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History

Finding Primary Sources

Primary sources are the evidence of history, commonly left behind by eyewitnesses or people very close to events. This includes everything from letters to photographs to government documents to inscriptions to advertisements, depending on what you are researching. Try searching the VCU Libraries Search by combining your subject of interest (e.g. Richmond) with a kind of evidence (e.g. diary).

For more information on finding images, take a look at the Images guide.

Civil War, Richmond, and Virginia Resources

These collections cover topics often researched by the VCU community.

American, European, and World History Resources

These collections cover a range of the periods and subjects researched by the VCU community. Some are subscription-only resources paid for by VCU and some are free online resources.