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Nothing in the history of America compares with the Civil War. The very nature of the Civil War lends itself to perpetual fascination. There is an ongoing interest in the Civil War as evidenced by the multitude of publications, exhibits, reenactments, research organizations, internet and multimedia resources, historic parks, and preservation associations focused on the Civil War. Individually and collectively, the publication of these regimental histories and personal narratives constitute a source of great historical value. These first-person accounts, compiled in the postwar period and early 20th Century period, chronicle the highs and lows of army life and battles from 1861 through 1865.

The records of the Board of Foreign Missions (BFM) of the Presbyterian church provide valuable information on social conditions in developing Third World nations and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Among the missions' responsibilities was the establishment of indigenous churches, educational facilities, hospitals, orphanages, and seminaries. The majority of materials is incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters. Other primary sources include diary accounts, sermon manuscripts, receipts of sale, and field accounts.

Between the early 1920s and early 1980s, the Justice Department and its Federal Bureau of Investigation engaged in widespread investigation of those deemed politically suspect. Prominent among the targets of this sometimes coordinated, sometimes independent surveillance were aliens, members of various protest groups, Socialists, Communists, pacifists, militant labor unionists, ethnic or racial nationalists, and outspoken opponents of the policies of the incumbent presidents.

This official statistical source provides rare, detailed data on the German economic situation during the Third Reich up to and throughout World War II. Consisting of Monatliche Nachweise-ber den Auswartigen Handel Deutschlands (January 1933-June 1939); Der Aussenhandel Deutschlands Monatliche Nachweise (July 1939); and Sondernachweis der Aussenhandel Deutschlands (August 1939-1944)

Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) was the ablest Foreign Secretary of the interwar period, earning the Nobel Peace Prize for the signing of the Locarno Treaties in 1925. As a career politician, he held a variety of government offices, and The Papers of Sir Austen Chamberlain contains political papers that variously document his policies as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Commons. These provide insight into the intentions behind his policies, the development of foreign affairs for both the First and Second World Wars, and his role in the wartime coalition government. The papers also include personal correspondence with his family, including his sister and wife, and highlight his close friendship with his stepmother, Mary Endicott.

One of the most influential figures in the American Federation of Labor (AFL), John L. Lewis (1880–1969) rose through the union ranks to become president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW). This FBI file details John L. Lewis's career as a labor leader from the 1920s to the 1950s, with some material dating back to 1909. Much of the file relates to Lewis's tenure as president of the United Mine Workers. The bulk of the file is chronological under one subject heading "civil rights." Also included is an Official and Confidential File report written by Louis Nichols. This file will be of great interest to those researching American labor history.

City directories are among the most comprehensive sources of historical and personal information available. Their emphasis on ordinary people and the common-place event make them important in the study of American history and culture. One of the few means available for researchers to uncover information on specific individuals, these directories provides such information as: Addresses, City and county officers, Heads of families, firms and names of those doing business in the city, Lists of city residents, Occupations, and Street Directories. In addition, researchers can learn much about day-to-day life through analysis of information on churches, public and private schools, benevolent, literary and other associations, and banks. Finally, most directories include advertising, often illustrating the products being sold. This information lends valuable insight into the city’s lifestyles and illustrates popular trends.

The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents. The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Latin America and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

The Community Profiles provide an in-depth analysis of poverty in America by providing an extensive inventory of historical data at a local level. Each profile, composed as a narrative with statistical indices, contains information showing general poverty indicators, size and composition of the poor population, and selected aspects of geography, demography, economy, and social resources. Western states in this collection include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Spiro T. Agnew (1918–1996) was Vice President to Richard Nixon from 1969 until his resignation in 1973 following an investigation on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax fraud. This collection contains the legal documents of the case, the correspondence surrounding the investigation and trial, Agnew's personal records, and related newspaper and magazine articles. Few criminal investigations have ever uncovered such detailed evidence of wrongdoing, with near mathematical precision. These documents are also noteworthy because they detail a most unusual occurrence, in which the second highest official of a government has been investigated, prosecuted and forced from office by the Justice Department of that same administration.

