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Microform Collections: History

Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 4:21 PM

Description

This collection contains American books and pamphlets from 1493-1875. These materials are basic sources for the study of the development of American civilization and culture.

Series I (1493-1806) contains selected titles dealing with early American government, printing, belles letters, travel literature, historiography, the American Revolution, and the French and Indian War.

Series II (1493-1875) major categories include history, literature and language, anthropology, sociology, art, archaeology, philosophy, psychology, religion, music, education, journalism, politics, law, military and naval history, science, and economics.


Location

American Culture Series, 1493-1875 is at call number MicFilm E169.1 .A47. Check the library catalog for location.


Access

Individual titles are located in the Libraries catalog, via title search for American Culture Series.

Additional access is available through:

American Culture Series, 1493-1875: a Cumulative Guide to the Microfilm Collection. This is an inclusive guide with author, title, and reel number indexes.  It has call number: Reference E169.1 .A47 1974 Guide. Check the library catalog for location.

Bibliography of American Culture, 1493-1875. This is a listing of basic, pre 1876 Americana on which the microform collection is based. It is arranged by topics, providing a subject approach to research. It has call number Z1215 .A585. Check the library catalog for location.

Description

City directories are useful for genealogical, demographic, social, economic and geographic research. The University Libraries own microform of many US city directories from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries under varying titles.


Location

City Directories of the United States through 1860 (segment I) MicFiche: E 154.5 D4

  • This collection includes all US directories, including Buffalo, up to 1860. It is based on the list Bibliography of American Directories Through 1860  which is available at call number E154.5 .S67; check library catalog for location. This bibliography is also reproduced on the introductory fiche of the set .

United States City Directories, 1861-1881 (segment II)
The following cities are owned:

  • Albany N.Y. MicFilm: E154.5 A5
  • Brooklyn , N.Y. MicFilm: E154.5 B7
  • Buffalo N.Y. , (1861-1935) MicFilm: E154.5 D412
  • New York N.Y. MicFilm: E154.5 N49
  • Philadelphia P.A. MicFilm: E154.5 P5
  • Pittsburgh P.A. MicFilm: E154.5 P58
  • Rochester N.Y. MicFilm: E154.5 R6
  • Syracuse N.Y. MicFilm: E154.5 S9
  • Troy N.Y. MicFilm: E154.5 T7

Access

To see the cities covered in these collections, do a title search in Libraries' Catalog for City Directories of the United States. To determine which city directories have been published, whether or not they are owned by the UB Libraries, consult the following title.

City Directories of the United States City Directories, 1860-1901: a guide to the microform collection .E154.5 .C42 1983  Check the library catalog for location. This guide is for segments I, II & III. We do not own segment III.

For more information about City Directories, see The Help A-Z InfoPage City Directories.

Description

This is a collection of transcribed oral interviews or reminiscences from notable 20th - Century political, social, media, scientific, artistic, and economic leaders. This collection is part of the New York Times Oral History Program. UB Libraries own only selected memoirists, as follows:

  • Alexander, Will Winton, 1884-1956
  • Alexanderson, Ernst Fredrik Werner, 1878-1975
  • Barnett, Joseph M., 1900-
  • Capra, Frank, 1897-
  • Chasins, Abram, 1903-
  • Comden, Betty
  • Cott, Ted
  • Dowling, Eddie
  • Durr, Clifford J. (Clifford Judkins), 1899-
  • Fetzer, John E. (John Earl), 1901-
  • Friendly, Fred W.
  • Gordon, Dorothy Lerner, 1893-
  • Grauer, Benjamin Franklin, 1908-
  • Hanser, Richard
  • Harriman, Florence Jaffray Hurst, b. 1870
  • Hill, Frank Ernest, 1888-1969
  • Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964
  • Kaltenborn, H. v. (Hans), 1878-1965
  • Lesser, Sol, 1890-1980
  • Lewis, Robert, 1909-
  • Mann, Delbert, 1920-
  • Massee, May, 1881-1966
  • Max, Pearl
  • McGrath, Earl James, 1902-
  • Mulhearn, Henry J.
  • Muste, Abraham John, 1885-1967
  • Nugent, Elliott, 1899-
  • Patt, John Francis, 1905-1971
  • Phillips, Kathryn Sisson, 1879-1970
  • Reisman, Philip H., 1916-
  • Riccio, Vincent, 1919-
  • Stewart, Isabel Maitland
  • Strauss, Anna Lord, 1899-1979
  • Thorne, Florence Calvert
  • Vorse, Mary Heaton, 1874-1966
  • Weber, Max, 1881-1961
  • Wilkins, Roy, 1901-

