ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOG
 

The online catalog can be used to find books, government documents, juvenile books and reference books on a topic. To find books first select a search index, such as author, subject, or title, and then type in the search word(s) in the box, as illustrated below:

There are many history books in the library. Some are secondary sources (someone writing about a historical event or person after the event or after the person lived), and some are primary sources. Primary sources are reports of an event written at the time of the event. Primary sources can be newspaper stories, diaries, journals, other official correspondence, speeches, and personal narratives of an event.
 
 

STATISTICAL SOURCES

R 317.3 D66h	Historical Statistics of the States of the United States: Two Centuries of the Census, 1790-1990 Contains state level data on population, agriculture, and manufacturing for two hundred years.
R 317.3 Un3Hi	Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.  2 Volumes. Contains statistics on population, migration and immigration, labor, national income and wealth, government, education, transportation, farms, family income, crime and corrections, religious affiliation, recreation, and other subjects.

 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND DICTIONARIES
 
 

R 973 Am7a	The Annals of America. 21 Volumes. Reproduces documents and writings written at or near the time an event occurred in American History. Very useful to get a "now" perspective of an event or issue as it was occurring. The volumes of use to the frontier: Vol. 9: The Crisis of Union, 1858-1865 Vol. 10: Reconstruction and Industrialization, 1865-1883 Vol 11: Agrarianism and Urbanization, 1884-1894
R 973.0495 R25	Reference Library of Asian America The first volume of this three volume set discusses the history, religion, assimilation family life and more of several Asian peoples: Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hmong, Asian Indians, Indonesians, Japanese, Koreans, Laotians, Nepalis, Pakistanis, Thais, Vietnamese and Asians living in the Pacific Islands. The second and third volumes discuss issues such as immigration, civil rights, education, Asian Americans in the workplace, and more.
R 973.004956 EN1N	Encyclopedia of Japanese American History This one volume resource consists of three major parts:  a narrative historical overview, a chronology of Japanese American history and encyclopedia entries pertaining to the history of Japanese Americans.
R 973.03 D56	Dictionary of American History. 8 Volumes plus 2 supplements. Provides brief articles on historical events and terms in politics, economics, law, military battles and organization, science and technology, the arts.
R 973.0496 En1	Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History This five volume set contains information on African-American history and culture from 1619 to the present. There are 2,200 entries in this set, of which two-thirds are biographies. The other third are articles dealing with events, historical eras, legal cases, areas of cultural achievement, professions, sports, and places.
R 973.00496073 G 22a	The African-American Century:  How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country This resource contains short biographies of people of African descent in the United States of American that have had repercussions around the world.
R 973.089 Af8e6	The African-American Almanac Information in this resource contains chapter essays focusing on historical developments or the contributions of African Americans to the specific subject area.
R 973.0468 H62	The Hispanic-American Almanac This reference source contains information about a broad range of important aspects of Hispanic life and culture in the United States.
R 973.04H26	Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups The ethnic groups presented here are characterized by some of the following features:  common geographic origin; race; religious faith or faiths; literature; food; settlement patterns; shared traditions, values and symbols.
R 301.0973 En3	The Encyclopedia of Social History Contains essays on the major issues that have dominated historical writing in the past thirty to forty years. The three volume set is divided into fourteen parts:   Part 1: Periods of Social Change--contains essays on the major periods of social change Part 2: Methods & Contexts--Methods historians use Part 3: Construction of Social Identity-- such as race, ethnicity, social class, gender Part 4: Process of Social Change--such a war, immigration and urbanization Part 5: Ethnic and Racial Subcultures-- such as American Indians, Dutch, Germans, Jews, Irish Catholics, Antebellum African American Culture. Part 6: Regional subcultures--such as the Ohio Valley, Appalachia, the Deep South and the Mountain West. Part 7: Space & Place--essays on the different types of physical space, such as the frontier, the plantation, rural life in the North and South, the village and town, the city. Part 8: Patterns of Everyday Life-- such as food, manners & etiquette, clothing and personal adornment, housing Part 9: Work and Labor--such as slavery, business culture, women and work, minorities and work, labor in different eras of history Part 10: Popular Culture and Recreation--such as travel, nightlife, popular literature, music, sports, parades, holidays Part 11: Family History--such as gender roles, courtship and marriage, children Part 12: Social Problems, Social Control and Social Protest--such as crime and punishment, racism, prostitution, alcoholism Part 13: Science, Medicine & Technology--such as health care, public health communications transportation Part 14: Education and Literacy -- such as Public education, print and printing and literacy
