LibGuides: History: Letters

Primary Sources: Letters

Letters in Special Collections

WSU Special Collections and University Archives is located on the lower level of Ablah Library.

Letters (online) in Special Collections
This link will take you to letters in the digital collections of WSU's Special Collections and University Archives.
Manuscript Search (WSU Special Collections)
Search for "letters" or "correspondence" to find letters in Special Collections. You will need to make an appointment to view items in this catalog.

Letter Collections in Books

Letters published in books (WSU Libraries Catalog)
This link will take you books (in print and digital) with the subject "letters" or "correspondence" in the WSU Libraries Catalog. Filter by subject or date on the left to display letters from a certain time period.
Letters in HathiTrust
Search and read full text of many letters. Citations of other collections of letters can be requested via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Letters in Primary Source Databases

Selected databases that advertise their letters. Click here to view additional primary source databases that may also contain letters.

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
More than 400 sources of diaries, letters, and memoirs. See and compare the writings of politicians, generals, slaves, landowners, seamen, and spies. The letters and diaries are by the famous and the unknown, giving both the Northern and the Southern perspectives, along with that of foreign observers.
Anthropological Field Work Online This link opens in a new window
This fully indexed, primary source database unfolds the historical development of anthropology from a global perspective, bringing together the work of early scholars who shaped the theories and methods students learn about, critique and re-shape today.
Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window
The content includes letters, speeches, editorials, articles, sermons, and essays from libraries and archives in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. Over 15,000 items written by nearly 300 Black men and women are available for searching.
Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
Documents the relationships among peoples in North America from 1534 to 1850 through personal accounts recorded in narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
Research the emigration of peoples from Great Britain, mainland Europe and Asia during the 19th and early 20th centuries through personal diaries, letters, travel journals, scrapbooks, original maps, watercolors, engravings, objects, emigration pamphlets, shipping papers and rare printed material.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
North American Women’s Letters and Diaries is the largest electronic collection of women’s diaries and correspondence ever assembled. Spanning more than 300 years, it presents the personal experiences of hundreds of women.
Psychological Experiments Online This link opens in a new window
65 hours of audio and video recordings of the original experiments paired with 45,000 pages of primary-source documents, including notes from experiment participants, journal articles, books, field notes, letters penned by the lead psychologist, videos of modern-day replications, and modifications.
Sixties: Primary Document and Personal Narratives 1960-1974 This link opens in a new window
The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960–1974 brings the 1960s alive through diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary. Terms of Use