Research Guides @ Fordham: Latin American Studies: History & Primary Sources

History Databases

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History
Peer-reviewed and regularly updated, a broad array of individually commissioned articles from special edited collections. Covers many historical periods and multidisciplinary topics.
Historical Abstracts
Abstracts for hundreds of journals covering the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding U.S. and Canada).
Biography (Gale In Context)
Search for biographies based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, gender, or other keywords.

Primary Source Collections

Primary sources are original records created during the time under study. Because they were present during the experience, they offer an inside first-hand view of a particular event unfiltered by interpretation, criticism, or evaluation.

The PALABRA Archive
"Listen to audio recordings of prominent writers from Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, the Caribbean, and other regions with Luso-Hispanic heritage populations reading from their works at the Library of Congress."
SALALM : Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials
This site includes links to numerous academic libraries' collections of primary source materials for Latin American studies.
ArchiveGrid
Primary source materials from more than 1,000 institutions. Includes personal and family histories, historical documents, and beyond.
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
Provided by the Library of Congress, NUCMC is a searchable catalog of manuscript collections in WorldCat.
LANIC: Latin American Network Information Center
This directory includes links for Latin American historical resources, some broken down by country. No longer actively maintained, but a great jumping off point for research.
The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
Collection of nearly 1,300 images of slavery in the Americas. A project of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the University of Virginia Library.
Biblioteca Digital del Patrimonio Iberoamericano / Digital Library of Ibero-American Heritage
Digital collections of maps, sound recordings, manuscripts, images, and more, all relating to Ibero-American history.
Princeton Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera
Collection comprised primarily of materials from the early 1900s to today.
dLOC: Digital Library of the Caribbean
More than 2.5 million pages of historical Caribbean materials.

Original Sources (formerly Omega Sources)
E-books database of primary sources in world and American history, politics, social sciences, philosophy, law, literature and science.
READING EPUB FILES
When opening an ePub file, make sure to choose “save file”
Remember the file name and where it is saved on your computer. You will need to know this when it is time to read the file in the EPUBReader extension.

Add the CHROME EPUBReader browser extension:
menu icon (3 dots) > more tools > extensions > get more extensions > search for EPUBReader > add to chrome > close welcome box.
The EPUBReader icon should be automatically added to your toolbar.

Add the Firefox browser extension:
menu icon (3 lines) > add-ons > get add-ons > see more add-ons > search for EPUBReader > add to firefox > close the welcome box
The EPUBReader icon should be automatically added to your toolbar.

TO READ AN EPUB FILE:
Click on the EPUBReader icon in your Chrome or Firefox toolbar to open it > click on the folder icon at the top of the page and select the previously saved ePub file.
NOTE: Your file will not be saved in the Reader; you will have to open the file each time you want to read it.

Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
Raw survey data from Vanderbilt University's AmericasBarometer survey.
Bracero History Archive
The Bracero History Archive collects and makes available the oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964.
American Library Association Primary Source Guide Home
A guide to finding, evaluating, and using primary source materials created by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association (ALA).

Selected Books

An Atlas and Survey of Latin American History by Michael J. LaRosa; German R. Mejia
Call Number: (RH) Ref + G1541.S1 L3 2007
Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, 2007.
Born in Blood and Fire : A Concise History of Latin America by John Charles Chasteen
Call Number: (RH) F1410 .C4397 2016
New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.
The Cambridge History of Latin American Law in Global Perspective by Thomas Duve & Tamar Herzog
New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Electronic resource; authentication is required.
Problems in Modern Latin American History: Sources and Interpretations by James A. Wood
Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2019. Electronic resource; authentication is required.

Biography

Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography by Franklin W. Knight
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016. Electronic resource; authentication required.
Great Lives from History: Latinos by Carmen Tafolla; Martha Cotera
Call Number: (RH) Ref E184.S75 G74 2012
Ipswich, Mass. : Salem Press, 2012.

Latin American Studies: History & Primary Sources

History Databases

Primary Source Collections

Selected Books

Biography

Reference & Instruction Department