History 407: Oregon History

The items listed below will help you locate resources to complete your research paper on some aspect of Oregon history. If you have any questions, please contact me:

John Russell
johnruss@uoregon.edu
541-346-2689
 

Oregon Newspapers

• Historic Oregon Newspapers - Free, full-text access to selected pre-1922 Oregon newspapers.
• Finding News Articles: Oregon Indexes
• Oregon Newspapers on Microfilm by city
• Oregon Newspapers on Microfilm by county

Free Online Primary Sources

• Oregon Digital - Access to several digital collections including the Braceros in Oregon photo collection, the Gerald Williams collection, and the Local and Regional Documents Archive.
• Historical Records - A section of the Oregon History Project from the Oregon Historical Society.
• Oregon State Archives - Provides a variety of digital records including local government records, genealogy sources and web exhibits and projects.
• SODA: Southern Oregon Digital Archive - A digital library primarily from the Southern Oregon University Library's collections of federal, state, and county publications concentrating on two collections of regional materials pertaining to the Southern Oregon Bioregion and the First Nations/Tribal Collection.

UO Online Primary Sources

• American West - Online version of the Graff Collection of Western Americana from the Newberry Library. Books, maps, photographs, and some manuscript material (such as diaries).
• Serial Set (Lexis-Nexis Congressional) - Access to not just the U.S. Serial Set, but also Congressional material such as the Congressional Record and Hearings.
• American Periodical Series - Full-text of magazines and journals from 1740-1900 (though there is some content later than 1900).
• Los Angeles Times (1881-1987)
• New York Times (1851 - 3 years ago)

Finding Archival Sources

• Northwest Digital Archives - Search or browse archival collections held by special collections in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, and Montana.
• Oregon Historical County Records Guide - An online guide to help researchers locate historical county records.

Finding Secondary Sources

• America: History and Life - Search for scholarly articles about U.S. History here.
• Oregon Historical Quarterly - The journal of the Oregon Historical Society and an important source of local history. Online access via JSTOR.

Reference Sources

 

Encyclopedia of the American West F591 .E485 1996 Knight Reference (Find it at a library near you)

A four-volume set containing brief articles with suggested reading. Contains lists of biographies by profession, contributors, and alphabetical entries. Also includes maps.

 

Oregon Blue Book (also available in print [call number JK 9031] back to the early 20th Century)

Useful quick reference guide to Oregon people, institutions, and history.

 

Encyclopedia of Oregon F876 .E5 1999 Knight Reference (Find it at a library near you)

A single-volume guide to the history, geography, and government of Oregon. Contains a biographical dictionary of the state governors, a dictionary of places, a guide to historic places, the state constitution, and a quick survey of the geography and history of the state.

 

Dictionary of Oregon History F874 .D53 1989 Knight Reference (Find it at a library near you)

A great resource for finding out about the people, places, and events that have shaped Oregon's history. Particularly noteworthy is that many entries have citations to books or articles for further reading.

Finding Printed Primary Material in the Library Catalog

(what follows is an excerpt from the Research Using Primary Sources guide)

In order to search a library catalog effectively, it is helpful to know something about Library of Congress Subject Headings. LC Subject Headings (LCSH) are standardized terms developed by the Library of Congress to describe materials listed in library catalogs and to make it easier to arrange them by topic.

LCSH terms are not always the first terms that come to mind. For instance, the LC Subject Heading for World War II is 'World War 1939 1945' and the subject heading for the Salem witch trials is 'trials (witchcraft) Massachusetts Salem'. See the Keyword search strategy below for tips on identifying appropriate LC Subject Headings for your search.

Some of the LCSH subheadings that point to primary sources include:

• correspondence
• sources
• pamphlets
• diaries
• early works to 1800
• personal narratives
• interviews
• speeches

Search by Keyword in the library catalog using various terms for your topic paired with the subheadings listed above. This will identify some of the relevant sources available in the UO Libraries or Summit. Note the LC Subject Headings so you can use them to search by Subject to find more information on the same topic.

Search by Author in the catalog to find the writings of a known author or names of groups or organizations. e.g. Fremont, John OR Oregon Pacific Railroad Company.

Note: you can use these search strategies in most library catalogs. You may want to use Open WorldCat as a way to see what academic and public libraries in your area hold.