Home > Research by Subject > American History and Culture Resources > North America to 1877

Please note that items in bold are described in the Library's online catalog and you will need to review the catalog to obtain the call number of each item. Other items are described in guides in Special Collections and Archives.

I. Introduction to Special Collections and Archives
A. Explanation of Primary and Secondary Sources
II. Manuscript and Archival
A. What is a manuscript?
B. Maps
C. Furman University and Greenville Woman's College
III. Books and Published
A. Public Discourse
B. Travel
1. General
2. Women
3. Canada
C. Baptist
1. Church Records
2. Association Records
3. Missionary Accounts
D. Native Peoples
E. Colonial Records
F. South Carolina
IV. Reference and Main Library Materials
V. Online Resources at Furman
VI. Artifacts
A. Guide to Studying Objects
VII. Websites

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• Richard Furman Collection, 1775-1825
  Correspondence, sermons, address, and written works by Richard Furman as well as biographical information and artifacts. Digital copies of selected Richard Furman materials are found in the Furman Family Collection in the Digicenter.
• Ware Family Collection, 1784-1980
  Thomas Edwin Ware owned and operated Ware Place Plantation and mill and the papers primarily represent his business interests. He was the largest slave owner in the district (Greenville District) and served in the state House of Representatives (1840-1847) and the state Senate (1848-1864).
• Edmund Botsford Family Collection, 1799-1819
  Letters Edmund Botsford wrote to Richard Furman and other ministers, as well as essays, sermons, financial records, and allegories; he was interested in a biracial church.
• Basil Manly, Sr., Papers, 1826-66
  Contains sermons; committed to education, helped found Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• James C. Furman Collection, 1827-1932
  Correspondence, sermons, address, and written works by James C. Furman as well as biographical information and journals. Digital copies of selected James C. Furman materials are found in the Furman Family Collection in the Digicenter.
• James S. Mims Papers, 1835-1854
  Personal correspondence, sermons, lectures, essays, writings; financial records, and reports to Furman University Board of Trustees.
• Samuel McBride Pringle Collection, 1852-1995
  Samuel McBride Pringle's papers consist primarily of correspondence dated from 1859 to 1862 that Pringle sent to his family. There are other documents and materials relating to Pringle and his service during the Civil War. A photograph of Pringle is included, as well as three reports and certificates that relate to Pringle's academic career at Furman University.
• Mary Bridges Barr Family Collection, 1863-1898
  Correspondence between members of Barr/Bridges family, especially women.
• Mary A. Roe Courtship Collection, 1873-1875
  Courtship letters between Mary A. Roe and Luther P. Hawkins from August 12, 1873 to December 3, 1875. The letters contain commentary on events and conditions in Greenville, SC during the late 19th century.

• Map of the World by Viconte di Maiollo, 1527; reproduced in facsimile from photographs obtained by Arthur James Weise in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana of Milan on April, 1903, Call No. G3200 1527.M3 1905
• The English empire in America, Newfound-land, Canada, Hudsons Bay, &c. in plano, Call No. G3320 1713 .M6 ca. 1713
• Southern Provinces of the United States: Drawn and engraved for Thomson's New General Atlas, Features an image entitled "Characteristic Scenery of the Hudson River", 1817, Call No. G3860 1817 .T56
• Greenville District, South Carolina, Surveyed by George Salmon (improved for Mills' Atlas, appears to be a copy), 1825, Call no. G3913.G7 1825 .S25

• Furman University Catalogues beginning in 1826
• Greenville Woman's College catalogues

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• "An oration : delivered at the Charleston orphan-house before the intendant and wardens of the city, the board of commissioners, and a large assemblage of the benefactors to the institution, October the 18th, 1796", Richard Furman, 1796
• "An address to the senior class in Yale-College : delivered in the chapel as a response to the valedictory oration which closed the public performances exhibited by the class after their examination, July 20, 1796", Josiah Stebbins, 1796
• "Speech of the Rev. W.H. Brisbane, lately a slaveholder in South Carolina: Delivered before the Female Anti-Slavery Society of Cincinnati", William Henry Brisbane, 1840

• Nineteenth-Century Travels, Explorations and Empires: Writings from the Era of Imperial Consolidation, 1835-1910, Vol. 2 North America, Edited Susan Schoenbauer, 2003
• Literature of travel and exploration: an Encyclopedia, Jennifer Speake, editor, bibliographies and historiographies
• Return passages: great American travel writing, 1780-1910 Larzer Ziff

• Women Writing Home, 1700-1920 Klaus Stierstorfer, 2006, 6 volume collection of women's letters from across the former British Empire includes USA, and Canada
• Women Adventurers, 1750-1900: A Biographical Dictionary, Mary F. McVicker, 2008