Location

The microfiche for this collection have various call numbers.


Access

Each memoir is listed in the catalog. Items can be located with a search for the memoirist as author or with a title search for Columbia University Oral History Collection.

There is some overlap in the indexes:

Columbia University oral history collection: an index to the memoirs in part 1 of the microfilm edition Z1361.C6 C64 1979 Index.

The Oral History Collection of Columbia Z1361.C6 C64 1979.
Check the catalog for location information.

Description

This is a microfilm and microprint collection of early newspapers published in America from 1690 to 1876. There are more than 1000 titles included.


Location

Early American Newspapers are available in the Lockwood Multimedia Center or at the Library Annex. Check the catalog for locations and call numbers.


Access

All titles are in the Catalog.

Search by title of the newspaper or do a title search for Early American Newspapers.

A list of early newspapers is available at: History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820. It is at call number Z6951 .B86, check the catalog for location.

Our collection is from Readex-Early American Newspapers. UB does not own all available titles.

Description

An incomplete index, prepared as a WPA project, to fiction, book reviews, poetry, and prose published in 350 American periodicals from 1730 to 1850

Most of the periodicals cited are available in the American Periodical Series, which is available as APS Online.


Location

Early American Periodicals Index to 1850 is available at call number MicPrint AI3 .E27. Check the library catalog for location.


Access

There is no guide.

Description

This collection contains more than 360,000 pages of handwritten documents from the Municipal Archives of Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico, for the years 1631-1821. Material in this collection documents the Spanish Colonial Era of Northern Mexico (and what is now part of the Southwestern United States.)

This primary source material, written in old-style Spanish, covers administrative problems and decisions, commerce, Indian affairs, slave traffic, law suits, criminal proceedings, etc. Reels are arranged chronologically. For each year covered, the material has been divided into the following sections: Section I: Causas Administrativas y de Guerra Section II: Minas Solares y Terrenos Section III: Protocolos Section IV: Causas Civiles Section V: Causas Criminales Section VI: Papales Varios


Location

El Archivo de Hidalgo del Parral, 1631-1821 has call number MICFILM CD3676 .P3. 
Check the library catalog for location.


Access

The last reel of microfilm is a complete index.

Check the library catalog for location of the following.

There is also a print index: Index to el Archivo de Hidalgo del Parral, 1631-1821  CD3676 .P3 Index. 

The following references may be useful when researching old Spanish documents:

Northern New Spain: a research guide  Z1251 .S8 B37

Paleographic guide for Spanish manuscripts, fifteenth-seventeenth centuries: roman numerals  PM3001 .T8 vol. 2 no. 1

Description

This collection includes documents of the Iroquois Indians. Spanning from the earliest surviving 16th century texts through 1842, the estimated 9,000 documents include minutes of treaty conferences, council meetings and agreements resulting from formal meetings. The records document the diplomatic history of the Iroquois nations or their league.


Location

Iroquois Indians: a Documentary History of the Diplomacy of the Six Nations and their League is located at call number MicFilm E99 .I7 I73 1984. Check the library catalog for location.


