Armacost Library: HIST 321: U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction: Online Resources

Selected Digital Collections

This is a curated list, there are many collections online. Try adding "site:gov" or "site:edu" to a web search to limit your results to .gov and .edu domains. Many collections are housed in universities and government archives.

Avalon Project
Project at Yale University to provide documents in law, history and diplomacy back to the 18th century and earlier.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
American newspapers from 1756-1963. From the Library of Congress
The Civil War - National Park Service
Includes the Soldiers and Sailors database, stories and photographs of historic people and places.
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877
Features nine collections on Civil War and Reconstruction topics which include links to historic documents
Civil War Military Records
From the U.S. National Archives
Digital History
Digital archives maintained by the University of Houston
Ken Burns' The Civil War - About the Era
Maps, historical documents, and photos used in the Ken Burns PBS documentary The Civil War.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
Slavery, Abolition, Emancipation and Freedom
Essays on the Black experience during the Civil War and Reconstruction with links to digitized documents and books. From Harvard University's CURIOSity Collections.

Images

Civil War Photographs from the National Archives
Civil War photographs from the Matthew B. Brady Collection, the Quartermaster's Department of the Corps of Engineers, and private citizens. Grouped by category.
Library of Congress Digital Collections, Civil War
Digitized U.S. Civil War photographs, prints and drawings compiled by the Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.
Explore History in Art - Smithsonian American Art Museum
Two collections explore historic depictions of the Civil War and Reconstruction through art, media, primary sources, and literature.