New York State History a guide to library resources:

Primary Sources for New York History

SELECTED NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER PERIODICALS

• Albany Argus, 1813-1865. (AP2.A27 microfilm)
• Albany Evening Journal, 1830-1865 (AP2.A29 microfilm)
• The New York Herald, 1858-1865 (AP2.N64 microfilm)
• New York Times. 1851-date (AP2.N657 microfilm)
• New York Herald Tribune. 1841-1924 Clarkson Univeristy (Microfilm)
• Harper's Magazine, 1850-date. (AP2.H3 bound)
• The Nation 1868-date (AP2.N2 bound)
• Merchant's Magazine and Commercial Review 1835-1870 microfilm HF1.M5)
• North American Review, 1815-1901 LAC 30273-30400 ultrafiche), 1851- (AP2.N7 bound)
• Vanity Fair, 1913-1936. (AP2.V32 bound) (Index shelved with bound volumes)
• Watertown Daily Times, 1950-date. (AP2.435 microfilm)
• Courier & Freeman (Potsdam) 1861- (AP2.P8526 microfilm)
• Some of these are now digitized in part. See Northern New York Historical Newspapers, below.

Some newspapers of historic interest have been digitized, in whole or in part. See this page for maore information on digitized newspapers. Also see the Checklist of newspapers in microform in the New York State Library (Ref. Z 6945.N63) and Newspapers in microform: U.S. (Ref. Z 6945.N67b). Most communities have had local newspapers, sometimes from very early days. Attempts have been made to locate and preserve these when possible. Use these lists to see what is available.

INDEXES TO EARLY NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS

• Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature (Ref.AI 3.R48) 1890-2001
• New York Times Index (Ref.AI 21.N45) 1851-2003
• Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (Ref. AI 3.P7) 1802-1906
• Northern New York Historical Newspapers
• Other newspapers online

PRIMARY SOURCES VIA BEARCAT - THE ONLINE CATALOG

To find primary sources in the SUNY Potsdam library book collections, search by Subject Heading or Subject Keyword in BearCat. Use terms such as "Sources", "Antiquities", "Description and Travel", among others to identify primary sources. For example: In Subject Heading mode type in:
      New York State History Sources

THE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION (LAC)

The Library of American Civilization is a collection of material on ultramicrofiche relating to all aspects of American life and literature from their beginning up to 1914. The titles in this collection are not found in the online catalog. Use the author, subject and title catalogs (in book form) and the index called a "Biblioguide." Sets of these four books are found near the catalog and on the LAC cabinet in which the collection is stored in the reference area.

THE EVANS COLLECTION

The Charles Evans' American Bibliography (Ref. Z1215.E923), published in 14 voulumes by one energetic researcher and the American Antiquarian Society, is the most important general, annotated list of early American publications. It cites books, pamphlets and periodicals printed in the United States between 1639 and 1800, arranged by year of publication. Each volume has three indexes: author, subject and printers and publishers. The documents are reproduced on microcard.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF MANUSCRIPTS, DIARIES AND OTHER RECORDS:

• Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States. (Ref.CD 3020.D49 1988
• American Diaries; an annotated bibliography of American diaries wirtten prior to the year 1861. 1959 (Ref. Z5305.U5M3 1959)
• Manuscripts for Research. 1974 (Ref. Z1317.N6) - North Country Center for Hist. Res. -SUNY Plattsburgh
• A Guide to the Revolutionary War Manuscripts in the N. Y. State Library. (Ref. Z1238.N49 1976)
• Civil War Records in the New York State Archives. (Ref.CD 3404.N73 1985
• Descriptive Inventory of the New York Collection (Ref. Z1317.G45 1980) - Genealogical Soc.
• Local Records on Microfilm in the New York State Archives. 1979 (Ref.1317.N48)
• New York State Area Key (Ref. F 118.C58) - describes the kinds of resources for the study of family history and genealogy.
• Guide to the Records of the National Archives: northeast region. (Ref.CD 3050.G84 1989)
• A Guide to Records in the N.Y. State Archives. (Ref.CD 3404.N49 1993)

EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY SOURCES

• The Documentary History of the State of New York. (Special Collections F122.D64) 4 Volumes, 1850-51. (Colonial period only)
• Documents relative to the colonial history of the State of New York (Special Collections F122.D66) 15 Volumes, (Library lacks volumes 7-8,14) 1853-87
• Collections of the New York Historical society (F116.N62 and F116.N63). (These collections are listed in the online catalog by individual authors and subjects).
• New York scene; from diaries, notes and correspondence, 1906-1913. 1965 (ND237.S57A2)
• Historical memoirs of William Smith, historian of the Province of New York, member of the Governor's Council and last chief justice of that Province under the Crown. 1956. (F122.S638)
• Other primary sources are added regularly to our U.S.History: Primary Sources web page.

Secondary Sources on New York State History

FINDING BOOKS

  Use BearCat to identify books at SUNY Potsdam. Search by AUTHOR, TITLE, or by either of the SUBJECT search modes.
  Other library catalogs are available through internet connections, including St. Lawrence Univ., the SUNY Union Catalog, the New York State Library (Albany), and many others.
  Very large catalogs such as "WorldCat" and the catalog of the Library of Congress can also be searched. Also, use the bibliographies listed below.

FINDING RECENT PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Use indexes to the contents of historical journals, such as those listed on this page:

• Indexes for History journals

BIBLIOGRAPHIES - TO FIND OLDER BOOKS AND ARTICLES

Bibliographies list publications, sometimes with helpful comments or annotations. They may be broad in scope, or focused on a narrow subject. Bibliographies also appear as parts of many other publications, such as individual books and articles. The bibliographies listed here are in the Reference Area in Crumb Library.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES OF LOCAL HISTORY:

  New York State only:

• New York: a guide to information and reference sources. (Ref F119.A1 L66 1980 w/suppl. 1987)
• Historical materials relating to Northern N. Y.: a union catalog. 1976 (Ref F 127.N9 H66 1976)
• A Guide to local historical material in the libraries of South Central New York State. 1976 (Ref F 119.A1 S58 1976)
• A Bibliography of New York State communities counties, towns, villages. (Ref F 119.A1 N47 1990) annotated, arranged geographically
• Research and Publications in New York State history. 1968-72,1976-80. (Ref F 116.A1 N5)
• Guide to historical resources in St. Lawrence County New York repositories. (Ref F 127.S2G84 1987)
• Reel index to the microfilm collection of New York County and regional histories and atlases. (Ref F 128.3.A1 R44 1977)

  New York and other regions:

• A Bibliography of American County histories (Ref E 180.A1 F54 1985)
• United States local histories in the Library of Congress. 5 Volumes, 1975 (Ref E 180.A1 U59 1975)
• The Bibliographer's manual of American history, containing an account of all state, territory, town and county histories relating to the United States of North America. 5 Volumes 1907-1910 (Ref E 180.A1 B852 1968)

BIBLIOGRAPHIES ON SPECIAL SUBJECTS:

• Official Publications of the State of New York relating to its history as colony and state. 1917 (Ref. Z1009.N56 no. 59)
• New York State and Federal census records; an inventory. 1957 (Ref. Z1009.N56 no.81)
• Constitutional Developments in New York 1777-1958. 1958 (Ref. Z1009.N56 no.82)
• Indian Land Tenure: a bibliographical essay and guides to the literature. 1975 (Ref E 98.L3 S95 1975)
• New York in the American Revolution; a bibliography 1974 (Ref. F128.44.A13 K58 1974)
• Adirondack bibliography; a list of books, pamphlets and periodical articles published through the year 1955. 1958 (Ref. F127.A2 A3 1958 and supplements)
• Adirondack Books, 1966-1992. (Ref. F127.A2 W45 1994)
• A Bibliography of American autobiographies. 1961 (Ref. CT214.A1 K3 1961)
• A Directory of oral history and audiovisual local history resources in public libraries of New York State. (Ref. F119.P3 1985)
• See also the many ethnic bibliographies in Ref E 180s.

