LibGuides: DP History Research Resources: American Naval History

American Naval History Primary Documents

Primary Sources Tip Sheets

Primary sources can be defined as "those closest, in time or connection, to any subject of investigation." [Richard Maruis, A Short Guide to Writing about History, 8th ed., 2012, p.14]

These include

Letters, diaries, memoirs, speeches, and other first person accounts
Certain government publications, such as Congressional hearings
Official accounts by people in authority, such as reports from the Secretary of the Navy or captain of a ship
Oral histories or interviews
Manuscript collections
Most newspaper or periodical articles from the time of the event
Other material from the time such as photographs or pamphlets

Primary Source Tip Sheets:

World War II Office of Naval Intelligence Combat Narratives (Chronological Order)

World War II Ship War Damage Reports

Full-text Primary Source Document Collections

Declassified Documents Reference System
more...

Digital Librarian: Electronic Texts and Primary Sources

Digital National Security Archive
41 collections of documents on topics like Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, Iran-Contra, terrorism, CIA covert operations, nuclear history, Vietnam, and weapons of mass destruction

more...

Electronic Text Collections (from Hanover College)
The First World War: Personal Experiences
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1861-1960
Foreign Relations of the United States, since 1960
Founders Online
Papers of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison
Fuehrer Conferences on Matters Dealing with the German Navy, 1939-1945
Hanover Historical Texts Project
History Vault: Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975
History Vault: World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes
Intelligence Reports from the National Security Council's Vietnam Information Group, 1967-1975
Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Japan
JFK's Foreign Affairs and International Crises, 1961-1963
Manhattan District History (The Secret History of the Atom Bomb, 36 vols.)
Map Room Files of President Roosevelt, 1939-1945: Naval Operations Files
Nicaragua: Political Instability and U.S. Intervention, 1910-1933
Oral Histories of World War II Online
Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800
Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1942-1945: The Pacific Theater
Records of the Persian Gulf War
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 1: Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Command Histories, 1964-1973
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 2: III Marine Amphibious Force Command Histories, 1964-1971
Records of the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War, Part 3: Divisional Command Histories, 1965-1971
Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources
United States Congressional Serial Set, 1789-1969
U.S. Marine Corps Historical Documents, Orders, and Speeches
U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports from World War II, Pacific Theater. Part 1, CINCPAC: Commander-in-Chief Pacific Area Command
Especially useful for Cape Esperance, Coral Sea, Doolittle Raid, Guadalcanal, Midway, Savo Island, Solomon Island, Tarawa and more
U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports from World War II, Pacific Theater. Part 2, Third Fleet and Third Fleet Carrier Task Forces
Especially useful for Bouganville, Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Okinawa, Peleliu, typhoons and more
U.S. Navy Action and Operational Reports from World War II, Pacific Theater. Part 3, Fifth Fleet and Fifth Fleet Carrier Task Forces
Especially useful for Iwo Jima, kamikaze attacks, Marianas, Okinawa, Philippine Sea, Saipan, Wake Island and more
U.S.S. Pueblo Crisis
War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas
War Plans CINCPAC: Runnng Estimate and Summary, 1941-1945 ("Nimitz Gray Book")
Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890

18th and 19th Century Periodicals

Titles in blue link to some online access.

Appleton's Journal, 1869-1881
Blackwood's Magazine, 1843-1863 online; 1817-1865 in Special Collections; 1866-1908 in bound volumes
Century Magazine, 1881-1899 online; 1881-1930 in bound volumes
De Bows Review, 1846-1869 online; 1850-1880 on microfilm
Gentleman's Magazine, 1731-1750 online;
Harper's Magazine (or Harper's Monthly), 1850-1899 online; 1850 to present in bound volumes
Living Age, 1844-1900 online; 1844-1941 in bound volumes
London & Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, 1832-1840, Special Collections
Munsey's Magazine, 1891-1929, on microfilm
Naval Chronicle, 1799-1818, bound volumes or Special Collections
New Englander, 1843-1892
North American Review, 1815-1900 online; 1815 to present in bound volumes
Overland Monthly, 1868-1900 online; 1868-1935 in bound volumes
Princeton Review, 1830-1882
Scribner's Magazine, 1887-1896 online; 1887-1939 in bound volumes
Scribner's Monthly, 1870-1881
United States Magazine and Democratic Review,1837-1859

Online Primary Source Documents