Access

Iroquois Indians: a documentary history of the diplomacy of the six nations and their league: a guide to the microfilm collection.   E99 .I7 I73 1985 Guide

  • This guide contains information about the texts and how they are presented (pp vii-viii), sources and locations of manuscripts (pp xi-xii), a bibliography of printed material (pp xiii-xviii), sources of wampum belts (p. xix), the calendar of documents (pp1-418) and an index (pp 421-718).

The history and culture of Iroquois diplomacy: an interdisciplinary guide to the treaties of the Six Nations and their leagueE99 .I7 H63 1985

There is also an online guide from the publisher.

Description

This collection covers the fields of immigration history and ethnic studies from 1820-1929. Included are songs, plays, political pamphlets, family histories, folklore and first-hand accounts of experiences of various immigrant groups. Compiled from several major archives, this collection includes books, pamphlets, government publications, serials, society publications and lesser-known ethnic newspapers. Many selections are in the native language of the immigrant group.

UB Libraries own the reels concerning the following groups:

Finns, Irish, Scotch Irish, Scots, Poles, Slovenes, Romanians, Lithuanians, Russians, Carpatho-Rusyns, Austrians, Germans, French, Italians, Swedes, Albanians, Belgians, Latvians, Croatians, Basques, Bulgarians, Icelanders, Jews, Swiss, Serbs, Dutch, and Greeks.

Items are arranged in numerical sequence on reels according to a reference number assigned by the publisher.


Location

The Immigrant in America is located at call number MicFilm E184 .A1 I435. Check the library catalog for location information.


Access

All titles of items in the collection are in the library catalog. The Immigrant in America: guide to the microfilm collection is available at call number E184 .A1 I435 Guide. Check the catalog for location.

Primary Source Microfilm has an online guide to the collection.

Description

This collection includes approximately 3,650 items, most of which are original documents either written by or to Jefferson, or having a direct relationship to him. Approximately 80 of Jefferson’s architectural drawings, most relating to the University of Virginia, are included.

The holdings at the University of Virginia complement larger collections of Jefferson’s papers at the Library of Congress and the Massachusetts Historical Society, as well as smaller collections at a number of different institutions throughout the United States.

Generally chronological, the collection is divided into three series:

Series I: Drawings Series II: Special Series (includes account books, scrapbooks, essays and legal briefs) Series III: Main Series (includes general correspondence and related material)


Location

The Microfilm Edition of the Jefferson Papers of the University of Virginia, 1732-1828 is located at call number MicFilm E302 .J63. Check the catalog for location.


Access

Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Jefferson Papers of the University of Virginia, 1732-1828.  E302 .J63 Guide. Check the catalog for location.

This guide has also been reproduced in its entirety at the start of Reel no. 1 in the microfilm set.

The University of Virginia has an online guide.

Description

The Latin American Documents collection includes documents, books, and other materials from and about the Latin American countries. Included are serials and monographs published primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries. The materials were published by banks, government agencies, official and semi-official bodies, Caro y Cuervo, the faculties of major universities, and World Bank. Note: Most documents are in Spanish or Portuguese.

Subjects broadly include humanities, social sciences, biography, politics and travel.


Location

The Latin American Documents collection is located on Microcards at F1415 .L28 or on Microfilm at F1401 .L3.  Check the library catalog for location information.


Access

Individual titles in the collection are in the libraries' catalog.

Latin American Documents Collection Catalog at call number F1401.L3 provides subject access to items for 1988, 1989, 1990.

Description

This collection contains books, pamphlets, official documents, tour guides, diaries and travel journals. Covering the periods of European discovery and exploration to the mid 20th century, most of the material dates from the 19th century. Writers include explorers, scientists, academics, diplomats, missionaries, archaeologists and private citizens. Materials cover Mexico, Latin America, the Caribbean and occasionally California. Documents are in Spanish, French, English, Latin and German


Location

UB Libraries own 965 titles on 168 reels. Latin American Travels is available at call number MicFilm E12 .L3. Check the library catalog for location.


Access

All titles are in the library catalog.

