Research Guides: Oregon History: Primary Sources

Oregon Newspapers

These webpages and databases will help you to search and locate historic Oregon newspapers.

Historic Oregon Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Historic Oregon Newspapers provides digitized versions of selected Oregon newspapers published between 1846 and 2017. Approximately 200 newspapers are included in this collection. Dates of coverage vary from newspaper to newspaper.

These databases, catalogs, and webpages provide access to primary source materials useful for the study of Oregon history.

American Memory
A project of the Library of Congress containing millions of digitized, freely available items.

American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and historically significant periodicals, covering 1740-1900.
American West This link opens in a new window
Online access to the Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library.
Contains books, manuscripts, maps, engravings, and many other primary sources related to the U.S. West, covering topics such as Native Americans, the Gold Rush, fiction, outlaws, and conservation.

Historical Records from the Oregon History Project
A selection of primary sources from the Oregon Historical Society's Oregon History Project.

Los Angeles Times (1881-1997) This link opens in a new window
Historical analysis of the development of California and the Pacific Rim with a focus on immigration issues, coverage of the early days of the film industry, and coverage of Native American culture and society.
New York times (digital reproduction, 1851-2015) This link opens in a new window
Digital reproduction of the NY Times, with full page and article images as well as searchable full text back to the first issue.

Oregon Digital
Provides access to several digital collections from the University of Oregon and Oregon State University libraries including the Braceros in Oregon photo collection, the Gerald Williams collection, and the Local and Regional Documents Archive.
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Oregon Digital is undergoing a migration to a new system. The old system is available at http://oregondigital.org/digcol/

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Index to Congressional publications from 1789 to present; includes fulltext hearings from 1824-1979 and fulltext bills & laws from 1789 to the present

Southern Oregon Digital Archives (SODA)
A digital library primarily from the Southern Oregon University Library's collections of federal, state, and county publications concentrating on two collections of regional materials pertaining to the Southern Oregon Bioregion and the First Nations/Tribal Collection.

Women and social movements in the United States 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Primary sources dealing with U.S. women's history from 1600 to 2000

These catalogs and webpages will help you to locate archival and microfilm collections of primary sources on Oregon history.

ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window
Database of archival collection descriptions, including historical documents, personal papers, and family histories around the world

Microfilmed Oregon History Sources in the UO Libraries
A list of microfilmed primary source collections held by the UO Libraries that are relevant to Oregon history.

Archives West This link opens in a new window
Descriptions of primary sources in the Northwestern United States, including correspondence, diaries, or photographs. Digital reproductions of primary sources are available in some cases.

Oregon Historical County Records Guide
This guide includes maps, county and office histories, scenic images and a comprehensive descriptive inventory of selected records for each of Oregon's 36 counties. The inventory listings describe records available to researchers at the State Archives, county offices, local museums and other repositories.
Oregon State Archives
The website of the Oregon State Archives, including information on tracking down both print and digital archival materials from the Oregon state government.