the Internet Public Library the Internet Public LibraryThis is a guide to help you locate primary sources on the history of New York City, on the World Wide Web and otherwise. It will also provide a list of useful organizations you can contact for assistance in your research. The following links will take you to the section of the pathfinder you wish to see.
A primary source is a source that was
created during or immediately after the event or period it documents. For
example, a photograph taken at Ellis Island, an eye-witness account of the
immigration procedures, or a manuscript describing the author's
experience there
would all be considered primary sources. Primary sources can be distinguised
from secondary sources, which are are sources created at some later time. A
description of Ellis Island at the beginning of the 20th century, if written
today, would be considered a secondary source (although it might be based on
primary sources.)
Primary sources are useful because they can give detailed
information about a
place, time period or event, as well as because they give us insight into the
views and experiences of people without showing them through the lens of later
events. Primary sources from New York City's history can include diaries of New
Yorkers since its inception, maps of New York at different stages of
its growth,
photographs and even sound recordings.
Your library may offer a number of resources on the history of New York City
in addition to those specifically mentioned here. If your library arranges its
resources by the Dewey
Decimal
Classification http://www.tnrdlib.bc.ca/dewey.html, as do many smaller and public libraries, you may
find useful
resources under 974: General history of North America Northeastern
United States. In the Library
of Congress
Classification system http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html, frequently used by large academic and research
libraries, try looking between F116 and F130
for the history of New York.
If you are searching in a library catalog, you may find it useful
to use some
of the following Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Some reference works you may find helpful for locating primary sources
include:
Columbia
University E-Guide to New York City History Bailey, Rosalie Fellows. Guide to genealogical and biographical sources
for New York City. New York: R.S. Bailey, 1954
Guide to historical resources in New York County (Manhattan) New York,
repositories. [Ithaca, N.Y.] : New York Historical Resources Center, Olin
Library, Cornell University, 1988
Wilson, Sherrill D., and Emilyn L. Brown. African American history in
early New York : bibliographic resources.New York, N.Y. : Office of Public
Education and Intepretation of the African Burial Ground, 1996
Krewson, Margrit B. New Netherland, 1609-1664: a selective
bibliography. Publication: Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1995
@ 149th
St
American
Family
Immigration History Center
American
Memory Project: Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical
Society
Gaelic
Gotham: A History of the Irish
in New York:
How
the Other Half
Lives
Moving
Uptown: Nineteenth Century Views of Manhattan
NYC100
Rhapsodies
in Black: Art of
the Harlem Renaissance
William
Feehan,
Fire Chief
The following organizations may be
able to help
you gain access to primary sources:
New
York Genealogical and
Biographical Society
New-York
Historical Society
New
York City Municipal
Archives
This pathfinder created by Abigail Leah Plumb
Return to IPL Pathfinders | Ask a Question | Reference Center
|
the IPL Main Lobby.
What is a primary source?
Strategies for Researching New York City History
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eguides/amerihist/nyc.html
From the Columbia University
Libraries, this portal site provides links to a variety of other sites on New
York City history.
Primary sources on the World Wide Web
The following are publicly
accessible resources that make primary source material available on the World
Wide Web. Many of the primary sources are images, while others are in text or
audio formats.
http://www.at149st.com/
New York has long been
the epicenter of the graffiti art movement. This unusual resource documents the
history of graffiti with many photographs of murals.
http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/default.asp?
A membership organization, the AFIHC allows
the public to search its lists of people who passed through Ellis
Island between
1892 and 1924, and may provide some extra information on individuals.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cwnyhshome.html
Through the American Memory Project, the Library of Congress
makes primary sources on many aspects of American history available on the Web.
These are items from New York City during the Civil War era.
http://www.mcny.org/irish.htm
The Museum of the City of New York has produced this online
exhibit documenting the history of immigrants from Ireland throughout
New York's
history.
http://tenant.net/Community/Riis/contents.html
A hypertext version of Jacob Riis' seminal 1890 book of
journalistic essays and photos, documenting the lives of New York City's urban
poor.
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/print/exhibits/movingup/labeli.htm
The Center for the
Humanities at the New York Public Library has put together this online exhibit
of prints and drawings of upper Manhattan, largely during the mid 19th century.
http://nyc.gov/html/nyc100/
1998
marked the 100th
anniversary of the incorporation of Greater New York--the Five Boroughs as we
know them today. Although the celebration itself is history now, The NYC100
website provides still-relevant information about the city's past.
http://www.iniva.org/harlem/home.html
This website documents the fine arts--emphasizing
but not limited to painting--produced by African-American
http://www.soundportraits.org/on-air/fire_chief/
An oral history of the late William Feehan, Commissioner of
the New York Fire Department, who was killed at his command post when the
southernmost tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.
Useful organizations
http://www.nygbs.org/Info/online.html
http://www.nyhistory.org/
http://nyc.gov/html/doris/html/index.html
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Last updated
Dec 6, 2001