AM publishes unique primary source collections from archives around the world.
Sophia University has access to the following AM collections. Search across all of them via the search box above, or browse the list of links.
American History, 1493-1945
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History holds one of the outstanding collections on American History. It is full of spectacular individual items, but it also has rich veins of manuscript research material. This makes it ideal for teaching survey courses on American History, but equally valuable as a platform for undergraduate essay work and postgraduate research.
American West
Comprised of original manuscripts, rare printed books, maps and ephemeral material from the Everett D.Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library, Chicago, American West is a unique online source for the study of westward expansion from the 18th to the 20th century. This dynamic teaching and research resource includes documents from 1718-1968. Tales of frontier life, Native Americans and vigilantes and outlaws can be found, as well as evidence of the growth of urban centres, the environmental impact of westward expansion and life in the borderlands.
Everyday Life and Women in America, 1800-1920
This collection is an unparalleled resource for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
Global Commodities
Discover the histories of fifteen key commodities that changed the world through a wide range of manuscript sources, rare books, maps, advertising memorabilia, paintings, photographs and ephemera. Explore themes of exploration and discovery; imperialism and attempts at monopoly; trade Wars; translocation and economic geography; slavery; mass production; luxury; taste; and the evolution of global branding.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures
From early contacts between European settlers and American Indians and the subsequent political, social and cultural effects of those encounters on American Indian life, these materials tell both the historical and the personal stories of the colonization of the Americas. Continuing through to the modern era, and told against the backdrop of the 19th century expansion into the ‘Western Frontier’ right through to the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century.
Jewish Life in America, 1654-1954
An indispensable resource for all those interested in understanding and exploring the history of Jewish communities in America from their first arrival in New York in 1654 to the integral part that they play today. Material is sourced from the American Jewish Historical Society, New York.