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES:

• Writings on American history, 1962-1973: a subject bibliography of books and monographs. (Ref. E171.A1 L331) Works on New York history listed on pages 4545-4626.
• Handbook for Research in American history. (Ref. E178.A1 P78 1994)
• Harvard Guide to American history. (Ref. E156.A1 F77 1974) 2 Volumes, 1974
• Bibliographies in American History:1942-1978: a guide to materials for research (Ref. E156.A1 B39 1982)
• The AHA's Guide to Historical Literature. (Ref. D20.A1 A55 1995) - a massive work

SELECTED REFERENCE TOOLS FOR N. Y. STATE HISTORY

OVERVIEWS:

• Dictionary of American history (Ref. E174 .D52 2003) 7 volumes
• Encyclopedia of New York (Ref. F118.E57 1982)
• The Encyclopedia of New York City (Ref.F 128.3.E75 1995)
• The Oxford Companion to American History (Ref. E174.J6)
• Encyclopedia of American social history. (Ref. HN57 .E58 1993)
• The encyclopedia of American political history. (Ref. E183 .E48 2001)
• Encyclopedia of American history (Ref. E174.5.M847 1976)
• Geography of New York State (F 125.T5)
• History of the State of New York (Ref. F19.N65) 10 Volumes, 1933-37
• The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates. (Ref. E 174.5.C3 1993)

BIOGRAPHY:

• American National Biography - a massive set. (Ref. CT 213 .A68)
• Dictionary of American biography, 24 volumes, 1928-1974 (Ref. E176.D562)
• The National cyclopeidia of American biography, 1898-date. (Ref. E176.N28)
• The New York Times obituaries index, 1858-1976 (Ref. CT213.N47)
• Biography index, 1919-date. (Ref. CT100 .B5)
• Abridged biography and genealogy master index (Ref. CT214.A27)
• Who's who in New York (1904,1924, 1929, 1938, 1952) (Ref. F 118.W62)

ATLASES:

• Historical Atlas of the United States. (Ref.G1201.S1N3 1988 - in atlas case 4)
• Richards atlas of New York State. 1959 (Ref. G1250.R5 1959)
• New York: atlas of historical county boundaries (Ref.G 1251.F7N4)
• Atlas of Early American History; the revolutionary era, 1760-1790. (Ref. G1201.S3A8 1976 - atlas case 4)

STATISTICS:

• New York State population: 1790-1980. (Ref. HA 545.S58 1987)
• New York State statistical yearbook 1967-date. (Ref. HA544.A2)
• Gazetteer of the State of New York... a complete history and description of every county, city, town, village, and locality. 1860. (Ref. F117.F75 1860f)
• Census of the State of New York, for 1835; containing an enumeration of the inhabitants of the state with other statistical information. 1836 Microfilm (XHA2 1835) (Similar census reports exist of 1845, 1855, 1865 and 1875)
• The New York red book. 1898-date. (JK3430.N5)
• Manual for the use of the legislature of the state of New York. 1856-date. (Ref. JK3430.A25)
• The Executive budget. 1935-date. (Ref. HJ11.N7417) latest in Reference
• Historical statistics of the United States. (Ref. HA 202.B87)

DIRECTORIES:

• Industrial Directory of New York State (Ref. HC 107.N7I5)
• Directory of Historical agencies in North America (Ref. E172.D5)
• Museums in New York 1967 (Ref. F128.15.M3)
• A guide to the principal sources for early American history 1600-1800) in the city of New York. ( Ref. E 156.A1 G82 1953)

INTERNET SITES

• New York State Archives: http://www.archives.nysed.gov
• New York State Historical Assoc.: http://www.nysha.org/about/index.htm
• New York History Net
• Primary Sources on U.S. History