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U.S. History Bibliography
Colonial Period to 1900

• Suggestions for Historical Research in Libraries
• Using the UNR Library Catalog to Find Primary and Secondary Sources
• General Reference Works
• Core Journals
• Reference Works by Chronological Period
• Topical Reference Works
• U.S. Government Publications
• Book Reviews
• Information Resources for History
• Connecting to Databases Linked From This Page
   

Suggestions for historical research in libraries:

1. Specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries or other general works may provide useful overviews of the topic, define special terminology, and identify key persons and concepts.
2. Specialized bibliographies listing published works and primary sources about historical periods, topics, and individuals are also often useful.
3. Use the UNR Library Catalog to find books on your topic, and the online indexes to find relevant articles.
4. Use periodical indexes to find articles and book reviews.

 

I. GENERAL REFERENCE WORKS

A. Indexes, bibliographies, and other general works

• America: History & Life. (1954-current) Early volumes duplicated in Reference: Z1236 .A48. The basic, best index to books and articles on American history. Includes article abstracts, index of book reviews, comprehensive index by subject and author.
• Arts and Humanities Search. Volumes for 1977-1986 are titled Arts and Humanities Citation Index & located in Main Reference AI3.A7. Indexes citations to works: what's cited by whom.
• Beers, Bibliographies in American History, 1942-1978: Guide to Materials for Research. REF Z 1236 .A1 .B4 1982
• Dictionary of American History Ref E 174 .D52 1976
• Dissertation Abstracts, 1861-present. Indexes doctoral dissertations and some master's theses from over 550 colleges and universities worldwide. Dissertation abstracts available 1980- present; Master's theses abstracts, 1988- present.
• MLA International Bibliography. The basic index to scholarly work on literature: includes articles, books, collections of essays.
• National Union Catalog of Pre-1956 Imprints. Over 700 volumes listing millions of books printed before 1956. Especially useful for tracking down what someone wrote, or editions of a particular work (it includes every known edition of each work). Z 881 A1 U373
• Oxford English Dictionary. The best source for the cultural and historical origins of words. (Index Table 9) REF PE 1625 .M7 1989
• Prucha, Handbook for Research in American History: A Guide to Bibliographies and Other Reference Tools. Z 1236 .P78 1987

Numerous subject bibliographies, on a wide variety of topics, are shelved in the Z section of the library. Some particularly useful numbers:

• Z 1201-1210 = bibliographies of works on or by Native Americans
• Z 1223 = bibliographies of government documents (also see the Gov. Docs. dept., 2nd floor)
• Z 1224-1234 = bibliographies of works on American literature
• Z 1235-1361 = bibliographies of works on American history
• Z 1361 = bibliographies of works on ethnic groups and African-Americans
• Z 6600-6623 = guides to manuscript collections, including individuals' papers and libraries' mss
• Z 6900s = bibliographies of newspapers and periodicals
• Z 7961-7964 = bibliographies of women's history and women's studies
• Z 8000-8999 = bibliographies of works by and about particular writers

Statistical sources

• Various statistical resources are shelved in reference stacks HA 747 - HA 4727. See also Statistics Sources REF Z 7552 .S84 12th 1989 (2 vols.); and Historical Statistics of the United States, under "primary materials" below.

B. Biographical dictionaries and references

• American National Biography REF CT 213 .A68 1999
• Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography (1988 ed.) REF E 176 .A655
• Biography and Genealogy Master Index, on the Library WEB
• Dictionary of American Biography REF E 176 .D56 (22 vols.)
• National Cyclopedia of American Biography (1898-1984) REF E 176 .N27
• Research Guide to American Biography REF CT 214 .R47 1988
• Researchers Guide to American Genealogy REF CS 47 G73
• Who Was Who (1897-current) REF DA 16.8 .W47
• Who's Who Among Black Americans REF E 185.96 .W52 7th 1992-93

Reference stacks: (various biographical resources) CT 100 - CT 1203; 915.4 - 920.073

 

