United States History

The Archives of Michigan EAD (Encoded Archival Description) Finding Aids site provides access to finding aids or descriptive inventories for archival records and manuscript collections at the Archives. The project is still in infancy, but more finding aids will be added periodically.

This EAD (Encoded Archival Description) Finding Aids site of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University provides access to finding aids for archival records and manuscript collections housed in the library's archives. The Clarke has nearly 5,000 cubic feet of manuscripts and many finding aids.

Please check the CENTRA catalog to view descriptions of numerous manuscript collections whose finding aids have not yet been, but will eventually be, encrypted and available online.

This collection is created from the Library Company of Philadelphia's acclaimed Afro-Americana Collection. When complete, this unique online resource will provide researchers with more than 12,000 printed works. These essential books, pamphlets and broadsides, including many lesser-known imprints, hold an unparalleled record of African American history, literature and culture. This collection spans nearly 400 years, from the early 16th to the early 20th century. Critically important subjects covered include the West's discovery and exploitation of Africa; the rise of slavery in the New World along with the growth and success of abolitionist movements; the development of racial thought and racism; descriptions of African American life -- slave and free -- throughout the Americas; and slavery and race in fiction and drama. Also featured are printed works of African American individuals and organizations. **At present, the online collection is only 8% complete.**

Can be cross-searched by keyword with African American Newspapers, African American Periodicals and other Archive of Americana series, using the Archive of Americana link below.

This is the searchable collection of Saline Valley Farms photographs. Saline Valley Farms was an economic experiment in cooperative living and farming that was developed by Harold Gray in 1932. Detailed in the 150 photographs, the farm was a thriving cooperative that lasted until 1953. The Saline Valley Farms digital project was produced by Saline District Library, Jim Cameron and David Vaughn. Funding was provided by the Carl F. Schrandt Endowment Fund.  Original photographs and cataloging courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library.

The Historic Buildings of Ann Arbor collection includes over 200 images and historical information on houses, churches, commercial, and other local buildings in Ann Arbor. From Historic Buildings, Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Susan Wineberg and Marjorie Reade, c.1992, Ann Arbor Historical Foundation, Ann Arbor Historic District Commission and Cornelia E. Corselius collection, 1909 and undated, Bentley Historical Library.

The Pictorial History of Ann Arbor collection includes over 400 historical images of Ann Arbor from 1824 to 1974, plus searching and browsing access to the text of The Pictorial History of Ann Arbor, 1824-1974, edited by J. Fraser Cocks, III, c.1974, Michigan Historical Collections, The University of Michigan.

Students on Site is designed to use local history and geography as a site of innovative teaching and learning for students and teachers at all three education levels. This archive is a collection of historical and contemporary materials such as maps, photographs, personal letters, and government records.

This is the searchable collection of photographs from the Archives of the Ypsilanti Historical Society. Photographs date from the 1850s to the present. Images included cover people, buildings, homes, events, celebrations and other subjects.

The Atlanta Constitution gives today’s researchers a vivid, first-hand account of one of the most turbulent periods in American history: post-Civil War reconstruction. This is an ideal primary resource for studying the feelings and reactions of Southerners on the passage of the 14th Amendment, the purging of “Rebels” from the legislature, the giving—then denying—of the right to vote to former slaves, and the passing of economic policies that changed the South and the United States forever.

This unique resource also captures the history of commercial giant Coca-Cola® in articles and display advertisements. It follows the development of baseball in America, including the Southern League’s Atlanta Crackers, sometimes called the “Yankees of the south” due to the team’s winning ways. The Atlanta Constitution also gives researchers the opportunity to read the original Uncle Remus stories that featured tricky Brer Rabbit and his foe, Brer Fox. Captured and written by Constitution journalist Joel Chandler Harris, these African folktales later inspired Walt Disney’s Song of the South and Warner Bros. cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

Digital archive of records documenting U.S. and British relations with a variety of Asian Nations. The collection contains U.S. State Department consular and diplomatic records; British Foreign Office political correspondance; missionary correspondance and journals; and socio-economic journals. Collections in the archive include: 

• British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1856-1905
• British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1906-1913: Dominance of the Genro
• British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1914-1923: Emergence of Japan as a Pacific Power
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Amoy, China, 1844-1906
• Despatches from US Consuls in Antung, Manchuria, China, 1904-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Bangkok, Siam, 1856-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies, 1818-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Canton, China, 1790-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chefoo, China, 1863-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chinkiang, China, 1864-1902
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chunking, China, 1896-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Foochow, China, 1849-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hakodate, Japan, 1856-1878
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hangchow, China, 1904-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hankow, China, 1861-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hong Kong, 1844-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Iloilo, Philippine Islands, 1876-1886
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Kanagawa, Japan, 1861-1897
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Macao, China, 1849-1869
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Manila, Philippine Islands, 1817-1899
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Mukden, Manchuria, China, 1904-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Nagasaki, Japan, 1860-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Nanking, China, 1902-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Newchwang, Manchuria, China, 1865-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Ningpo, China, 1853-1896
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Osaka and Hiogo (Kobe), Japan, 1868-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Padang, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies, 1853-1898
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Saigon, Vietnam, 1889-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Seoul, Korea, 1886-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Shanghai, China, 1847-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Singapore, Straits Settlements, 1833-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Swatow, China, 1860-1881
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Tientsin, China, 1868-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Yokohama, Japan, 1897-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Ministers to China, 1843-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Japan, 1855-1906
• Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Korea, 1883-1905
• Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Siam, 1882-1906
• History of the Philippine Insurrection Against the United States, 1899-1903, and Documents Relating to the War Department Project for Publishing of History, 1899-1903
• Minutes of Treaty Conferences between U.S. and Japanese Representatives, and Treaty Drafts, 1872
• Missionary and Socio-Economic Journals
• Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1846-1912 (China, Japan, Korea)
• Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1912-1949 (China, Japan, Korea)
• Notes from the Chinese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1868-1906
• Notes from the Japanese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1858-1906
• Notes from the Korean Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1883-1906
• Notes from the Siamese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1876-1906
• Records Relating to the United States Surveying Expedition to the North Pacific Ocean, 1852-1863.
• Selected Records of the U.S. Consulate in Bangkok, Siam, 1856-1912
• Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in China, 1849-1931
• Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in Japan, 1855-1912