Description

This collection contains material relating to all aspects of American life, from the country's earliest days to the start of World War I. The majority of items were published before 1914. The collection contains many rare and out of print books and and material of foreign origin relating to America. The types of publications include:

  • pamphlets
  • periodicals
  • public and private documents
  • biographies
  • fiction and non-fiction
  • poetry
  • collected works and papers

Location

Library of American Civilization is available on Microcard at call number MicCard E169.1 .L4 . (This format is high reduction microfiche. Use the high magnification lens when viewing/printing the fiche.) Check the library catalog for location.


Access

Individual titles are available in the library catalog.

Additional access is available through: (Check the catalog for location information.)

  • The Microbook Library of American Civilization: Author Catalog .   Z1236 .L52
  • The Microbook Library of American Civilization: Subject Catalog .   Z1236 .L54
  • The Microbook Library of American Civilization: Title Catalog .   Z1236 .L53
  • The Microbook Library of American Civilization: Biblioguide Index .  Z1236 .L55

Every document in the Library of American Civilization is indexed under one or more of the 565 subject headings. References to parts of books are cited by specific volumes, chapters, or pages.

Many titles in this collection are available online through various sources. 

Description

Assembled from major collections throughout the U.S., this microform collection represents all periods of the country's history with concentration between 1820 and 1970. Comprised of pamphlet literature including autobiographies, biographies, commemorative addresses, eulogies, journals, legal decisions, memoirs, personal narratives, campaign literature, published letters, sermons, speeches, trade-union leaflets, and travel accounts.

UB Libraries own:

  • Group I: Revolutionary War, Indians, women, biography (General), Revolutionary War biography
  • Group II: tariffs, labor, civil liberties
  • Group III: finance, socialism, cooperative societies, War of 1812, Mexican War 1846-1848.

Location

Pamphlets in American History are available on microform in the Lockwood Multimedia Center MicFiche E 173.P23 .


Access

Individual titles are in libraries' catalog.

Additional access is available through:

  • Pamphlets in American History: A Bibliographic Guide to the Microform Collection  atE173.P232, check the library catalog for location. 
  • Pamphlets in American History: A Preliminary Short Title List at  E173.P233 An alphabetical listing of documents by main entry. (library has Group I )

Description

The Schomburg Clipping file is composed of periodical and newspaper clippings selected from the archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. These materials deal with the global history and culture of black people as well as the black experience, primarily in the United States, during the period 1925-1974. This collection includes typescripts, broadsides, pamphlets and other types of ephemera.


Location

Schomburg Center Clipping File is available on microfiche at call number MicFiche E185.5 .S35 1975 . Check the library catalog for location information.


Access

Individual titles are not listed in the Libraries' Catalog.

Fiche are organized alphabetically by subject headings, with microfiche assigned serial numbers sequentially.

Locate fiche using:

  • Index to the Schomburg clipping file at call number E185.5 .S35 1986b Index. Check catalog for location information.  Entries refer to microfiche serial numbers for easy location.

Description

This project of the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation contains transcripts of 185 lengthy interviews conducted with individuals who either immigrated through, or worked at, Ellis Island between 1892-1924. They discuss life in their native country; describe their travels, immigrations procedures and difficulties encountered as they began to settle in the U.S.


Location

This microfiche collection is located at call number MicFiche E184.A1 V64 1987. Check the library catalog for location.


Access

A guide to the microform edition of Voices from Ellis Island: an oral history of American immigration.E184 .A1 D62 1988. The guide contains name and country-of-origin indexes. It is also available online athttp://cisupa.proquest.com/ksc_assets/catalog/1744.pdf

In addition, thanks to a partnership between the online genealogy group ancestry.com and the National Parks Service, additional oral histories of Ellis Island immigrants are available online for free.

Librarian

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Laura Taddeo
Contact:
421 Lockwood Library, North Campus
(716) 645-7970
Website
Subjects: English