Skip to Main Content

Burke Memorial Library Blog

New Database: American Historical Periodicals, Series 1-5 from the American Antiquarian Society

by Lauren Jensen on 2019-10-14T08:46:32-05:00 in History: United States, Political Sciences | 0 Comments

Burke Library is excited to announce a new collection of primary source material called the American Historical Periodicals, Series 1-5 from the American Antiquarian Society.  This free collection from Gale focuses on the early material collected by the American Antiquarian Society.

Screenshot of Gale American Historical Periodicals search screen

This unique collection contains primary source material from 1812 onwards.  From Gale, this collection, "Founded in 1812 by Revolutionary War patriot and printer Isaiah Thomas, the American Antiquarian Society is both a learned society and a major independent research library. The AAS has been in existence longer than Library of Congress, and unlike Washington-based archives, it survived the British invasion of 1812. It has the single largest collection of American periodicals of this period. The AAS library today houses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States. The AAS is a growing library collection and continues to seek out and add new material.

American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society provides a history of the American people and a testament to the growth of the nation from the colonial period through to the twentieth century. The periodicals focused on American concerns and were predominantly published in the United States or Canada, though some were published overseas by Americans living abroad. The collection offers multiple perspectives on the thought, culture, and society of North America through the eyes of those who lived it, showing how history affected citizens from all walks of life.

The collection includes unusual and short-lived magazines as well as better-known titles with long runs. Early periodicals in the collection focus on colonial life and the growing tensions between colonists and their oversea rulers leading up to the American Revolution. Common themes depicted in antebellum periodicals reveal a rapidly growing young nation where industrialization, western expansion, and regional political differences were a daily reality for many Americans. The Civil War and Reconstruction eras are well represented, documenting the conflict and its aftermath from a variety of perspectives and allowing readers to bear witness to this pivotal period in American history. Early twentieth century titles document the second Industrial Revolution, immigration, women’s rights, World War I, as well as fashion and music during the Roaring Twenties."

Frequency graph of the word freedom

You can view the full list of publications included in the collection and search in multiple languages of the publications.  The platform allows users to search by term frequency and popularity as well - allowing researchers to visualize data.  Browse through over 6,800 early American publications today!

  • Subscription
New
From the publisher Gale, "American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society provides a history of the American people and a testament to the growth of the nation from the colonial period through to the twentieth century. The periodicals focused on American concerns and were predominantly published in the United States or Canada, though some were published overseas by Americans living abroad. The collection offers multiple perspectives on the thought, culture, and society of North America through the eyes of those who lived it, showing how history affected citizens from all walks of life."
 

 Add a Comment

0 Comments.

  Subscribe



Enter your e-mail address to receive notifications of new posts by e-mail.


  Archive



  Return to Blog
This post is closed for further discussion.

title
Loading...