MORE LEADS

Informants & Sources

Follow these links and leads to learn more about the unique character and quality of handwritten historical documents.

Online

U.S. History Primary Source
Resources on the Internet
Library of Congress
A series of links to online resources for historical primary source documents of various types, including letters and journals.

Surveyors of the American West:
William H. Jackson, Robert B. Stanton
New York Public Library Digital Collections
The expedition journals of two men who surveyed the Western states in the second half of the 19th century. Jackson's diary is a personal document; Stanton's is a 4-volume field guide.

DoHistory: Martha Ballard Diary
Film Study Center, Harvard University
Award-winning interactive case study, created during filming of A Midwife's Tale, based on the diary of midwife/healer Martha Ballard. The online diary contains nearly 10,000 entries (1785-1812).

Prairie Settlement: 1862-1912
Nebraska Photographs and Family letters
American Memory, Library of Congress
Searchable by topic, correspondent, keyword or date. Features 3,000 glass-plate photo images, 3,000 pages of one family's letters

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Over 2,900 primary historical documents, reflecting attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of an earlier era, gathered by the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940.

The Library of Congress:
Words and Deeds in American History:
Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years
A special display of 90 documents from the 15th century to the 1950s, with descriptions, links to catalog records, and finding aids.

In Print

A Grand Army of Black Men: Letters from African-American Soldiers in the Union Army 1861-1865, Edwin S. Redkey, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Private Pages: Diaries of American Women 1830s-1970s, ed. Penelope Franklin, Ballantine, 1986.

Reading Early American Handwriting, Kip Sperry, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1998.

Understanding Colonial Handwriting, Harriet Stryker-Rodda, Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002.

What Did They Mean by That? A Dictionary of Historical Terms for Genealogists, Paul Drake, Heritage Books, 1998.

Labs

Applied Consumer Services, Inc.
Paint, paper, wood, textile analysis; concrete/stucco analysis; mineral analysis; paint and varnish analysis; material testing.
Hialeah Gardens, FL 800.371.5854

CCI Conservation and Scientific Services
Canadian Heritage
Museum and archeological objects; archival collections. Physical testing; moisture content and strength; paper testing; paper permanency; color measurement.
Ottawa, Ontario 613.998.3721 (ask for Client services)

Chemir Analytical Services
Analysis of ink, coatings, paint, adhesives, other materials. Extensive library of standard spectra of organics and inorganics.
Maryland Heights, MO 314.291.6620; 800.659.7659

Leather Industries Research Laboratories,
Univ. of Cincinnati
Diagnostic and analytical examination of hide, leather; evaluation, testing, diagnosis. State-of-the-art facility commissioned in 2001.
Cincinnati, OH 513.242.6300