R 973.03En1c	Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History This reference is an attempt to comprehend the ever-changing character and rich variety of American thought and expression.
R 973.003En1K	Encyclopedia of American Studies American Studies encompasses a vast range of disciplines which describe the transnational, global perspective of American culture.
R 973.03 W19h	War and American Popular Culture This reference examines the most significant representations in popular culture that deal with this nation's various wars.
R 973.8 G13g	The Gay Nineties in America:  A Cultural Dictionary of the 1980's This resource offers a thoughtful understanding of the excitement and ferment of the 1890's in America.
R 973.03 OL8e	Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in America The body of this work consists of entries on important individuals, technologies, inventions, court cases, companies, natural resources, political and legal institutions, social and political movements, economic events and legislation.
R 973.009173403En1g	Encyclopedia of Rural America:  The Land and People This reference is dedicated to the land and its people.  Each article begins with a concise definition of the term and is followed with an article abstract or overview.
R 973.46 L93r	The Louisiana Purchase: A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia This reference contains a articles on different aspects of the Louisiana Purchase, including animals found there, different forts, important people, Indian tribes residing on the land of Louisiana, a chronology of important dates in the area known as the Louisiana Purchase, and important documents.
R 973.62 Un3f	The United States and Mexico At War:  Nineteenth-Century Expansionism and Conflict This reference contains a inclusive and balanced perspective of the events from 1821 to 1854.
R 973.703 En1H	Encyclopedia of the American Civil War:  A Political, Social and Military History More than 1,600 essays describe and explain a myriad of aspects that cover the coming of the war, its conduct, and its consequences in a political, military and social context.
R 973.73 B32m	Battle Chronicles of the Civil War This resource is a multi-volume chronological history of the Civil War that Focuses on the military campaigns.
NA R 355.020899703 K25e	Encyclopedia of American Wars, 1492-1890 This book contains all skirmishers, battles, massacres, and wars that occurred between the Native Americans and the Europeans in America. It also contains biographies on major players in these battles, and important meetings and treaties between Native Americans and the Europeans. The arrangement is alphabetical.
R 920.078 T41e	Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography People included in this compendium include people who came to attention through the significance of their deeds of simply were of interest in some connection with the evolving drama of the American frontier.
R 978 En1	Encyclopedia of the American West This reference covers the history of all of the states west of the Mississippi, including Alaska and Hawaii and excepting Louisiana. This encyclopedia focuses on the people and peoples of the American west from the early Spanish period of the 1500's to the early twentieth century. It discusses the important major cities of the region, the economic realities and major industries that were formed in the West, and conflicts of the west.
R 923.64 En1	Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen and Outlaws This reference contains brief biographical sketches of the men and women of the Old West.
R 923.55 On1	On the Trail of the Buffalo Soldier : Biographies of African Americans in the U.S. Army, 1966 - 1917 This reference represents a starting point for biographical research on a little-known group that contributed significantly to the nation's development.
R 973.0321 H35h	Handbook of the American Frontier:  Four Centuries of Indian-White Relationships This reference contains such topics as American Indian tribes, Indian leaders, frontier settlers, captives, explorers, missionaries and mountain men.  The scope if from the time of earliest contact into the twentieth century.
R 973.503 En1f	Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century The nineteenth century is characterized by vast territorial expansion, great changes and the national civil war.  This reference covers the issues and ideas of the nineteenth century.
R 973.003 En1	Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century This reference covers the political, economic, social, cultural and technological developments of the twentieth century.
R 973.910321 H62	Historical Dictionary of the Progressive Era, 1890-1920 The purpose of this reference is to provide basic factual information concerning the most important people, events, organizations, legislation and concepts of the Progressive Era.  It aims to assess briefly each topic's historical importance in the overall scheme of this era.
R 973.91 OL8h	Historical Dictionary of the 1920's:  From World War I to the New Deal, 1919-1933 This reference provides brief essays on the most prominent individuals, social movements, organizations, legislation, treaties, political events and ideas of the era.
R 973.917 H62	Historical Dictionary of the New Deal:  From Inauguration to Preparation for War The major focus of this reference is on the domestic policy between 1933 and 1940.
R 338.709	Encyclopedia of Business History and Biography This is a history of the impact of business on American life. Each major industry is covered in one or two volumes. There are histories of the banking industry, aviation industry, automobile industry, iron and steel industry, and the railroad industry. For each industry covered, there are articles on the important businessmen, companies, inventions, legal decisions, and marketing innovations.