• Voyages from Montreal, on the river St. Laurence, through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans: in the Years 1789 and 1793, Alexander Mackenzie, 1803
• Travels through Canada, and the United States of North America, John Lambert, 1814

• Turkey Creek Baptist Church records, 1785-1909
• Standing Springs Baptist Church, Greenville County records, 1818-1918

• Reedy River Baptist Association minutes and other records, 1826-present
• Charleston Baptist Association minutes and other records, 1775-1910

• Baptist Missions in Western Canada, 1873-1948, Mrs. J. R. McDonald, 1948
• Baptist home missions in North America : including a full report of the proceedings and addresses of the jubilee meeting, and a historical sketch of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, historical tables, etc., 1832-1882, American Baptist Home Mission Society, 1883

• Indian biography: or, An historical account of those individuals who have been distinguished among the North American natives as orators, warriors, statesmen, and other remarkable characters, Benjamin Bussey Thatcher, 1834
• North American Indians; being letters and notes on their manners, customs, and conditions, written during eight years' travel amongst the wildest tribes of Indians in North America, 1832-1839, George Catlin, 1841
• History of the Old Cheraws, Alexander Gregg, 1925

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• Colonial Records of Spanish Florida: Volume I 1550-1557, Jeannette Thurber Connor, 1925
• The Spanish Settlements Within the Present Limits of the United States, volume 1: 1513-1561, Woodbury Lowery, 1901
• The Spanish Settlements Within the Present Limits of the United States, volume 2: Florida, 1562-1574, Woodbury Lowery, 1905

• Narratives of Early Carolina, 1650-1708, ed. J. Franklin Jamison, 1911

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• Historical dictionary of Canada, Barry M. Gough, 1999, Reference Collection, F1026 .G69 1999
• Historical atlas of Canada, Geoffrey J. Matthews, cartographer/designer, 1987, Reference Collection Atlas Stand, 3 volumes, G1116.S1 H5 1987
• Encyclopedia of Mexico: history, society & culture, Michael S. Werner, editor, 1997, Reference Collection, F1210 .E63 1997
• Mexico A-Z: an encyclopedic dictionary of Mexico, George E. Nelson and Mary B. Nelson, 1975 Reference Collection, F1204 .N45
• The Oxford encyclopedia of Mesoamerican cultures: the civilizations of Mexico and Central America , Davíd Carrasco, editor in chief, 2001 Reference Collection, F1218.6.O95 2001
• Historical atlas of the United States: with original maps, Derek Hayes, 2007, Reference Collection, Atlas Stand G1201.S1 H4 2007
• Dictionary of Mexican rulers, 1325-1997, Juana Vázquez-Gómez, 1997, Reference Collection, F1205 .V34 1997
• Historical dictionary of early North America, Cameron B. Wesson, 2005, Reference Collection, E35 .W475 2005
• Encyclopedia of battles in North America, 1517 to 1916, L. Edward Purcell and Sarah J. Purcell, 2000, Reference Collection, E46.5 .P87 2000
• The British Museum encyclopedia of native North America, Rayna Green with Melanie Fernandez, 1999, Reference Collection, E76.2 .G74 1999
• New American world: a documentary history of North America to 1612, David B. Quinn, commentary, 1979, Reference Collection, E101 .N47
• American Indian biographies, Carole Barrett, editor, 2005, Reference Collection, E89 .A46 2005
• The American Colonies and the British Empire, 1607-1783, Steven Sarson, editor, 2010, 4 volumes, Reference Collection, E188 .A43 2011
• A Synoptic Edition of the Log of Columbus's First Voyage, Francesca Lardicci, editor, 1999, Reference Collection, E118 .S96 1999
• Italian reports on America, 1493-1522 : letters, dispatches, and papal bulls, Geoffrey Symcox, editor, 2001, Reference Collection, E112 .I87 2001
• The Mapping of North America, Philip D. Burden, 1996, 2 volumes, Reference Collection, GA401 .B87 1996
• British Immigration to the United States 1776-1914, William E. Van Vugt, editor, 2009, General Collection, E184.B7 B758 2009

