstrance, 1890-1913 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws05/ | The Remonstrance was the official publication of the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women. First published annually and later quarterly in Boston from February 1890 to April 1919, it provided a forum for women in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, Illinois, Iowa, Oregon, Washington, and other states who opposed the expansion of voting rights. These women believed that the great majority of their sex did not want the ballot, and that to force it upon them would not only be an injustice to women but would lessen their influence for good and imperil the community. |
| The Revolution, 1868-1872 | https://history-commons.net/modules/ws03/ | The Revolution, a weekly women’s rights newspaper, was the official publication of the National Woman Suffrage Association formed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Published from January 1868 to February 1872, The newspaper’s influence was enormous, confronting subjects not discussed in most mainstream publications of the time, including sex education, rape, domestic violence, divorce, prostitution, and reproductive rights. It was instrumental in attracting working-class women to the movement by devoting columns to unionization, discrimination against female workers, and similar concerns. |
| The South Carolina Newspapers, 1732-1780 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scco/ | Includes: South Carolina Gazette, The Gazette of the State of South-Carolina, South Carolina Gazette & Country Journal, and the South Carolina & American General Gazette. Highlights on slavery and the slave trade, agriculture, plantation life, relations with Native Americans, immigration, indentured servitude, and outbreaks of disease. Also highlighted are notices of births, deaths, marriages, estate auctions, and advertisements, particularly those for runaway slaves. |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part I, 1732-1741 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg1/ | |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part II, 1742-1751 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg2/ | |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part III, 1752-1761 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg3/ | |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part IV, 1762-1771 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg4/ | |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part V, 1772-1775; The Gazette of the State of South Carolina 1777-1780 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg5/ | |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part VI, The South Carolina Country Journal 1765-1775 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg6/ | |
| The South Carolina Gazette Part VII, The South-Carolina and American General Gazette 1764-1775; The Charlestown Gazette 1779-1780 | https://history-commons.net/modules/scg7/ | |
| The Virginia Gazette, 1736-1780 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vgco/ | Articles on colonial culture, slavery, commerce and trade, agriculture and plantation life, land disputes, relations with Native Americans, upland migration, indentured servitude, immigration, and includes notices of births, deaths, marriages, estate auctions, and advertisements, including those for runaway slaves. Comprises all three versions of The Virginia Gazette published between 1736 and 1780 in Williamsburg. |
| The Virginia Gazette Part I, 1736-1745 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vgp1/ | |
| The Virginia Gazette Part II, 1746-1755 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vgp2/ | |
| The Virginia Gazette Part III, 1756-1765 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vgp3/ | |
| The Virginia Gazette Part IV, 1766-1775 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vgp4/ | |
| The Virginia Gazette Part V, 1776-1780 | https://history-commons.net/modules/vgp5/ | |
| The Woman's Tribune, 1883-1909 | https://history-commons.net/modules/wtco/ | Consists of articles and news on women’s suffrage and political rights, suffrage leaders, rural women of the Midwest and West, political and international issues, local, regional, & national politics, labor laws, Women’s Leagues, Woman’s Political Party, national political parties, anti-suffrage, marriage and divorce, property laws, reproductive rights, African Americans, tradeswomen, international suffrage movement, crime, national women’s suffrage organizations, law enforcement, Spanish-American War, Native American women, health and medical practice, education, National Federation of Women’s Clubs, women’s patriotic organizations, and others. |
| Women’s Suffrage Collection | https://history-commons.net/modules/wsco/ | Includes the publications: The Lily, 1849-1851; National Citizen and Ballot Box, 1878-1881; The Revolution, 1868-1872; The New Citizen, 1909-1912; The Western Woman Voter, 1911-1913; The Remonstrance, 1890-1913; The National Standard: A Women’s Suffrage and Temperance Journal, 1870-1872; and the compilations: The 19th Amendment Victory: A Newspaper History, 1762-1922; and The 19th Amendment Victory: Books, 1812-1923. |
| World War I Military Camp Newspapers | https://history-commons.net/modules/awco/ | Insights from these publications include: what it was like to leave home by both recruits and draftees, the initial excitement of training, the drudgery of camp life, attitudes toward officers and fellow soldiers, the clash of arms, and news about the enemy. Camp personnel, places, and events are described with a richness that brings new credibility and perspective to scholarly research. |
| World War I Military Camp Newspapers Part I, 1916-1921 | https://history-commons.net/modules/aww1/ | From Afloat and Ashore to The Service Record, camp newspapers kept soldiers informed about the home front, political questions of the day – including those relating to the war itself – progress of their training, and the conducting of the war abroad. Also, they carried articles on what it was like to leave home by both recruits and draftees, the initial excitement of training, the drudgery of camp life, attitudes toward officers and fellow soldiers, the clash of arms, and news about the enemy. Camp personnel, places, and events are described with a richness that brings new credibility and perspective to scholarly research. |
| World War I Military Camp Newspapers Part II, 1917-1919 | https://history-commons.net/modules/aww2/ | Comprises a diverse collection of military newspapers from various camps located in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, and New Mexico, many published under the auspices of the National War Work Council of the Army and Navy of the Y.M.C.A. |
| World War I Military Camp Newspapers Part III, The AMAROC News, 1919-1923 | https://history-commons.net/modules/aww3/ | The AMAROC News was a daily American military newspaper that appeared in Coblenz from 1919 through 1923 and is synonymous with the American occupation troops in the Rhineland after the World War I. A highly colorful newspaper, the Paper provided its primary audience – the American doughboy — a source of information for the soldiers to inform them about events both within the occupation zone and on a global political level. Trained reporters were employed and cooperated with various German, French and American newspapers. |
Resource Title | URL |
History of Woman Suffrage | |
Reconstruction of Southern States | |
Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman | |
The Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue | |
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Record | |
Twelve Years a Slave |