LibGuides: 21H.161: The Middle East in the 20th Century: Find Historical Primary Sources

Using the Library Catalog to Find Primary Sources

To find book primary sources, use library catalogs like Barton and WorldCat.

Do subject searches for topic + genre:
- Subheadings such as "correspondence," "sources," "personal narratives," "pictorial works," "biography," and "speeches" can point to primary sources.
- Pair these subheadings with keywords or topical subject headings in Barton to identify relevant sources in the MIT Libraries.
- See this table for other possible subheadings.
- For example, do this advanced search to get first-hand accounts by Iranians or from Iran:
  - Keyword = Iran* [This will search for "Iran," "Iranian," "Iranians"]
  - Subject words = "Personal narratives"

Do advanced searches in Barton for relevant subjects and keywords with publication date limits.
- For example, do this advanced search to find books about the Six-Day War that were published at that time:
  - Subject keywords = "Israel-Arab War, 1967 " [you can figure out that subject phrase for the Six-Day War by first doing a keyword search]
  - Year from = 1967
  - Year to = 1968

Digital Primary Sources at MIT

ARTstor
A digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences. [Note: You can browse by geography to find images from specific countries, including photographs.]
Digital National Security Archive (1945-present)
A collection of primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945. More than 35,000 declassified documents - totalling more than 200,000 pages - have been gathered through use of the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History
Covers all aspects of the Arab-Israeli relationship from biblical times to the present, with an emphasis on the era beginning with World War I. The 4th volume includes 168 primary source documents. 4 vol., 2008.
Hein Online
Full-text archive of historical legal and governmental information, including world constitutions, treaties, Congressional Record, Presidential papers, and Foreign Relations of the United States.
Historic Documents
Annual publication featuring documents covering the most significant events of the year. Documents include presidential speeches, international agreements, Supreme Court decision, scientific findings, cultural discussions, and other primary sources. 1972 - present.
ISI Emerging Markets
News from emerging markets in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa (1995 - present).
JSTOR
A full-text scholarly journal archive, back to vol. 1, issue 1, in many fields.
LexisNexis Academic
Full text of many newspapers and periodicals, including Jerusalem Post, 1989-present.
The Nation Archive
Backfile of The Nation magazine back to volume 1, issue 1. Updated monthly 1865 - present.
NewspaperArchive.com
Thousands of newspapers, available in full-page facsimile, with searchable full text. Most are U.S. titles, with some international coverage, and most are fairly small-circulation newspapers. 1759-present.
Polling The Nations
Database of questions from public opinion polls around the world. Search question text and get poll results. 1986 - present.
Please click on 'logout' when finished to release access to another user, as only one user is allowed access at a time.
Proquest Historical Newspapers: Atlanta Constitution
1868-1942
Proquest Historical Newspapers: Boston Globe
1872-1979
Proquest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune
1849-1986
Proquest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
1881-1986
Proquest Historical Newspapers: New York Times
1851-2006
Proquest Historical Newspapers: Wall Street Journal
1889-1992
Proquest Historical Newspapers: Washington Post
1877-1993
Reader's Guide Abstracts (1983-present)
Includes indexing, abstracting and some links to full-text for many general interest magazines.
Reader's Guide Retrospective (1890-1982)
Indexing and abstracting for many general interest magazines. Great source for historical material on the 20th-century.
Women and Social Movements International
Contains the writings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, and the proceedings of conferences at which pivotal decisions were made. 1840 - present.

Free Primary Sources on the Internet

Electronic Resources for U.S. Foreign Relations
A list provided by the State Department's Office of the Historian linking to freely available online primary source material in U.S. foreign relations, including declassified documents and presidents' papers.
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1861-1960
The official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication. This is an incomplete run from 1861-1960. Hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1945-1976
The official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication. From the Department of State's Office of the Historian web site.
National Intelligence Council Collection: Near East and South Asia
From the CIA's Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room, a collection of formerly classified documents, including intelligence reports, such as National Intelligence Estimates and other publications produced by the National Intelligence Council or its predecessor organizations.
The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Transcripts of interviews with U.S. diplomatic personnel from the American Memory web site of the Library of Congress. Browse by subject to find interviews relevant to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
The Middle East 1916-2001: A Documentary Record
Presents important historical government documents. From Yale Law School's Avalon Project.
Time Archive (1923-present)
Back issues of the popular news magazine. (Hint: you can use the free online search to identify articles and then make a scan/copy from the print version in Hayden, or request through ILB if that issue is not in the library, to see the original article in context.)

Primary Sources at Nearby Libraries

Harvard Libraries E-Resources
Harvard has a trove of online databases of primary source material, including historical newspapers, government documents, letters and diaries, and much more. With your Harvard Special Borrower card, you can visit Harvard libraries and use these databases on the premises (sorry, you can't use them remotely). Take a look at the list of history databases for anything promising for your primary source research!
Widener Collection of Newspapers on Microfilm
A database of the newspapers on microfilm at Harvard's Widener Library, searchable by geography and date span. The newspaper microfilm are accessible with a Harvard Special Borrowers Card.
Smithsonian Global Sound
Musical recordings in a diverse range of styles from around the world. Search or browse by country of origin, cultural group, instrument, artist, language and more.
Available online through the BPL. You'll need your BPL card, or else sign up for a free e-card.

Subject Guide

Kai Alexis Smith

She/ Her

Contact:

kaias@mit.edu
Room 7-238
617.258.5593

How can Kai help you?

Tip: Follow the Footnotes!

It's not cheating to check the footnotes and bibliographies in your secondary and reference sources (books, journal articles, and encyclopedias) to identify primary sources for your own work. Following footnotes is an approach used by many scholars to identify not only relevant seconary literature, but also primary source bases.