This extensive and carefully preserved archive of the World Peace Movement contains a considerable body of printed matter detailing the activities of War Resisters' International (WRI). The WRI was created in 1921 at a meeting of British, Dutch, German and Austrian pacifists at The Hague. Active in 64 countries, the WRI has been prominent for more than 50 years in opposition to every form of war and organized violence, regardless of the policy objectives of the proponents of war. The collection includes: the minutes of council meetings from 1926, and the executive committee since 1956, together with the international minutes since 1956, as well as WRI pamphlets held in its archive, all its bulletins from 1923, its newsletter, its secretary's report, the file of press releases and its major journal War Resister.

The FBI believed the Republic of New Afrika to be a seditious group and conducted raids on its meetings, which led to violent confrontations, and the arrest and repeated imprisonment of RNA leaders. The group was a target of the COINTELPRO operation by the federal authorities but was also subject to diverse Red Squad activities of Michigan State Police and the Detroit Police Department, among other cities. This collection provides documentation collected by the FBI through intelligence activities, informants, surveillance, and cooperation with local police departments. These documents chronicle the activities of Republic of New Afrika national and local leaders, power struggles within the organization, its growing militancy, and its affiliations with other Black militant organizations.

This digital collection reviews U.S.-China relations in the post-Cold War Era, and analyzes the significance of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, China’s human rights issues, and resumption of World Bank loans to China in July 1990.

The documents in this collection are primarily instructions to and dispatches from U.S. diplomatic and consular staff regarding political, economic, military, social, and other internal correspondences and events in Bulgaria. Documents also include reports and memoranda prepared by the U.S. State Department staff, communications between the State Department and foreign governments, and correspondence with other departments in the U.S. government, private firms, and individuals.

The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents. The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Siam (renamed Thailand in 1948) and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church’s educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina came about as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia. This collection consists of comprehensive materials related to the former Yugoslavia, particularly Bosnia, and U.S. presidential decision-making.

This collection comprises documentation related to the activities of Emiliano Zapata and the Liberation Army of the South. It consists mainly of correspondence exchanged between the headquarters and the camps and regional commands. Documents include requests for economic aid; guarantees to people for jobs and food; complaints of abuses; reports, promotions, and notifications to the troops and brigades, as well as information on pay. The documentation also includes acts or proceedings on revolutionary and civil trials; correspondence with municipal or State authorities in connection with problems of land, water, control of finance, trade, etc.; and, information concerning the revolutionary Convention sovereign.

The America First Committee (AFC), an anti-interventionist group formed in the early 1940s, advocated isolation from the war in Europe, and quickly gained a large following, with more than 800,000 members at its peak. However by 1941 it was increasingly seen as pro-German and anti-Semitic, particularly after a controversial speech by celebrated aviator and AFC supporter Charles Lindbergh. It dissolved shortly after the Pearl Harbor attacks and Hitler's declaration of war on America. This file, which covers the group's activity from 1937 to 1941, contains newspaper accounts, America First literature, speeches, letters, reports, and press releases. The group was investigated for possible communist infiltration.

City directories are among the most comprehensive sources of historical and personal information available. Their emphasis on ordinary people and the common-place event make them important in the study of American history and culture. One of the few means available for researchers to uncover information on specific individuals, these directories provides such information as: Addresses; City and county officers; Heads of families, firms and names of those doing business in the city; Lists of city residents; Occupations; and Street Directories. In addition, researchers can learn much about day-to-day life through analysis of information on churches, public and private schools, benevolent, literary and other associations, and banks. Finally, most directories include advertising, often illustrating the products being sold. This information lends valuable insight into the city’s lifestyles and illustrates popular trends.

A collection comprising land assessment schedules, land lists, land regulations and by-laws, rules on buildings, as well as files relating to public utility services, transportation, and other urban infrastructure and facilities in the Shanghai International Settlement.