C. Core journals

• American Historical Review (all but last 5 yrs. covered by online version): covers all areas of history, American and non-American, ancient to modern. Less generally useful for American history than JAH, but occasionally has useful articles. Also a good book-review section. Print copies shelved at 905 .Am3
• American Quarterly: the journal of the American Studies Association; emphasizes interdisciplinary articles and book reviews. Annual abstracts of dissertations in American Studies.
  Click here for online access to issues of American Quarterly from 1949-1995.
  Click here for online access to issues of American Quarterly from 1996 to the present.
  Print copies shelved at AP 2 .A3985
• Civil War History. E 461 .C5
• Eighteenth-Century Studies: journal including work on eighteenth-c Europe and America.
  Click here for online access to issues of Eighteenth-Century Studies from 1967-1995.
  Click here for online access to issues of Eighteenth-Century Studies from 1995 to the present.
  Print copies shelved at NX 452 .E54
• Journal of American History (all but last 5 yrs. covered by online version): the basic quarterly journal on all aspects of American history. Approximately 4-5 articles per issue, occasional "round tables" on selected topics; book reviews; listing of recent articles and dissertations on American history, categorized by subject area. Print copies shelved at 976.05 M691
• Journal of the Early Republic: the most important journal for articles on this period, although not as old as WMQ. Also contains book reviews and listings of recent articles and dissertations on this period, separated by subject area. E 301 .J6
• Reviews in American History: long (4-10pp) reviews of recent works on American history. Particularly good for placing books into historiographical context.
  • Click here for online access to issues of Reviews in American History from 1973-1994.
  • Click here for online access to issues of Reviews in American History from 1998 to the present.
    Print copies shelved at Z 1236 .R4
• William and Mary Quarterly (all but last 5 yrs. covered by online version): the most important journal for articles on this period; also has excellent book-review section.
  Print copies shelved at 973.05 W719 

 

D. Primary source collections and guides to primary sources

• American Literary Manuscripts. Does the same thing as NUCMC, but only for American authors. REF Z 6620 .U5M6 1977
• American Literary Periodicals 1741-1900 (Microfilm S1, S1a, S1b). Contains the full runs of hundreds of American magazines from the colonial period and the early republic. It is indexed by American Literary Periodicals 1741-1900, on the table near the microfilm section. This index identifies the periodicals in the collection, their general contents, and the reels on which they appear--but not the specific contents of the periodicals. Those contents are indexed in the Index to Early American Periodicals. For more information on the periodicals and their publishing, editorial, and cultural histories, see Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines (PN 4877 .M63.1938), and Edward Chielens, American Literary Magazines, listed under literature below.
• Commager, Henry Steele. Documents of American History. Reproduces key historical documents. REF E 173 .C66 1973
• Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States. SPEC COLL CD 3020 .D49 1988
• Early American Imprints 1639-1800 and Early American Imprints, Second Series 1801-1819 (Microprint C2 and C2a). This collection--pre-1800 on "microcards" (the ancestor of microfiche), 1801-1819 on microfiche--includes practically everything published in America up to1819--literature, government publications, schoolbooks, sheet music, etc. It is indexed by several works. The first series (to 1800) is indexed in Charles Evans, American Bibliography (REF Z 1215 .E92), which divides the collection by year. Each volume of Evans has an author, subject, and publisher/printer index in the back. The entire Evans series (16 vols), in turn, is summarized in Shipton and Mooney, The Short-Title Evans (REF Z 1215 .S495). The Second Series (1801-1819) is indexed in Ralph R. Shaw, American Imprints (REF Z 1215 .S48), also by year; this index continues into the 1840s (edited by Richard Shoemaker), for which there are not microcards of the items indexed. Every item in the pre-1800 collection is listed in the UNLV on-line catalog, which you can access through the UNR Universities Libraries web site.
• Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial to 1970 (2 parts). Includes the statistics gathered in the colonial and national censuses and other demographic and economic information. REF HA 202 B87 1976 and BGIC C 3.134/2:H 62/789-970.
• History of Women Microfilm Collection (Microfilm C24). Includes 1248 reels of microfilm on women's history and experience (US and European, in particular). The collection includes thousands of published materials (books, pamphlets, etc.), many from pre-20th century; 31 manuscript collections; and almost three hundred reels of women's magazines. The materials come from the collections of several major research libraries, particularly the Sophia Smith Collection (Smith College) and the Schlesinger Library (Radcliffe College), the two largest collections of material on the history of women. The microfilm collection has an index volume (Microfilm C24 Index), located on the table near the microfilm section.
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (a.k.a. NUCMC). The basic source for manuscript research. Published annually; provides information on manuscripts held by libraries across the US. You can look up the name of the person you're interested in and find out what libraries have letters to and from that person. An index appears every few years. REF Z 6620 .U5 N3.
• Poole's Index to Periodical Literature. Index to articles in American and British periodicals of the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. Not comprehensive, but useful. REF AI3. P7

Newspaper Resources

• The Boston Newsletter and Boston Post Boy, both eighteenth-century newspapers, are available on microcards (same shelves as Early American Imprints). The complete run of the New York Times (1851-present) is available on microfilm, as well as several other newspapers.

