LibGuides: Modern World History Benchmark Project: Primary Sources

How to access primary sources through MHS Databases

The links below will take you to the databases Middletown High School (and Frederick County Public Schools) have made available to you to use for primary source research. See Ms. Mills with any questions!

Here is the link to the full list of databases available through the Middletown High School media center.

ABC Clio - History Databases
Username: fcpsmhs
Password: knights
Note the options to select databases at the top of the home screen. I recommend you check all of them to get as many search results as possible.

For any of the ABC-Clio Databases, find the filter options along the top of the page. Click the down arrow and note that you can look at just secondary sources (articles, biographies, or timelines) or just primary sources (photos, images, diary entries, letters, speeches).

World History-in-Context
Password: knights
*When you search a term, one of the options for types of sources is “Primary Sources” at the top - though there also other types of sources that could work as well (i.e. “Images”).
U.S. History-in-Context
Password: knights
*When you search a term, one of the options for types of sources is “Primary Sources” at the top - though there also other types of sources that could work as well (i.e. “Images”).
Smithsonian Collections Online
Username: fcpsmhs
Password: knights
Brings the past to life with a curated collection of images and documents directly from the Smithsonian.
Nineteenth-Century Newspapers
Username: fcpsmhs
Password: knights
Cover-to-cover digitized newspapers with advanced searching capabilities.
The TImes Digital Archives
Password: knights
*Anything you find on here will be a primary source.
(U.S., primarily)
Liberty Magazine Historical Archive
Username: fcpsmhs
Password: knights
Liberty charted the moods, lifestyles, fads and fortunes of middle-class America.
Sources in U.S. History Online: The American Revolution
Password: knights
*Anything you find on any of these three databases will be a primary source.
Sources in U.S. History Online: The Civil War
Password: knights
*Anything you find on any of these three databases will be a primary source.
Sources in U.S. History: Slavery in America
Password: knights
*Anything you find on any of these three databases will be a primary source.

Library of Congress

Library of Congress
While not a school-purchased database, there is not a public web resource more valuable for primary source research than the Library of Congress. Use the filter options along the left-hand side to help narrow search results.