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Gale Primary Sources brings the thoughts, words, and actions of past centuries into the present for a comprehensive research experience. Watch the video to see how we develop partnerships for, curate, digitize, index, and optimize Gale Primary Sources.

With authoritative content and powerful search technologies, this platform has been thoughtfully designed to help students and researchers examine literary, political, and social culture of the last 500 years and develop a more meaningful understanding of how history continues to impact the world today. All of the collections on the Gale Primary Sources platform are meticulously indexed to improve discovery, analysis, and workflow for every user who is looking to push past the traditional boundaries of research.

Through short video clips, discover how the Gale Primary Sources platform unveils new research opportunities and enables unprecedented outcomes.

 

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New Gale Primary Sources Collections:

  • American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society, Part VIII

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    American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society provides a history of the American people and a testament to the growth of the nation from the colonial period through to the twentieth century. Offering multiple perspectives on the thought, culture, and society of North America through the eyes of those who lived it, the collection shows how history affected citizens from all walks of life. The 260 new and gap-fill periodicals in Part VIII cover subject areas such as agriculture, arts and literature, business and commerce, children and young people, entertainment and society, ethnic communities, health and medicine, history, immigration, refugee movements, and religion.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1810–1926 
    Document types: Periodicals
    Source: American Antiquarian Society

  • State Papers Online Colonial: Asia, Part III: Malay States, Malaya, and Straits Settlements

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    These British Colonial Office files, whose scanning benefits from Gale's handwritten text recognition technology document the United Kingdom's administrative history of the region of Singapore and western Malaysia from the early nineteenth century to the 1960s, providing insights into international relations, changing demographics, and the daily life of colonial and native inhabitants. Researchers will find coverage of policing, education, forestry, the rubber industry and Rubber Research Institute, Chinese and Indian immigration health, opium trade, native affairs, political intelligence, and more. These documents also showcase how colonial history continues to influence these now-independent countries through chosen strategic alliances, manners of conduct, and institutional structures today.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1759–1966  
    Document types: Handwritten and typed manuscripts with some printed documents, maps, and plans 
    Source: The National Archives, UK 

  • The American Civil War: The International Context

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    The American Civil War is increasingly considered a major nineteenth century event not just in American history but also in global politics, with ramifications for the future of slavery and ideas of popular, democratic government. The standalone collection The American Civil War: The International Context demonstrates the involvement of European nations in the American Civil War, including their internal discussions, reactions to approaches from Unionists and Confederates, the challenges and advantages the American conflict brought, and its impact on politics and society.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1860–1875  
    Document types: Correspondence, newspapers, commercial and trade papers, manuscripts and personal papers, legal briefs
    Sources: The National Archives, UK; British Library; Library of Congress; Archives Centre, National Museums Liverpool, UK; Somerset Archives, UK; and more 

  • China and the Modern World: Regional China and the West, 1830s–1950s

    A compilation of 39 series of mostly British Foreign Office (FO) files,  this collection includes general correspondence and registers composed by the British legation in Beijing as well as British consulates based in more than 20 Chinese coastal and inland treaty ports. China and the Modern World: Regional China and the West, 1830s–1950s provides a significant compendium of historical documents and forms an ideal complement to Imperial China and the West, Part I and II. Researchers will find valuable insight into Chinese-Western relations primarily  from 1830 to 1950, ranging from diplomacy to trade, economy, law,  and politics.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1830s–1950s   
    Document types: Correspondence, deeds, registers, reports, and photographs 
    Sources: The National Archives, UK   

  • Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection, Part II

    With titles spanning two pivotal centuries, the newspapers and news pamphlets gathered by Reverend Charles Burney (1757–1817) and digitized in Part I represent the largest single collection of seventeenthand eighteenth-century English news media available anywhere. Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection, Part II completes the digitization of the original Burney collection and expands coverage to additional titles and issues contemporaneous with Burney.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 17th and 18th centuries
    Document types: Newspapers and news pamphlets
    Sources: British Library

  • British Library Newspapers, Part VII: Southeast Asia, 1806–1977

    Covering approximately 180 years of history, this latest module in the British Library Newspapers series consists of 36 newspapers and periodicals digitized from the British Library’s abundant Asia, Pacific, and Africa collections, including 15 titles from Malaysia, 6 from Singapore, 10 from Myanmar, and  5 from Thailand. These newspapers and periodicals offer a multifaceted lens through which to examine the region’s history, providing valuable insights into the colonial and postcolonial experience, local political movements, social changes, and everyday life during a crucial period of Southeast Asia’s development.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1806–1977
    Document types: Newspapers and periodicals  
    Source: British Library

  • Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement: Archives of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 1919–1997

    This unique collection covers disaster response and community preparedness in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas  the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) network. Records outline relief services to refugees and displaced persons after major conflicts, aid in the wake of natural disasters,  public health campaigns and medical services following disease outbreaks and epidemics, and more. 

