Research Guides: United States History After 1945: Finding Archival Collections

Archival Collections at Rutgers

Special Collections and University Archives
Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives collects, preserves, and makes available primary sources of a rare, unique, or specialized nature.

The Sinclair New Jersey Collection of printed materials (approximately 67,000 monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and serials) is the largest, most comprehensive library documenting New Jersey history and culture.

The Institute of Jazz Studies is the largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world.

Federal Surveillance: Digital Archives

Archives Unbound: Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s Searchable collection of FBI files. Includes the COINTELPRO files, and files on Abbie Hoffman, the Black Panther Party, Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, Kent State, Malcolm X, Mississippi burning, Muslim Mosque, Inc., the Organization of Afro-American Unity, the Students for a Democratic Society and the Weatherman Underground Organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and on Communist Infiltration of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Rutgers-restricted Access

Archives Unbound: Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984. FBI files on prominent African Americans and African-American organizations. The documents total approximately 88,000 pages and include published material such as newspaper clippings, transcripts of public meetings and speeches, and reports of special agents. Subjects of the investigations include Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panther Party, and the Highland Folk School. Rutgers-restricted Access

FBI Electronic Reading Room [The Vault]. Digital documents from the files of the FBI. You can use the A-Z Index, or browse through categories of documents including "Anti-War," "Civil Rights," "Political Figures and Events," and "Popular Culture."

American Memory

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library: The Library of Congress site offers access to more than 9 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections of primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The collections include manuscripts, photographs, posters, maps, books, pamphlets, and sheet music, as well as sound recordings and motion pictures and can either be browsed or searched.

Archival Databases/Guides

The Newark Archives Project: The Newark Archives Project is creating detailed descriptions of primary materials relating to Newark that are available in repositories in Newark and elsewhere. The collections described include papers of individuals and families; records of government agencies, organizations, and businesses; photographs and film; audio collections; and more. A wonderful, and growing, resource for finding archival materials on Newark!

ArchiveGrid: Index to archival collection descriptions and finding aids. Rutgers-restricted Access

Worldcat: Union catalog of over 179 million bibliographic records for titles owned by libraries that participate in/contribute to OCLC. As part of "Advanced Search" allows you to limit your search to "archival materials". (Rutgers-restricted Access)

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections: Washington, D.C., The Library of Congress, 1959-1993.; Annual nationwide listing of manuscript collections reported to the Library of Congress. Indexed by name and subject. Not yet completely superceded by the online databases.; Dana Call Number: Ref. Z6620 .U5N3

New Jersey Historical Society.: The New Jersey Historical Society in Newark has a rich collection of archival and other materials relating to the political, social, cultural and economic history of New Jersey. You can search or browse the Finding Aids to NJHS collections. Note: Due to severe funding issues, the New Jersey Historical Society Library is currently open 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Princeton University Findings Aids: Over 1700 finding aids from the Princeton Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections includes the Manuscripts Division (housed at Firestone Library) and the Princeton University Archives and Public Policy Papers (housed at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library).

Manuscript Collections in the Rutgers University Libraries: Finding Aids to a variety of collections including the records of the Sisters in Crime.

New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalog: Search the Archives and Manuscripts collections included in the New York Public Library catalog. To search the full text of archival collections descriptions search AMAT, the Archival Materials Access Tool.

Archival Finding Aids Hosted at New York University: Search across finding aids for collections in the Fales Library & Special Collections (NYU); the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives; New York University Archives; and the New York Historical Society.

Columbia University Archival Collections Portal: Descriptions and finding aids for more than 3,500 archival collections in six Columbia University Libraries repositories. These collections include personal papers, institutional records, corporate archives, architectural drawings, printed ephemera, and many other types of content.