Research Guides: History: Find Diaries and Interviews

To find diaries

Do an advanced search in the Davidson Library Catalog.
Add broad keywords related to your topic.
In the second search box, enter "diaries" and change the drop-down menu to "subject."

Notable collections of interviews & oral histories

I Witness
Over 1,000 video testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. From the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation.
Oral Histories of the American South
Digitized versions of 500 oral history interviews drawn from the collection of the Southern Oral History Program. Part of the Documenting the American South, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Guides to diaries: British

And So to Bed: A Bibliography of Diaries Published in English. Patricia Pate Havlice. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1987.
Reference Stacks CT25 .H380 1987
British Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of British Diaries Written Between 1442 and 1942. Comp. William Matthews. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1967.
Reference Stacks Z5305 .G7 M3 1967
British Manuscript Diaries of the Nineteenth Century: An Annotated Listing. John Stuart Batts. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1976.
Reference Stacks Z6611 .B6 B38 1976

Notable collections of diaries: United States

Manuscript Women's Letters & Diaries from the American Antiquarian Society
Digital facsimiles of manuscript letters and diaries written by American women from New England families.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Find women's eyewitness accounts of historical events from 1675- 1950. Women's writings and primary sources.

American Women's Diaries [microfilm]
Location: Microfilm cabinet C-2
Manuscript diaries from the colonial period through the beginning of the twentieth century. In three parts: New England Women (8 diaries), Southern Women (32 diaries), and Western Women (600 diaries).
Guides:
Segment 1, New England Women: REF HQ1418 .G84 1984 Guide
Segment 2, Southern Women: REF HQ1438 .S6 A43 1988 Guide
Segment 3, Western Women: REF HQ1438 .A17 R63 1997

Guides to & bibliographies of diaries: United States

American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of American Diaries Written Prior to the Year 1861. Comp. William Matthews. Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California Press, 1945.
Reference Stacks PE11 .U558 v.16 1945
American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals. 2 vols. Laura Arksey et al. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1983-1985.
Reference Stacks CT214 .A75 1983
Vol. 1: 1492 to 1844
Vol. 2: 1845 to 1980
American Diaries in Manuscript, 1580-1954: A Descriptive Bibliography. William Matthews. Athens, GA: Univ. of Georgia Press, 1974.
Reference Z5305 .U532 1974
And So to Bed: A Bibliography of Diaries Published in English. Patricia Pate Havlice. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1987.
Reference Stacks CT25 .H380 1987
Civil War Diaries and Personal Narratives, 1960-1994: A Selected Bibliography. Comp. Albert E. Smith, Jr. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1998.
Government Information Stacks LC 1.12/2:C 49/2
Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles, 1955-1986. Garold L. Cole. Columbia, SC: Univ. of South Carolina, 1988.
Reference Stacks E601 .C6750 1988
Civil War Eyewitnesses: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles, 1986-1996. Garold L. Cole. Columbia, SC: Univ. of South Carolina Press, 2000.
Reference Stacks E601 .C6760 2000
The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography. David J. Eicher. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1997.
Reference Stacks E468 .E370 1997
Contains entries for correspondence and narratives.
The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women: An Annotated Bibliography. Joyce Goodfriend. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall, 1987.
Reference Stacks CT3260 .G660 1987

More collections with diaries: United States

Library of Congress Digital Collections
A rich collection of primary sources related to U.S. history and culture; materials are drawn from the Library of Congress and other research libraries.

This collection is public domain and are not protected by copyright.
Digital Public Library of America
Contains materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the United States.
Documenting the American South
A collection of primary sources on Southern history, culture, and literature from the colonial period through the early twentieth century. Includes diaries, first-person narratives, literary works, photographs, and other materials.
History Vault: Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War
Covers business records (ledgers, accounting books, receipts, and work rules) and personal papers (diaries, correspondences, and wills) from plantations in the American South.
Part of ProQuest History Vault.

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To find diaries

Notable collections of interviews & oral histories

Guides to diaries: British

Notable collections of diaries: United States

Guides to & bibliographies of diaries: United States

More collections with diaries: United States