920.07 D56o	Dictionary of American Biography This is one of the main reference works on biographies of Americans. Contains more than 19,000 biographies of prominent Americans who died before 1980. The last volume is a comprehensive index that is divided into several sections: index by subject, birthplace, school or college attended and occupations.
R 920.073 N21c	The National Cyclopedia of American Biography This large set was begun in 1891 and continued until the 76th one was published in 1984, and contains over 66,000 biographies. Most of the volumes are green, but the last volume, which is an index to the entire set, is brown.
R 920.073 W62wa	Who Was Who in America This set contains short biographies on 122,000 persons who died before 1993.
R 970.00497	Who Was Who in Native American History This volume has biographical articles on important Native Americans and non-Indians that are important in Native American history. It covers from earliest European contacts with Native Americans to about 1900.
R920.72 N84A	Notable American Women Contains biographies of important women in American history from 1607 to 1975.

ATLASES
 

R 911.73 Ap1a	Atlas of American History. Contains maps that cover the places where American history occurred.
R 911.776 M83h3	Historical Atlas of Oklahoma.
R 911.764 St4h	Historical Atlas of Texas.
R 911.781 So1h	Historical Atlas of Kansas.
R 911.778 R12h	Historical Atlas of Missouri.
R 911.789 B38h	Historical Atlas of New Mexico.
R 911.791 W15h	Historical Atlas of Arizona.
R 911.78 B38h	Historical Atlas of the American West Contains maps and discussion of the seventeen western States, from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas to the Pacific States of California, Oregon and Washington.
R 912.7 P95a	Atlas of American Indian Affairs Contains graphical statistical information on the Indian Population, Indian Land cessions, Indian Reservations, Indian Agencies, schools and hospitals. There are also maps of that illustrate U.S. Army and the Indian Frontier.
R 970.00468 OC3A	Atlas of Hispanic-American History Through the use of maps, charts and other illustrations, the story of Hispanic America proceeds in these pages from detailing the Spanish, African and Native American roots of today's Hispanic-American cultures.
R 911.7 G55a	Atlas of North American Exploration Contains maps and text of explorers of North America, beginning with the Atlantic Coast and spreading west, and ending with the exploration of the far Northern part of North America.
Atlas Stand 1 Shelf 1	Rand McNally's Pioneer Atlas of the American West This atlas contains reproductions of maps from the 1876 first edition of Rand, McNally & Co.'s Business Atlas of the Great Mississippi Valley and Pacific Slope.

  OTHER SOURCES SHELVED IN NON-REFERENCE AREAS (examples)
 

353.03 R39c	A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897. 10 Volumes. A ten-volume set of selected public messages, executive orders, and other papers, ending with papers of Theodore Roosevelt. James D. Richardson, a member of the U. S. Congress from Tennessee in the late 1800's, was the compiler. His preface to each volume gives a survey of the contents. Example: Vol. 3 contains papers of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
973.9 SL5g	Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America This is a fascinating study on the effect the frontier has had on current thinking in the United States. It discusses the frontier mentality in the Progressive Era, the advent of movie westerns, the western and the cold war, and more.
973.9 SL5g	The Significance of the Frontier in American History This is Frederick Jackson Turners famous frontier thesis, which catapulted him to fame, and says that the frontier has always been a defining aspect of the American character. There are other works that try to discuss the meaning of the frontier thesis: Richard Hofstadter's Turner and the Sociology of the Frontier (1970), and George Rogers Taylor's The Turner Thesis Concerning the Role of the Frontier in American History. (1972)
978 R67wi	The Winning of the West This is Theodore Roosevelt's version of the History of the American West, and as the title suggests, favorable to the European and american over the natives.
970.5 J13c	A Century of Dishonor: The Early Crusade for Indian reform. This book was written by reformer Helen Hunt Jackson in 1881. She wrote it to protest the mistreatment of the Indians by the government, and Indian policy. This book can be seen as either a primary or secondary source, depending on your topic.
NA 970 B22w	Bancroft's Works. This is a 39 volume set of the works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, a successful San Francisco businessman, who turned historian, and produced histories of Central America, Mexico, California, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Northwest Coast, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and Alaska. He employed as many as 50 researchers at a time to do the research for his works. He published all of them in the period between 1884 and 1890. He sold the entire set as a collection called Bancroft's Works. The Encyclopedia of the American West says that "[Bancroft's Works] ... have influenced all subsequent study of the West." There is much in these volumes about Native North Americans. (information on Bancroft found in American National Biography, Volume 2 p99-100
NA 970 B22w	The Winning of the West This is Theodore Roosevelt's version of the History of the American West, and as the title suggests, favorable to the European and american over the natives.
2nd floor	The Old West Series This is a series of books published by Time-Life Books on different aspects of the American West. 978 T48e The End and the Myth 364.172 T48g The Gamblers 973.623 T48m The Mexican War 978.02 T48s The Scouts 301.412 T48w The Women 971 T48c The Canadians 979.8 T48a The Alaskans 978.02 T48r The Ranchers 978.02 T48f The Frontiersmen 338.47674 T48l The Loggers 979 T48s The Spanish West 978 TIM (Ard) The Miners 978.02 T48c The Chroniclers 976.4 T48t The Texans NA 970.00497 T48g The Great Chiefs 978.02 T48t The Townsmen 978 TIM (Ard) The Rivermen 978 TIM The Soldiers 978 T48p The Pioneers 388.324 T48e The Expressmen 385.0978 R13t The Railroaders NA 970.1 IN2t The Indians 917.804 G37t The Trailblazers 978 F741c The Cowboys NA 978 H99r Rangers and Regulars
629.4 Sp1	Spaceflight four videos These four award-winning videos discuss the political, historical and technological events in the United States' attempt to explore the final frontier, space.