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1919–1997
    Document types: Mission reports, project details, operational files, internal circulars and bulletins, and journals
    Source: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva

  • Chatham House Online Archive, Module 3: 2009–2019

    For over a century, Chatham House, the official address of the  Royal Institute of International Affairs, has been at the heart of international debate. A world-leading think tank offering independent analysis and research on international affairs, it has helped the leading players in international affairs and organizations make informed decisions about national, regional, and global issues. A key component  of this archive is the collection of texts, audio recordings, and transcripts of major figures in global politics speaking at Chatham House from 1920 to the present day.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 2009–2019
    Document types: Speech text and audio and video recordings; expert commentary; the journals International Affairs and The World Today; Chatham House books, reports, briefing papers, and pamphlets
    Source: Chatham House, UK

  • Latino Social and Political Culture and History: Perspectives on the Chicano Movement

    Perspectives on the Chicano Movement is the inaugural collection of the brand-new archive series Latino Social and Political Culture and History. This archive highlights the Chicano/a experience in the United States, focusing on activists such as César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, and other leaders of the Chicano Movement, aka  El Movimiento. It provides unique insights into important organizations and movements, such as the United Farm Workers, efforts toward  land reclamation, and student movements against discrimination  in education.

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1861–2019
    Document types: Organizational papers and records, correspondence, manuscripts and personal papers, letters and newsletters, pamphlets, ephemera
    Sources: Denver Public Library; Hagley Library, Wilmington, DE; Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University 

  • State Papers Online: Nineteenth Century: The State Papers of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII

    Continuing Gale’s relationship with the Royal Archives following State Papers Online: The Stuart and Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle, this latest installment of State Papers Online includes over 800 files of the official papers of Queen Victoria and King Edward VII on subjects relating to The Sovereign as Head of State, including correspondence with prime ministers and other senior ministers on domestic and foreign affairs from 1837 to 1911. The papers serve many topics of current interest, including Queen Victoria’s influence on colonialism, attitudes about race, and the balance of power
    between Britain and Europe as well as King Edward VII’s influence on diplomatic relations and army reform. 

    Key Facts
    Date range: 1837–1911
    Document types: Letters and correspondence
    Source: Royal Archives, Windsor Castle

Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920

With 2.1 million pages of trial transcripts, police and forensic reports, detective novels, newspaper accounts, true crime literature, and related ephemera, this collection presents the broadest and deepest collection of materials supporting the study of nineteenth-century criminal history, law, literature, and justice.

Declassified Documents: Twentieth Century British Intelligence

This collection brings together files from five UK government departments to provide researchers with access to detailed, previously classified information on the intelligence services of Britain and her Empire throughout the twentieth century.

Decolonization: Politics and Independence in Former Colonial and Commonwealth Territories

Crucial to research related to processes and movements of decolonization are the voices of local players who helped forge their country’s new direction. In this collection of firsthand perspectives, researchers can explore decolonization as a historical process in which over 70 countries and territories emerged from colonial or imperial structures into independence.

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library supports comparative approaches to the study of the Middle East and the Muslim world and inspires original research on Islamic religion, history, language, literature, and science.  It is an essential resource for every major library needing Arabic primary source material for research, teaching, and learning.

Public Health Archives: Public Health in Modern America, 1890-1970

Public Health in Modern America, 1890-1970 provides scholars with materials that explore the fight for a national health care plan from the end of the Depression well into the 1960s. Content covers medical economics and sociology, medical care, legislation, and the role of key organizations and individuals. The collection’s documentation of the evolution of public health legislation, policies, and campaigns at local and federal levels supports the examination of our past while considering outcomes for our future.

Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement

With nearly 70 million individuals dislocated by war, famine, and environmental disaster, refugee crises have been, and will continue to be, a highly visible part of our global reality. But understanding and addressing what the future holds requires reckoning with the past. In the series Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement, Gale opens a window into the history of refugees and forced migration so that the thousands of scholars and students who will study—and possibly work with—refugee populations may look profitably to the primary source record of the past to help them navigate the present and the future. 

Religions of America

Religions of America presents scholars and researchers with more than 660,000 pages of content that follow the development of religions and religious movements born in the U.S. from 1820 to 1990. Derived from numerous collections, most notably the American Religions Collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Religions of America traces the history and unique characteristics of movements through manuscripts, pamphlets, newsletters, ephemera, and visuals.

Platform Features & Tools

Term Frequency

Researchers can see the frequency of search terms within sets of content to begin identifying central themes and assessing how individuals, places, events, and ideas interact and develop over time.

Topic Finder

By grouping commonly occurring themes, this tool reveals hidden connections within search terms—helping to shape research by integrating diverse content with relevant information.

Cross-Search Capability

Search across the materials of complementary primary source products, including books, in one united, intuitive environment, enabling innovative new research connections.

Learn more about the Gale Primary Sources Platform »