Arts & Humanities Library
W321 Pattee Library
Penn State University
814-865-1014
ecn1@psu.edu
Arts & Humanities Library
W321 Pattee Library
Penn State University
814-865-1014
ecn1@psu.edu
Reference works provide useful overviews of key topics, people and events.
American Decades (1900-2000)
A 10 volume set. Select Table of Contents to Browse by decades.
American Decades: Primary Sources (1900-2000).
A 10 volume set. Select Table of Contents to Browse by decades.
Pop Culture Universe
Essays on music, TV, sports and other popular activities from the 20th Century.
Social History of the United States
A 10 volume set, each volume covers a decade
Twentieth Century American Culture
A 10 volume set, each volume covers a decade.
Statistics
Historical Statistics of the United States
Comprehensive compendium of statistics over time from over 1,000 sources recording every aspect of the history of the United States.
Statistical Abstracts of the United States
Published annually since 1878, this is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Select the "Earlier Editions" link to see historical volumes.
The U.S. Government collects large quantities of data. To locate additional data by subject use our U.S. Statistics Guide
Use The CAT to find books and other materials at Penn State. Use “I Want it” to request items from other campuses.
LionSearch – search many of the Libraries' databases at one time. Use the facet searching on the left side of the screen to limit to specific publication types like books!
In some cases you will discover Penn State does not have the book you need.
Use WorldCat to search for materials in libraries worldwide. Use the “Request via ILL” link in WorldCAT to have items delivered to you. For additional options see our Interlibrary Loan page.
WHERE ARE THE BOOKS? - PATTEE Stacks Level 1
Books on American history after World War I begin with the call number E784 on Pattee Stacks 1. Browse this section to get a sense of what books we have for this time period. (note that some books on topics like politics or women's studies may be in the Social Sciences Library, 2nd Floor Paterno).
America: History & Life
The main index for historical scholarship. Use to find articles in history journals related to U.S. history.
Lionsearch
Searches the CAT (online catalog), and many e-journals, and e-books. It does not replace the specialized subject databases, but can be a convenient starting point.
Google Scholar
A convenient single search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including some books and articles. It does not include all the library's content, so use it as a supplement to library searching, not a replacement. For best results click on the SETTINGS link. Use the LIBRARY LINKS and type: Pennsylvania State University. Now, the Google Scholar search results will include a link for "GET IT! @ Penn State" to connect to library subscription content.
Additional Databases
Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
International Index to Black Periodicals Full Text
LGBT Life. Index to sources in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies
PsycINFO (Index to Psychology Journals)
Sociological Abstracts (Use to find articles in Sociology journals)
Women’s Studies International(Index to books and articles about women)
WorldWide Political Science Abstracts (articles in Political Science sources)
There are many additional databases that cover other disciplines (Art, Music, Religion, etc...). See our Research Guides by Subject for help locating databases outsides the ones listed here.
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998
Black Historical Newspapers 1910-2002
Includes the Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002 the Chicago Defender, 1910-1975 and the Philadelphia Tribune 1912-2001
Chicago Tribune Historical (1849-1986)
Google News Archive Includes free and pay for view news sources.
Historical Digital Collegian (1887-1987)
ICON Newspaper Digitization: United States
A convenient list of digital newspaper projects by state. Many are freely available
New York Times Historical (available from 1851)
Most recent years not available.
Newspaper Photos (AP Images)
NewspaperArchive
Primarily Pennsylvania titles with some content from other states. Especially useful for small and medium-sized cities/towns.
American Periodicals Series, 1741-1940+
General interest and cultural magazines. Only a few publications are from 1919-1945 so use the date limiter to find articles from this time period.
Academic Search Complete Includes some popular magazines before World War II including Time, the Saturday Evening Post and Vital Speeches of the Day. Use the date limiter to find articles published between 1919 and 1945.
Google Magazines. titles before WWII include:
Boy's Life, 1910- (published by the Boy Scouts of America)
The Crisis, 1910- (published by the NAACP, focus on race relations)
Life, 1935- (a great source for images, the most influential photojournal of the period)
Popular Science, 1870- (a heavily illustrated magazine)
Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 An index to articles in over 200 popular American magazines like Time and Newsweek.
General Sites
American Memory Digital materials from the Library of Congress, including advertising images, photographs, maps, and other materials.
Internet Archive A digital library of images, books, movies and more. Includes home movies, propaganda films, instructional vidoes, etc... Use the Advanced Search to find materials by format or time period.
National Archives Massive repository of government records. Use the Advanced Search to limit by date and format (audio, video, image)
Audio
You can stream music from audio databases provided by the library. Click here for more information!
The library also has reocrdings on CD, vinyl and cassettte. You can search by title or artist in The CAT. If you do not know the title or artist use the Advanced Search in The CAT. Search for the subject heading "Popular Music" and add the decade you are interested in (for example, Popular Music, 1931-1940). You can also search for more specific genres, e.g. "Jazz, 1931-1940". Limit to material type "Audio" to get recordings.
Online Video
American History in Video Over 2,000 hours of documentary and archival films. Select Newsreels to find videos produced during the 1930s and 1940s.
March of Time streaming video archive From 1935 to 1967, Time Inc's newsreel series recorded global events. The collection also contains historic footage dating back to 1913.
Paley Center for Media ICollection 18,000+ television shows, radio programs, and advertisements. Requires registration for first-time users.
Album of American History (5 volumes and supplement) (find in the CAT)
Ad*Access Advertisements from U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955.
Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
This Fabulous Century (8 volumes covering 1870-1970) (find in the CAT)
Life Photo Archive Milllions of photographs from the LIFE magazine photo archive. Many were never published. You can also browse and search LIFE magazine
Newspaper Photos (AP Images)
Pageant of America: A Pictorial History of the United States (14 volumes) (find in the CAT)
UP Copy: Call # E178.5.P195, Pattee Stacks Level 1
Vintage Ad Browser Collection created by Philipp Lenssen and released in 2010. Over 120,000 vintage ads from 1800-2001. Over 50 browsable categories - limited search function