     Newspaper indexes include:

• History and Bibliography of American Newspapers 1890
• New York Times Index REF AI 21 N44 (1851-current) INDEX TABLE 3
• New York Times Personal Name Index. Indexes individuals mentioned in the NYT. REF AI 21 .N442
• Union List of Newspapers. Lists all newspapers published, organized geographically.
• Lingenfelter and Gash, The Newspapers of Nevada. An exhaustive bibliography. REF Z 6952 .N49 .L5 1984
   

II. REFERENCE WORKS BY CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD

A. Colonial and Revolutionary periods (c. 1600-1800)

• Ammerman and Morgan, Books about Early America: 2001 Titles. The essential place to start on any topic on American history to about 1815. Well-indexed; gives the most important books on over 50 subject areas (chronological, regional, and topical). Z 1237 .A54 1989
• Blanco, The War of the American Revolution: A Selected Annotated Bibliography of Published Sources. Z 1238 .B55 .1984
• Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. More traditional "encyclopedia": alphabetically organized short entries on people, places, events, etc. REF E 208 .B68
• Cappon, et al., Atlas of Early American History: The Revolutionary Era 1760-1790. Contains maps of military, social, cultural, political events and trends; very comprehensive. REF oversized G 1201 .S3A8 1976
• Cooke, Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies. REF E 45 .E53 1993
• Faragher, ed., The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America. REF E 188 .E63 1990
• Gephart, Revolutionary America, 1763-1789: A Bibliography. Gov't Publications, call number BGIC LC 1.12/2:R 32/4/763-789.
• Greene and Pole, eds., Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. A very useful collection of short articles by historians on many aspects of the Revolution and American society and culture between 1750 and 1800. REF E 208 .B635 1991
• Levernier and Wilmes, American Writers Before 1800 REF PS 185 .A4 (3 vols.)
• Lydon, Struggle for Empire: A Bibliography of the French and Indian War. Z 1237 .L93 1986
   

B. Early national period (c. 1790-1850)

• Fredriksen, Shield of Republic, Sword of Empire: A Bibliography of United States Military Affairs, 1783-1846. UA 23 .F77 1990
• Remini and Miles, The Era of Good Feelings and the Age of Jackson, 1816-1841. Published in 1979, so not extremely current. Z 1240.5 .R45
• Smith, The War of 1812: An Annotated Bibliography. Z 1240 .S65 1985
• Tutorow, The Mexican-American War: An Annotated Bibliography. Z 1241 .T87

Unfortunately, there are few good bibliographies of non-military events for this period--certainly nothing like the Ammerman and Morgan bibliography for America to 1815. Some good overviews of the period, like Charles Sellers's The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America 1815-1846, have useful bibliographical essays at the end.

 

C. Civil War and Reconstruction (c. 1850-1877)

• Boatner, Civil War Dictionary REF E 468 .B7 1988
• Murdock, The Civil War in the North: A Selective Annotated Bibliography. Z 1242 .M87 .1987
• Trefousse, Historical Dictionary of Reconstruction REF E 668 .T66 1991
   

D. Gilded Age and late 19th century (c. 1870-1900)

There's really nothing on this period to compare with what exists for the others--probably because there was no major war in these years. As with the Jacksonian era, the best approach would be to scan the bibliography of a recent secondary work that surveys the field.

 

III. TOPICAL REFERENCE WORKS

A. History of Women

History of Women documentary collection (Microfilm C24)--see above in "primary sources." A huge microfilm collection of sources related to the history of women, not just in America but world-wide. An index to the materials in the collection is on the microfilm index table: REF Microfilm C24 Index. Every item in the collection is catalogued in the UNR Library Catalog.

