History and Political Science

Over 180,000 full-text searchable 18th century books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides, and more, primarily in English, covering all aspects of life and knowledge, including history, geography, arts and literature, law, science, medicine, and the social sciences.

Searchable Associated Press content, including 4.6 million photographs (1826-present) as well as graphics, audio (1920-present), and articles (1997-present).

Describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Detailed descriptions of archival collections, including historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and other materials at thousands of libraries, museums, historical societies, and archives worldwide.

A diverse collection of mostly U.S. primary source and historical materials, including city and business directories for southern states, miscellaneous county & regional histories and atlases, Civil War reports, newspapers, and narratives, the archives of the Federal Writers’ Project (1933-1943), and some Canadian and Irish historical materials.

Atlascope is a tool for exploring historic urban maps in metropolitan Boston and telling stories about how places have changed over time. It currently includes 70 atlases of Boston and its inner suburbs.

Searchable content from WGBH, WCVB, WHDH, and Cambridge Community Television. Coverage: 1960-1999.

Founded in 1923 as Editorial Research Reports, CQ Researcher is noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. Each single-themed, 12,000-word report is researched and written by a seasoned journalist. Includes access to CQ Almanac, which provides authoritative analysis on the major legislation and actions of congress for each year since 1945.

Search across decades of back issues from magazines focusing on political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. Titles include:

• The Nation
• The National Review
• The New Republic

Full-text journal and magazine articles and citations covering the sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature, and other subjects. Coverage:1901-present; most full-text coverage after 1980.

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Full-text news and scholarly journal articles, audiovisual materials, reports, and primary source material covering all academic disciplines.  Includes translation and citation tools and a TopicFinder to expand your research. Coverage: 1980-present.

Full-text journal and magazine articles, newspapers, and audiovisual material covering a diverse set of general interest and academic topics.

Historical newspapers and periodicals, primarily from Britain and the United States, covering the 17^th -21^st centuries.

Access a range of periodical content to explore cultural differences, contributions, and influences in the global community.

Discover content useful for starting a business, marketing a product, developing policy, analyzing trends, and more.

Search scholarly journals, magazines, and reports covering all aspects of past and present military affairs. Updated daily.

Text-only articles (not page reproductions) from national and international newspapers, newswires, and some magazines. Coverage: 1981-present. Local Coverage: Cape Cod Times, Hyannis (09.18.2002-11.05.2014); Christian Science Monitor, Boston (01.08.1998 to present); Jewish Advocate, Boston (08.22.1991-09.25.2020); Telegram & Gazette, Worcester (full coverage: 11.29.2006-05.05.2015; scattered coverage: 02.14.1989-11.28.2006)

Access scholarly journals and magazines that both analyze and contribute to popular culture.

Gain insight into conflicts and their causes, impact, and perception on a global scale.

Cross-search Gale OneFile, Gale In Context, and Gale eBooks. Subjects include: agriculture, biography, business, communications and mass media, criminal justice, culinary arts, diversity studies, economics and theory, environmental studies and policy, fine arts, gardening and horticulture, gender studies, global issues, health and medicine, high school edition, home improvement, hospitality and tourism, information science, insurance and liability, leadership and management, military and intelligence, news, nursing and allied health, opposing viewpoints, physical therapy and sports medicine, pop culture studies, popular magazines, psychology, religion and philosophy, science, U.S. history, war and terrorism, and world history.

Cross-search all Gale databases to which BPL subscribes. Subjects include: agriculture, biography, business, communications and mass media, criminal justice, culinary arts, diversity studies, economics and theory, environmental studies and policy, fine arts, gardening and horticulture, gender studies, global issues, health and medicine, high school edition, home improvement, hospitality and tourism, information science, insurance and liability, leadership and management, military and intelligence, news, nursing and allied health, opposing viewpoints, physical therapy and sports medicine, pop culture studies, popular magazines, psychology, religion and philosophy, science, U.S. history, war and terrorism, and world history.

Encyclopedias and other specialized reference sources covering the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, including medicine, business, law, and more.

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Digitized books, government publications, and other documents from the collections of an international community of research libraries. All material is indexed and searchable, but access to full reproductions is limited to material not under copyright.

Full-text articles from hundreds of scholarly journals from the mid-19^th century to the early 21^st century covering a wide range of subjects, including complete runs of many historical journals. The most recent 3-5 years of current journals are not available in full-text.

Weekly transcripts of BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) radio and television programs, representing the only record of many early broadcasts and including coverage of contemporary events as well as intellectual, literary, and musical topics.

The Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, created in 2004, is a nonprofit organization established as a public-private partnership between the Library and philanthropist Norman Leventhal.

Full-text journal articles in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, including ethnic studies, women’s studies, history, and more. Coverage: 1972-present.

Indexes articles, book reviews, poems, and short stories from general-interest U.S. periodicals, including Time, Newsweek, and Ladies’ Home Journal.