PERIODICAL INDEXES

EBSCOHost A series of  databases to periodical literature. Most of the databases begin coverage in the 1990's, but some coverage is back to 1980. The following databases could contain information on the American West:

NEWSPAPERS AND SELECTED MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS
 
 

Basement	American Heritage Well known magazine that has very readable articles of varying length that cover all aspects of United States history. This library has issues from 1954 to the present.
Basement	American Historical Review This very distinguished journal, published by the American Historical Association, contains long scholarly articles on all areas of history. The library has this journal from 1895 to the present.>
Basement	Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine 1882-1901
Basement	Harpers Magazine 1850-1976 (with some gaps)
Basement	Scribner's Magazine 1870-1939 (with some gaps All three of these monthly magazines contain articles of opinion and history with short stories and poetry also included. All three of these magazines began publishing in the last 50 years of the nineteenth century, and so are useful for historians. These three magazines could be considered as primary sources.
Basement	Journal of American History(formerly Mississippi Valley Historical Review) Published by the Organization of American Historians. An excellent journal on all aspects of American history. This library has volumes from 1964 to the present.
Basement	Journal of Southern History An excellent journal on Southern History published by the Southern Historical Association. The library has issues from 1935 to the present.
Basement	Journal of the West A journal devoted to the history, culture, and other areas of the development of the American West
Basement	Life Magazine Life began publication in 1936, and is a very good source for pictures of historical events happening after 1936. The library has the entire original series of Life from 1936 to 1972, and the new series starting in 1978 to the present. This would be a good source to get a pictorial history of spaceflight.
Basement	New England Quarterly The library holds volumes from 1946 to the present. This journal says that it is "a historical review of New England Life and Letters."
Microform area	New York Times The library has this newspaper from 1851 to the present on microfilm reels. The index to the newspaper from 1851-1928 is on microfiche, and is located with the microfiche periodicals. After 1928 the index is in red volumes
Microform area	Time Magazine 1923 to present
Microform area	Newsweek Magazine
Microform area	U.S. News and World Report These three news magazines have all been publishing for at least fifty years. A good source to find historical photographs, maps and articles on historical events of the Twentieth Century, including space exploration.
basement	True West Published in Stillwater, OK, this monthly magazine contains many articles about the U.S. West, Western lawmen and outlaws. The library has this publication from 1953 to 1996.
Microfiche	Harper's Weekly This publication contained many illustrations. The library has it from 1857 to 1876
Online	Daily Oklahoman The library has subscribed to the online version of this newspaper which covers from 1901 to the present. You can access the Daily Oklahoman archives on the Library's Electronic Resources page at: http://www.se.edu/lib/electres.htm. You can search by issue date or by topic.

