Introduction
The resources listed on this guide serve as examples of online databases and collections featuring first-person narratives and other primary source materials. This is not a comprehensive list, as there are countless resources available online on various topics. In addition to exploring the resources on this page, you should also spend time searching Google for oral histories and interviews on topics that interest you personally. Online repositories and social media sites such as YouTube and Internet Archive may also include first-person narratives on a variety of topics.
Click on the "Photo Resources" tab above to find example online resources for historical photographs.
If you need assistance with your research, please set up an online appointment with a librarian. We're here to help!
This guide was developed by Rob Detmering with additional research help from library student assistant Reaney Gaines.
Oral Histories and Interviews
- Oral History Center (University of Louisville)Browse topics and oral histories available in our archives. Please note the audio icon indicating when oral histories are available online.
- Oral History Archives (Rutgers University)Locate numerous interviews focusing on women's history, LGBT+ history, military history, and much more.
- American Life Histories (Library of Congress)Explore nearly 3,000 life histories and narratives collected as part of the Federal Writers' Project between 1936 and 1940.
- Born in Slavery (Library of Congress)Find over 2,000 first-person accounts of slavery collected by the Federal Writers' Project between 1936 and 1938.
- Behind the Veil (Duke University)Listen to audio interviews describing African American life in the American South between the 1890s and 1950s.
- Suffragists Oral History Project (UC Berkeley)Read extensive oral history interviews with seven key activists in the women's suffrage movement.
- Hazard-Lees Appalachian Oral History Project (Hazard Community and Technical College)Listen to interviews focusing on life in Eastern Kentucky.
- Engineering and Technology Oral Histories (IEEE)Discover oral histories on technological innovation (robotics, space, travel, etc.) from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
- Kent State Shootings Oral Histories (Kent State University)Listen to audio interviews with witnesses of the May 4, 1970 Kent State shootings.
- Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Interviews (Washington University)Find video interviews conducted with civil rights activists for a PBS documentary in the 1980s.
- AIDS Oral History Project (UC San Francisco)Explore interviews with health care professionals and scientists who experienced the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s.
- Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History (University of Washington)Watch streaming video oral histories focusing on civil rights activism in Seattle.
Historic Newspapers and Magazines
UofL Libraries provides access to the following databases.
The following free websites also provide access to historic newspapers.