• Ireland, Index to Women of the World from Ancient to Modern Times. REF Z 7963 B6 I73
• James, Notable American Women. The basic biographical source for American women's history. REF CT 3260 N57
• Mainiero, American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present. REF PS 147 .A4
• Uglow and Hinton, International Dictionary of Women's Biography. (last 2 centuries) REF CT 3202 .I57 1982

B. History of African-Americans

• Bell & Howell, Black Culture Collection (Microfilm C10) Like the History of Women collection, this is a remarkable collection of source materials. A guide is on the Microfilm Index Table: it includes a 2-volume subject index, an author/title index, and a title index.
• Hornsby, Chronology of African-American History REF E 185 .H64 1991
• Index to Periodical Articles by and About Blacks (1960-1987) REF AI 3 O4
• Rodriguez, Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery REF HT 861 .H57 1997
• Work, Bibliography of the Negro in Africa and America REF Z 1361 N39 W8 1965

C. History of Native Americans

• Biographical Dictionary of Indians of the Americas REF E 89 .B5
• Encyclopedia of Native American Religions REF E 98 .R3 H73 1992
• Ethnographic Bibliography of North America REF Z 1209 .M8
• Handbook of Middle American Indians REF F 1434 H3 (16 vols.)
• Index to Literature on the American Indian REF Z 1209 I53

D. Miscellaneous Ethnic History

• Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups REF E 184 .A1 H35
• "Oceana" ethnic groups series (red books) REF E 184 ...(many vols.), including The Filipinos in America 1898-1974; The Portuguese in America 590 B.C.-1974; etc. Reference stacks: (various ethnic resources) E 76-E 89; Z 1209; Z 1236-Z 1621; Z 3001-Z 3503 (Asia and Africa)
• Dictionary of Mexican American History REF E 184 .M5 M453

E. American Regional and Nevada History

• Reader's Encyclopedia of the American West REF F 591 .R38
• Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography REF F 596 .T515 1990
• Encyclopedia of Southern History REF F 207.7 .E52
• Steiner and Mondale, Region and Regionalism in the United States E 179.5 .S75 1988
• Paher, Nevada: An Annotated Bibliography. In the Special Collections Department.

Two other places to find a wealth of material, especially primary source material: the Special Collections Department at Getchell Library, which has finding aids and materials related to manuscripts, photographs, and books on Nevada and the Western United States; and the Nevada Historical Society, located on campus just north of the planetarium, which has extensive collections of manuscripts and finding aids.

F. American Religious and Intellectual History

• Ahlstrom, A Religious History of the American People. A good overview of American religious history. BR 515 .A4 1972
• Encyclopedia of American Religions REF BL 31 .M4 1987
• Encyclopedia of American Religious Experience REF BL 2525 .E53 1988
• Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols REF GR 35 J6
• Dictionary of Non-Christian Religions REF BL 31 P36
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas REF CB 5 D52 (5 vols.)

G. American Literature

• Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB). Each volume covers a different genre (for example, "American Historians before 1865"), and includes biographical essays on the authors, along with select bibliographies of the authors' work and scholarly work about the author. PS 129 (many volumes)
• Wright, American Fiction. Compiled in the 1940s, this index and microfilm collection include a huge percentage of the novels written in the nineteenth century, most of them quite obscure. Z 1231 (3 volumes + microfilm set)
• Bibliography of American Literature (BAL). Bibliography of the works of several hundred American authors. REF Z 1225 B55 (8 vols.)
• Useful journals include American Literature, American Literary History, and Early American Literature (on pre-1800 American lit).
• Chielens, American Literary Magazines: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. PS 201 .A45 1986
• Bibliography of Bibliographies in American Literature
• Kelly, Children's Periodicals of the United States REF PN 4878 .C48 1984
• Leary, Articles on American Literature (1900-1975) 3 vols. Lists articles on major American authors. REF Z 1225 .1489
• Nineteenth Century American Drama: A Finding Guide REF PS 632 .H57
• Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism REF PN 761 .N5

H. American Art, Music, Architecture, etc.

• Art Abstracts (1929-current). The basic resource for finding articles, books, etc. written on art of all nations and periods. Indexed by subject and artist. Index Table 10 (1929-current) REF Z 5937 A78
• Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians REF ML 100 .N48 (20 vols.)
• New Grove Dictionary of American Music REF ML 101 .U6 N48 1986
• New Grove Dictionary of Jazz REF ML 102 .J3 N48 1988
• New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860 REF N 6536 .N4
• Who Was Who in American Art REF N 6512 .F26 1985
• Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art
• American Painting REF Z 5956
• American Sculpture REF Z 5954 .U5 E37

 

IV. INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR HISTORY

This library web page provides access to subscription databases such as America: History & Life, Biography and Genealogy Master Index, the American Periodicals Series, HarpWeek, PAIS Archive, a growing list of electronic journals and freely available web sites related to historical study. Links are also included to web-based syllabi for some UNR History courses.