There are sites on the Internet that contain the full text of articles out of many nineteenth century journals.  The names of the journals and the web addresses are listed below:

Appleton's Journal
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=appletons
Appleton's Journal was a journal of literature, science, and art published in the19th century.  Available:  1869-1881

The Atlantic Monthly 
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=atlantic
The Atlantic Monthly is a monthly magazine publishing literature and commentary.  Available:  1857-1901

Catholic World
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=cathworld
Catholic World was a general magazine for the Catholic reader, published in the US by Paulist Press. Available: 1865-1901

The Continental Monthly
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=contmonthly
The Continental Monthly was a magazine devoted to literature and national policy, published in the North during much of the American Civil War. Available: 1862-1864

Debow's Review
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=debows
Debow's Review was a journal of "agricultural, commercial, and industrial progress and resources" published in the U.S. in the 19th century, concentrating on the southern states.  Available:  1846-1862, 1866-1869

Galaxy
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=galaxy
The Galaxy was a monthly magazine of "entertaining reading", published in the mid-19th century.  Available:  1866-1878

Harper's Magazine
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=harpers
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine publishing literature and commentary. Available: 1850-1899

The Ladies Repository
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=ladiesrep
The Ladies Repository was a monthly periodical devoted to literature, art, religion, published in the 19th century.  Available:  1841-1876

Littell's Living Age
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/serials/livingage.html
Littell's Living Age (also known simply as The Living Age) was an American general magazine largely consisting of selections from various English and American magazines and newspapers.  It was published weekly, for the most part. Available:  1844-1900

The New England Magazine
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/serials/newmag1886.html
The New England Magazine was a monthly magazine published in Boston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by J. N. McClintock and company.

The New Englander
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/serials/newenglander.html
The New Englander was journal published in New Haven, CT during the 19th century. It seems to have been published quarterly. Available: 1843-1892

The North American Review
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/serials/nareview.html
The North American Review is a journal of literature and culture, published in the 19th and 20th century.  Available: 1815-1900

The Overland Monthly
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=overland
"The Overland Monthly began publication with the July 1868 issue, and continued until the end of 1875, when it suspended publication. In 1880, the same publishers started The Californian, which in 1882 became The Californian and Overland Monthly, and in January 1883 reverted to The Overland Monthly (starting again with Volume I, number 1). In 1923 the magazine merged with Out West to become Overland monthly and the Out West magazine. The magazine ceased publication with the July 1935 issue."

VIDEOS

NA 970.00497 F58L	500 Nations This 8 volume series chronicles the Native American peoples from prehistory through the struggles and conflict with the Europeans to confinement on the reservations.
NA 978.00497 H83w	How the West Was Lost This series explores the Native American experience during the 18th and 19th centuries.
NA 970.00497 W19r	The War Against the Indians This 3 volume set chronicles the wars with the Native American peoples.
R 348.73 Un3ca	Legends of the Wild, Wild West This video contains some of the legends of the West, including Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Annie Oakley and others.
978 W52w	The West This is a famous series filmed by Ken Burns. It contains much useful information on the West, in nine episodes: Episode 1. The people (82 min.) -- episode 2. Empire upon the trails (84 min.) -- episode 3. The speck of the future (84 min.) -- episode 4. Death runs riot (84 min.) -- episode 5. The grandest enterprise under God (84 min.) -- episode 6. Fight no more forever (85 min.) -- episode 7. The geography of hope (84 min.) -- episode 8. Ghost dance (58 min.) -- episode 9. One sky above us (62 min.)
979.461 G79	The Great San Francisco Earthquake This video is part of the American Experience series and contains archival footage and rare photos of the city of San Francisco before and after the earthquake and fire of April 1906.

U. S. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS SOURCES

(In Storage, basement)	Congressional Globe (1833-1873) A precursor to the Congressional Record, these volumes contain the debates and proceedings of the U. S. Congress, including any about slavery (which there were quite a few). Each volume contains an index. Citations to the C. G. may appear in any one of several indexes or bibliographies named earlier.
(In Storage, Basement)	United States Statutes at Large Contains all public laws, acts, treaties and proclamations by the U. S. Congress. They are arranged in chronological order. Volumes for the years 1789 (first Congress) to 1936 (74th Congress) are in storage. After 1936 the volumes are in GOV DOC room, Floor 2-A.
R 348.73 Un3ca	United States Reports This is the official bound edition of the United States Supreme Court decisions. Before they are bound the official Supreme Court decisions are printed individually and are called slip opinions. The most recent years of slip opinion that have not been bound are located in the Government Documents collection on Floor 2A.