UWM Libraries Research and Course Guides: THEATRE 236: Theatre Production &amp; Design: Researching the 19th Century

Multimedia Primary Sources

Visual and oral sources can provide primary source evidence. For example, try searching ArtStor for "day dress," and limiting the date range to 1880-1900.

Artstor
Artstor is a digital library of over 2 million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes. The library is constantly growing with new collections added monthly, continually expanding areas of reference and study. All images are accompanied by comprehensive metadata and are rights-cleared for educational use. Detailed Artstor-produced Library Guides are available as well as a Artstor-produced Library Guide for Copyright and Image Use in the Artstor Digital Library.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (Gale Primary Sources)
Nineteenth Century Collections Online unites multiple, distinct archives into a single resource, including a wide variety of previously unavailable primary sources ranging from books and monographs, newspapers and periodicals, diaries and personal letters, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, and maps. Archival modules 1-12 include: Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange; British Politics and Society; British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture; Children’s Literature and Childhood; Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest; European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection; Mapping the World: Maps and Travel Literature; Photography: The World through the Lens; Religion, Society, Spirituality, and Reform; Science, Technology, and Medicine: 1780-1925 Part I and II; and Women: Transnational Networks.

Digital Public Library of America
Database of digital collections from libraries around the country.

Periodicals

Historical newspapers and periodicals are great resources for finding out about details of a historical period that might not make it into the history books. How did people advertise for a wet nurse? How were early electrical appliances marketed?

Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
The Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers collection contains digital facsimile images of both full pages and clipped articles for hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers and advanced searching capabilities. For each issue, the newspaper is captured from cover-to-cover, providing access to every article, advertisement and illustration.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1999)
The Chicago Tribune (1849-1999) offers full page and article images with searchable full text. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2020) This link opens in a new window
The New York Times (1851-2020) offers full page and article images with searchable full text. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

Other Libraries

When pursuing primary source research, it's often helpful to go to look at digital collections at libraries from the area you're researching, as they will often have the most substantial collections on their area. The collections below might be especially helpful for research on Saratoga Springs.

Skidmore College Archives
The digital collections of Skidmore College, located in Saratoga Springs, include many images related to the town from throughout its history.
New York State Archives
Digitized collections from throughout New York.
Saratoga Springs Public Library
Digitized collections include 19th-century stereoscopic images
New York Public Library Digital Collections
National Libraries of Medicine Digital Collections