World Wide Web Access has replaced most history-related CD-ROM databases in the UNR Libraries. A great deal of literature searching is possible using these online sources, and several full text primary sources are available, including HarpWeek and Global Newsbank. Although increasing numbers of sources are available online, it is still necessary for one to use printed bibliographies, reference works and microform collections (like those listed in the first parts of this bibliography) to do competent and thorough historical research.

 

V. USING THE LIBRARY CATALOG TO FIND PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

From the UNR Library's Main Menu, select Library Catalog

The Library Catalog provides information about books, magazine and journal titles, audiovisual materials, and some government publications held by the UNR Libraries and other college libraries in northern Nevada.

• For subject searching in the Library Catalog, the most effective options are:
   
  • Subject
    • (search words in title, name & subject fields by typing any combination of keywords or constructing a Boolean search statement)
       
  • Library of Congress Subject Headings
    • Searching by Library of Congress Subject Headings is often more precise
      and may yield more relevant information than does Subject searching.
      Below are examples of recommended LC subject headings that will
      retrieve information about documentary source collections: 
       
      • Slavery--United States--History--Sources
      • United States --History --Sources
      • United States --Territorial expansion
      • Women--United States--History--Sources
         
• Searching by personal names:
   
  • You may use the Catalog’s Author Search to find an author's collected writings, or search a person's name as a Library of Congress Subject Heading to locate books about the individual. Some examples are given below:
     
  • Library of Congress Subject Heading Search:
     
    • Douglass, Frederick, 1817-1895
    • Subject subheadings for information about Douglass include
      • Childhood and Youth, Oratory, and Views on the Civil War
         
  • Author Search:
     
    • Grimke, Angelina Emily, 1805-1879

A search in the Catalog normally results in a list of titles, authors or subject headings. Choose the most relevant entries and display the information for individual titles. Carefully check the Location information for each title you want, since the collections are housed in several different libraries, departments, and branches. Likewise, check the Status of each item to determine its current availability.

Note: The Catalog does not provide information about articles in magazines and journals, or most government publications held by the participating libraries.

 

VI. BOOK REVIEWS (also see section on CORE JOURNALS)

• America: History and Life. Online
• Book Review Digest. REFERENCE INDEX TABLES
• Book Review Index. REFERENCE INDEX TABLES
• Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974. REFERENCE INDEX TABLES
• Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities. REFERENCE INDEX TABLES
• Reviews in American History. MAIN Z1236 .R4 1973-present
       Click here for information about online versions of Reviews in American History.

 

VII. U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS: INDEXES & PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTIONS

(Check U.S. Federal publications collection for holdings)

• LexisNexis Congressional
  • Index to U.S. Congressional publications; text of bills, laws, regulations, Congressional testimony and publications; legislative histories; members and committees of Congress. 1789 - present
• Cumulative Title Index to U.S. Public Documents, 1789-1976.
  • BGIC Index Table 2
• GPO Monthly Catalog (Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications)
  • Index to publications of federal agencies, 1976-present.
• Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
  • BGIC Reference Area
  • Index to federal government publications since 1885.
• U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings, 1833-1969
  • Index and microfiche collection
• U.S. Congressional Committee Prints (through 1969)
  • Index and microfiche collection
• U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909
  • Index and microfiche collection
• U.S. Serial Set Index, 1789-1969
  • BGIC Index Table 1
  • Index and microfiche collection of many congressional documents.
  • Also useful is the companion Index and Cartobibliography of Maps
  • Published in the U.S. Serial Set, 1789-1897.
• U.S. Government Periodicals Index
  • BGIC CD-ROMs (requires Citrix ICA plug-in)
    Unpublished U.S. House of Representatives Committee Hearings, 1833-1954
  • Index and microfiche collection
  • Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings, 1823-1972
  • Index and microfiche collection

 

VIII. CONNECTING TO DATABASES LINKED FROM THIS PAGE

UNR's Library Catalog is freely available on the World Wide Web and requires no user login or authentication. You may connect to the UNR Library Catalog from any Web-enabled computer workstation.

America: History & Life, Dissertation Abstracts, MLA Bibliography, electronic journals, and other sources linked from this page are accessed via subscriptions from commercial database providers. These services are available at Web-enabled computer workstations on the University of Nevada, Reno campus and off-campus to UNR students, faculty & staff with a current library card (with the exception that some electronic journals may not be accessible from workstations off campus). Instructions for Off-campus access