Primary sources on the transatlantic slave trade and the global abolitionist movement, including contemporary books and periodicals, British, Spanish, and American colonial and legal records, manuscripts, correspondence, the papers of abolitionist organizations, and other materials from the collections of research institutions around the world. Includes essays, chronologies, reference and biographical articles, and bibliographies to support and contextualize the primary source material.

Primary and secondary legal and historical materials on the institution of slavery, primarily in the United States and the English-speaking world. Includes every relevant colony, state, and federal statute and all reported state and federal cases on slavery, as well as historical and current periodical articles and commentaries, book reviews, and an extensive bibliography of additional print and electronic sources.

Newspapers, pamphlets, and broadsides gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) representing the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media, containing approximately 1,270 titles from London, the British Isles, and the colonies. Local Coverage: Boston Gazette (1721-1722); New England Courant (1721-1723).

Searchable full-page and article reproductions of newspapers from across the country. Massachusetts Coverage: Boston: Atlas, Congregationalist, Courier, Daily Advertiser, Emancipator & Republican, Investigator, Liberator; Lowell: Lowell Daily Citizen.

American Indian Newspapers is a collection of newspapers, ranging from historic pressings to contemporary periodicals, which together explore nearly 200 years of Indigenous print journalism from the US and Canada.

Searchable full-page and article reproductions back to the first issue on March 4, 1872. Coverage:  Morning Edition only.

Full page reproductions of national and regional newspapers specially selected to best represent nineteenth century Britain, including newspapers that helped lead political or social movements and penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes.

Searchable page reproductions of U.S. newspapers from 1789-1963 and a directory of U.S. newspapers from 1690 to the present.  Produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.

Full-text searchable page reproductions of the leading 19^th century U.S. illustrated journal, browsable by date, subject, and page thumbnails.

Searchable full-page and article reproductions back to the first issue on March 29, 1859.

Searchable full-page and article reproductions back to the May 26, 1905 issue. Published as the Boston Advocate: New England’s Jewish Weekly from 1905-1909.

Searchable full-page and article reproductions back to the first issue on Sept 18, 1851.

Searchable full-page reproductions of historical newspapers, some of which were made from the collections of the Boston Public Library. Boston coverage includes: Boston Globe (morning and evening editions), 1872-1922; Boston Post, 1831-1922. Also includes historical newspapers published in these states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, D.C., New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Searchable page reproductions of Britain’s premier Sunday newspaper, renowned for its investigative journalism and especially valuable for social sciences and humanities research.

Searchable page reproductions of one of the world’s most important and longest-running newspapers.

Partnering with the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), EBSCO provides digital access to a comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912 in fifty subject-based thematic subsets.

This resource features select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history. It is designed to support a wide range of students, as well independent researchers and anyone interested in learning more about the foundation of ongoing racial injustice in the U.S.—and the fights against it.

Searchable page reproductions of U.S. newspapers from 1789-1963 and a directory of U.S. newspapers from 1690 to the present.  Produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.

Containing hearings and committee prints, legislative histories on the landmark legislations, CRS and GAO reports, briefs from major Supreme Court cases, and publications from the Commission on Civil Rights, this database allows users to educate themselves on the ways our civil rights have been strengthened and expanded over time, as well as how these legal protections can go further still.

Full text of the Congressional Record (1873-1997), Congressional Globe (1833-1873), Register of Debates (1824-1837), and Annals of Congress (1789-1824), representing the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress.

Primary source materials, periodical articles, reference works, and multimedia. Over 375 topic pages offer organized collections of resources about people, events, movements, and ideas from the precolonial period to the present.

Included are periodicals, key compiled federal legislative histories, relevant congressional hearings, CRS Reports, Supreme Court briefs, and more. Links to nearly 500 scholarly articles, an extensive bibliography, and a balanced selection of external resources to further research this subject are also provided.

Indexes the 1,118 magazines and journals in the American Periodicals Series, a microfilm set available from the Research Services Department.

Searchable reproductions of 29,000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, and other documents about the Americas, providing original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, westward expansion, Native Americans, military actions, and much more.

The HistoryMakers records and preserves video oral history interviews highlighting the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements.

AtoZ World Food contains traditional recipes and covers food culture for 174 countries of the world in six categories: National Cuisine, Regional Cuisine, Daily Meals, Dining Etiquette, Special Occasion Foods, and Food Trivia.

Searchable article and page reproductions of the world’s most authoritative daily business newspaper.

Primary source materials, periodical articles, reference works, and multimedia. Over 350 topic pages offer organized collections of resources about people, events, civilizations, and ideas from the ancient world to the present.

Over 62,000 searchable books, pamphlets, periodicals, essays, and primary source documents illustrating the development of the economic world system from the 15^th-20^th centuries, including coverage of trade, banking, finance, transportation, manufacturing, political science, history, philosophy, and sociology.