Primary Sources - HIST 2950 - The Global Cold War - Library Guides at University of Missouri Libraries

US State Department

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
FRUS, produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian since 1861, presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.
FRUS Guide to Sources on Vietnam (1969-1975)
This guide aims to provide a road map for researchers seeking to go beyond documents included in Foreign Relations to archival resources housed both in Washington and in various locations around the country.
Other U.S. Government Sources on U.S. Foreign Relations
Links to declassified document collections, Department of State telegrams, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Association of Southeast Asian Nations material, UN materials, and pre-1861 materials

MU Special Collections

Audiovisual Materials on China, 1945-1948
The Hiller Collection documents cities, industries, farming, and everyday life in China during the second phase of the Chinese Civil War, 1945-1948, taken by an American couple stationed in Shanghai. Some objects have been digitized; all may be viewed on request.
20th Century Political Pamphlets
U.S. political pamphlets from various organizations, sometimes discussing events abroad

Finding Primary Sources in print

Discover@MU
Multi-line search interface for Discover@MU. If you ONLY want to look at books, not articles, you must limit your search results via checkboxes in the sidebar.

To locate primary sources using the Discover@MU Advanced search:

Add a line to your keyword search for the word sources in the Subject (Example: Line 1: Cold war, Line 2: China OR Chinese, Line 3: sources)
Do author searches for historical figures (last/family name first). Example: Line 1: "Kennedy, John F" in the author. Line 2: Cuba*

HathiTrust Advanced Full Text Search
Searches the full text of millions of books at once. Some, we own; some, we do not.

To locate primary sources via HathiTrust, try these strategies:

Use names (last/family name first) or organizations in the Author field.
- Search line 1: In Full Text + All Fields, (any choice of the 2nd dropdown is ok) Mao
- Search line 2: In Author, This Exact Phrase: Communist International
Use one search line to add the word sources in the Subject field.
- Search line 1: In Full Text + All Fields, This Exact Phrase: Truman Doctrine
- Search line 2: In Subject (any choice of the 2nd dropdown is ok) Sources

Cold War Newspapers and Other Periodicals

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Searchable full-image of the Chicago Defender (1909-2010), Chicago Tribune (1849-1999), Los Angeles Times (1881-2000), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1874-2003), New York Times (1851-2020), Wall Street Journal (1889-2012), Washington Post (1877-2007), Kansas City Call (1919-2010), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2010), and the St. Louis American (1949-2010).
Reader's Guide Retrospective 1890-1982
Contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
Date Coverage: 1890-1982

Maximum Users: Unlimited

Truncation:
Truncation: *; Wildcard: ?
JSTOR
Provides access to scholarly journals in the arts and sciences. Contains a digital library of images, previously known as ARTStor, in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images.
Free account can be created for personalization.
Date Coverage: Varies by title
Maximum Users: Unlimited
Truncation: Plurals: +

Search Guide: https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115004701828-Search-Help-Resources-Overview
HeinOnline
The single most comprehensive source of treaties and other international agreements to which the United States has become a party. In addition, includes law and law-related periodicals.
Also includes a number of treaty guides and indexes, including Treaties in Force.
Date Coverage: 1925-date
Maximum Users: Unlimited
Truncation: Truncation * Wildcard ?

Hathi Trust
Searches full text of millions of books. You can choose to look only at items with full text online, or you can locate items in a library.

Current Digest of the Soviet Press by American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies
Call Number: D839 .C87

Publication Date: 1949-1992

A weekly compilation of Russian press materials in English translation, in 43 volumes. You may check the volumes out from the 3rd floor East stacks of Ellis Library.

Online Archival Collections

National Security Archive: Briefing Books
Bundles of primary source-supported information on a variety of topics from the Cold War to today; can be browsed by topic and region.
Wilson Center Digital Archive
Declassified historical materials from archives around the world—much of it in translation and including diplomatic cables, high level correspondence, meeting minutes and more.
Center for Research Libraries digital collections
Several of the digitized collections here are international and deal with the Cold War era. Many, but not all, are in the original languages.
Marxists Internet Archive
See especially the last two sections of this subject listing, for key sources on the Comintern, Mao, and other international topics and figures.
YouTube "Soviet Union Archival Footage" search
You can adjust this search to add a year or to look for other countries or events.

HIST 2950 - The Global Cold War: Primary Sources

US State Department

MU Special Collections

Finding Primary Sources in print

Cold War Newspapers and Other Periodicals

Online Archival Collections