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Welcome to the Research Guide for U. S. History, I and II.  The suggested databases are available linked from here and from the Electronic Resources section of the library home page.  Print resources are available in the PHC on-campus collection or by mail to distance learning members of the PHC community.  You may check out the location and availability of an item in the on-campus collection through the online catalog, Voyager, accessed here and through the library home page. 

Professional library assistance is available on campus, by phone at 540-441-8400, or by email at askalibrarian@phc.edu .

 

Reference Works

   

Desk encyclopedia of world history. Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. 
Ref D21 .E577 2006

 

Encyclopedia of world history / [introduction by Patrick K. O’Brien]. New York : Facts On File, c2000. 
Ref D21 .E577 2000

 

Milestone documents in American history : exploring the primary sources that shaped America / Paul Finkelman, editor in chief ; Bruce A. Lesh, consulting editor. Dallas, Tex. : Schlager Group, c2008. 
Ref E173 .M62 2008

 

Oxford companion to United States history / editor in chief, Paul S. Boyer ; editors, Melvyn Dubofsky ... [et al.]. Ref E174 .O94 2001

Full-text of major documents, including eye-witness accounts and popular accounts of history. Also a dictionary of American history and learning aids on the subject.

Internet Resources

 

American Memory from the Library of Congress
Growing collection of full-text documents, photographs, movies and sound recordings as cataloged by the Library of Congress. Includes materials from the Continental Congress, the papers of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln,19th century books and periodicals, and September 11th materials, among others.

Collection of topical maps that address territorial expansion, sectional conflict, slavery, and other topics. Also includes important literary and historical texts (many with hypertext links) such as Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, the Lewis and Clark Journals and Parkman's Oregon Trail.

By annotated timeline, this links to significant texts, portraits, lectures, biographies, and more on the lifestyles and rights of women in America from pre-history through the present.

Avalon Project at Yale Law School
Hundreds of original documents drawn from U.S. political legal and diplomatic history, with hypertext links to definitions and related texts.

 

“This site allows you to search and read newspaper pages from 1900-1910 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP)."

 

"Using new technologies to enhance teaching and research" The site uses audio and video in the Multimedia section to educate and explore American History. The site also has primary source documents and modules for teachers to use in the classroom.

 

Documenting the American South (DAS) is a collection of sources on Southern history, literature and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century.

 

For the study of slavery, resistance, and abolition.

  

Series of maps that trace American history through such themes as territorial expansion and slavery. Many require the Shockwave plug-in for interactivity.

 

Adams, John, 1735-1826	United States--Biography
Cold War	United States--Foreign Relations
Civil Rights--United States	United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Great Britain--Colonies--America	United States--History--Colonial Period, ca. 1600-1775
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826	United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
Korean War, 1950-1953	Vietnam War, 1961-1975
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865	Washington, George, 1732-1799
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945	World War, 1914-1918
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919	World War, 1939-1945

Selected Journals

 

American Diplomacy (Online 1996-Present)

American History (Print 3/1/1997-Present, Online 1997-Present)

Church History Online 1994-Present)

Civil War History (Print 06/2002-Present, Online 1997-Present)

Early American Studies (Online 04/01/2007-Present)

Journal of American History (Print 09/01/2009-Present, Online 06/01/1964-Present)

Journal of American Studies (Online 04/01/2001-1 year ago)

Journal of Civil War Era (Begins publication in September, 2011)

Journal of Southern History (Print 2000-Present, Online 1935-Present)

Virginia Magazine of History and Biography (Online 01/01/1994-Present)

 

Research tips

• Search by subject: Once you have located one item in the catalog, you may click on the search term within the record to find other items on the same or similar subjects
• Use JSTOR and ProQuest to locate  articles on a particular subject and eBooks to locate books available electronically.
• If you are unable to locate an item in the PHC online or on-campus collection, you may request resources through Interlibrary loan (ILL).  ILL requests may be made directly into the library database WorldCat.  If you have difficulty requesting an ILL in WorldCat, you may use the form on the website or request assistance from any of the library staff.
• Once you locate an appropriate resource, additional valuable resources may be listed in the item's bibliography.
• Loudoun County Public Library's Purcellville branch is available to students.  The online catalog can be accessed online and a library card obtained with a PHC I.D.

Created: Gladden, 2008.  Revised:  Spinney/Thornhill, 2010, 2011.