Guide
Reading Russian Sources by Ebook. "An accessible and comprehensive guide that introduces students to the wide range of sources that can be used to engage with Russian history from the early medieval to the late Soviet periods."
Digital Collections and Databases
- Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System Online"The digital collection consists chiefly of summary transcripts of 705 interviews conducted with refugees from the USSR during the early years of the Cold War. A unique source for the study of Soviet society between 1917 and the mid-1940s, the HPSSS includes vast amounts of one-of-a-kind data on political, economic, social and cultural conditions. The HPSSS’s value is compounded by the fact that it was compiled in English and organized according to a rigorous social science framework, making it accessible to a broad range of students and scholars."
- AlexanderPalace.org Russian History WebsitesOffers links to many websites that include primary texts, art, architectural images. Emphasis on Romanov dynasty.
- America, Russia, and the Meeting of FrontiersFrom the Library of Congress, "Meeting of Frontiers--a multimedia digital library--provides a gateway to this experience and to much that remains important about the national identities of Russia and America in the twenty-first century."
- EuroDocs: Online Sources for European HistoryRich website linking to primary sources for all periods of European history. Organized first by country, and then loosely chronologically. Includes transcriptions, facsimiles, and, sometimes, translations. Maintained at Brigham Young University.
- Guide to Open Access Historical News Sources from Slavic, East European and Eurasian CountriesHosted by the East Coast Consortium of Slavic Library Collections, "this online guide aims to provide a handy, country-by-country list of open access historical news sources from Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern Europe."
- Hoover Archives: Soviet UnionCollections available from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Digital materials include Russian Service sound recordings and over 3,000 Soviet posters.
- Immigrations, Migrations, and Refugees This link opens in a new windowDigital archive containing firsthand accounts from sources around the world, covering such events as post-World War II Jewish resettlement, South African apartheid, Latin American migrations to the United States, and more.
- Princeton Slavic CollectionsDigital collections from the Princeton Slavic Collections through the Digital Princeton University Library. Includes literature, such as children’s books from the Soviet-era.
- Revelations from the Russian ArchivesFrom the Library of Congress, an online exhibit of 25 documents from the "highly secret internal record of Soviet Communist rule."
- Russian Archives OnlineThe RAO offers Russian and Soviet archival collections of images, audio, and film.
- Russian Satirical Journals Collection"This collection consists of Russian satirical journals which were produced during the revolutionary upheaval of 1905-1907. The physical issues come from the collection of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture at the University of Southern California."
- Seventeen Moments in Soviet History"A multi-media archive of primary materials designed to introduce students and the general public to the richness and contradictions of Soviet history."
- Soviet Archives ExhibitExhibit of documents from the Library of Congress, covering the history of the USSR. Most documents are accompanied by English translations.
- Stalinka: Digital Library of StalinianaFrom the University of Pittsburgh, "the online collection comprises visual images of photographs, posters, paintings, banners, sculptures, chinaware, pins, etc. relating to Stalin/ism."
- Wilson Center Digital Archive"Constructed and maintained by the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program, the Digital Archive contains declassified historical materials from archives around the world, much of it in English translation. The historical documents presented in the ever-expanding Digital Archive provide unique insights into recent international history, and serve to deepen and enrich international scholarship, history education, and public policy debate on important global issues and challenges."
News
- The Current Digest of the Russian PressWeekly translations into English of Russian-language press materials from 1949 to the present.
Images
- JSTOR Image Search This link opens in a new windowArtstor is now on JSTOR. Digital image library offering searchable collections of images and descriptive information including architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, and more, encompassing many time periods and world cultures.
- British PathéA growing digital archive of newsreels created by the British Pathé company from the 1890s through the 1970s. These videos include areas such as historical events and documentaries as well as travelogues and contemporary coverage of culture.
- Don't ChatterA site of political posters from the Soviet Union. Account registration is required for access.
- The Face of Russia Interactive TimelineFrom PBS, this site provides an interactive timeline of "ten centuries of art, architecture, music, dance and cinema" as a companion to The Face of Russia series.
- Heilbrunn Timeline of Art HistoryThis multifaceted tool places art works from the Metropolitan Museum's collection within geographical and chronological context. It has excellent thematic essays (background information) that cover the historical eras and cultures that produced the works of art (the primary sources), along with maps and key events from each place and time period.
- New York Public Library Digital Collections This link opens in a new windowDigitized items from the New York Public Library, this is a living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more
- Old Maps OnlineAccess to maps from research libraries around the world. You may search a place and a time period to find high-resolution maps.
Indexes & Bibliographies
Use these tools to help locate primary sources. You may need to use Interlibrary Loan to acquire the actual primary sources.
- British Newspaper ArchiveSearch the contents of millions of newspaper pages published in 19th and 20th century Britain. Only indexing is available. Full text articles must either be purchased by the user or requested through Interlibrary Loan.
- C19: The Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new windowAll-inclusive bibliographic tool for 19th-century research.
- Russia and Eastern Europe, 1789-1985A bibliographical guide compiled by Raymond Pearson.
- To Russia and Return, edited by H. W. Nerhood.An annotated bibliography of travelers' English-language accounts of Russia from the 9th century to the present.
Sourcebooks & Collections
A Documentary History of Communism in Russia by Ebook. "An extensive revision of the valued but unobtainable 1960 edition. Nearly 300 key documents are now readily available in translation."
Four Russian Serf NarrativesEbook. "Although millions of Russians lived as serfs until the middle of the nineteenth century, little is known about their lives. Identifying and documenting the conditions of Russian serfs has proven difficult because the Russian state discouraged literacy among the serfs and censored public expressions of dissent. To date scholars have identified only twenty known Russian serf narratives. Four Russian Serf Narratives contains four of these accounts and is the first translated collection of autobiographies by serfs."
Great Soviet EncyclopediaPrint. A multi-volume Soviet encyclopedia translated into English.- Letters from France and Italy, 1847-1852Print. Edited and translated letters of Alexander Herzen.
Reinterpreting Russian History: Readings, 860-1860'sPrint. "This collection includes primary and secondary material, much of which has never before been published in English."- Revelations from the Russian Archives: Documents in English Translation by PDF. From the Library of Congress.
Russian Women, 1698-1917: Experience and Expression, An Anthology of Sources by Ebook. "The selections are drawn from a wide variety of documents, published and unpublished, including memoirs, diaries, legal codes, correspondence, short fiction, poetry, ethnographic observations, and folklore. Primacy is given to sources produced by women and previously unavailable in English translation. Organized thematically, the documents focus on women's family life, work and schooling, public activism, creative self-expression, and sexuality and spirituality, as well as on the cultural ideals and legal framework which constrained women of all social classes."