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• African American Studies Center A comprehensive collection of scholarship focusing on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture. Includes 7,500 articles. The core content includes Africana, which presents an account of the African and African American experience in five volumes.
• American History and Life Historical coverage of the United States and Canada from over 2000 English language journals
• American Eras Offers essays on events, publications, lifestyles and individuals important to U.S. history. Each chapter focuses on major aspects of the featured era. Each volume contains a chronology of world events that sets a historical framework; a bibliography; an index of photographs; and a subject index.
• American National Biography Online The American National Biography Online offers portraits of more than 18,700 men and women whose lives have shaped the nation.
• American Song American Song is a history database containing 50,000 tracks that allow people to hear and feel the music from America's past. The database includes songs by and about American Indians, miners, immigrants, slaves, children, pioneers, and cowboys. Included in the database are the songs of Civil Rights, political campaigns, Prohibition, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, anti-war protests, and more. This release includes 1,048 albums, equalling 17,940 tracks.
• America's Historical Newspapers America's Historical Newspapers provides access to early American newspapers from 1690 to 1876. Offers 350,000 issues from over 710 historical American newspapers.
• Biography Resource Center
• Cambridge Histories Online The online version of Cambridge Histories offers access to more than 280 volumes covering 15 different academic subjects and supports any type of historical research
• Early English Books Online Contains digital copies of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700
• Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895 Covers major topics such as “Abolitionism,” “Black Nationalism,” the “Dred Scott case,” “Reconstruction,” “Slave Rebellions and Insurrections,” the “Underground Railroad,” and “Voting Rights." But the encyclopedia also contains hundreds of fascinating entries on less obvious subjects, such as the “Black Seafarers,” “Buffalo Soldiers,” the “Catholic Church and African Americans,” “New York African Free Schools,” the “Secret Six,” as well as biographies of historical personalities.
• Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History Provides an accounting of the history of the U.S. economy. Includes essays; Biography; industry and geographic profiles; and definitions covering key events, movements, businesses and topics concerning this important curricular area. Features entries on concepts and terms, entry-specific list of further reading, more than 200 illustrations, a timeline and chronological table of contents and a general alphabetical index.
• History Resource Center
• JSTOR JSTOR provides access to articles from over one thousand academic journals as well as select books. JSTOR goes back to the very first issue of each journal (many of them in the 19th Century), but does not include the most recent five years.
• New York Times Historical 1851-2007 Full Image Searchable full image of every page of the New York Daily Times and New York Times including all advertisements.
• US History in Context US History in Contex has periodicals, newspapers, primary source documents, radio/television transcripts, and streaming audio and video clips.
• World History in Context Collection of reference materials, articles, primary sources, images, maps and charts for the study of world history. Coverage of ancient Europe to Latin America and from the Far East to the Renaissance.

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• Silhouette of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, 1840, PastPerfect L2006.001.02

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• Early Americas Digital Archive A collection of electronic texts originally written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820. Published and supported by the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities at the University of Maryland.
• The Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake Library of Congress site that focuses on Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and naval strategist, who circumnavigated the earth from 1577-1580. The collection includes primary and secondary material about Drake's voyages throughout the Americas.
• The American Memory Map Collection Library of Congress site containing maps and cartographic items from 1500 to the present.
• David Rumsey Historical Map Collection This historical map collection has over 28,000 maps and images with a concentration of 18th and 19th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials.
• American Notes: Travel in America, 1750-1920 Library of Congress site with 253 published sources written by Americans and international visitors sharing their opinions and observations regarding American peoples, places, and society from about 1750 to 1920.
• Cornell University Library Collection Making of America This digital collection contains sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The website provides access to 267 books and over 100,000 journal articles published in the 19th century.
• Harvard University Open Collections Program: Expeditions and Discoveries, Edward Palmer Collecting Trips to Mexico and the Southern United States, 1853–1910 Throughout his life, Edward Palmer (1829–1911) made botanical, zoological, and archaeological collections in the southwestern United States and Mexico.
• Archives Canada is the gateway to archival resources found in over 800 repositories across Canada.
• Archivo General de la Nacion Mexico is the national archives for Mexico. This site is written in Spanish.
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Documenting the American South Documenting the American South is a digital collection containing resources for the study of Southern history, literature and culture.
• Digital Library of Georgia, Southeastern Native American Documents 1730-1842 The Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842, contains approximately 2,000 documents and images relating to the Native American population of the Southeastern United States from the collections of the University of Georgia Libraries, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Library, the Frank H. McClung Museum, the Tennessee State Library and Archives, the Tennessee State Museum and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
• Chronicling America, America's Historical Newspapers Library of Congress site that hosts digitized newspapers from 1836-1922 plus a US Newspaper Directory from 1690 to present
• Historic South Carolina Newspapers
• South Carolina Digital Library The South Carolina Digital Library is a collaborative effort that includes South Carolina’s schools, libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions to create, maintain, and promote digital collections that represent South Carolina's historical and cultural resources
• Aspiration, Acculturation, and Impact: Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, from the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program

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