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Family History Source Examples
In addition to family documents (Bibles, letters, diaries, etc.) and stories, Family History Sources are primary or secondary sources that detail how the person you are researching may have experienced the world based on things such as their age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexual or gender identity, marital status, or occupation. For example, if you know that your subject worked in a coal mine in 1836, you might want to research the working conditions of coal mines around 1836, and documents about those coal mines would be relevant to your research. Local newspapers are also good resources, and Colby has many digitized newspaper archives to explore.
Databases and General Sources
DPLA Family Research Guide: The Digital Public Library of America is an all-digital library that aggregates metadata — or information describing an item — and thumbnails for millions of photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Topics covered include immigration, food, women's and civil rights movements, the Great Depression, and more.
The Newspapers Libguide has compiled various different newspaper databases, including small local publications and the database Ethnic NewsWatch, which has newspapers published by ethnic minorities in the United States.
Examples of Useful Books
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Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980) The Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups provides the first comprehensive and systematic review of the many peoples of this country. It is a guide to the history, culture, and migration history of the more than 100 ethnic groups who live in the United States. Highly recommended: see articles on Acadians, French-Canadians, Jews, for particular reference to AR 358.Call Number: Miller REF E184.A1 H35 (1st fl reading room)
Ethnic groups and population changes in twentieth-century Central-Eastern Europe : history, data, analysis CALL NUMBER: HB3582.7.A3 E2313 2003 (Miller Stacks 2)