For information on primary sources, please see the Biographical Research page.
Note also that only a few of our databases cover the time period from 1923 to about 1990. To find things written during a specific time period in the Library catalog or in the databases, choose the advanced search option, and limit by publication date.
American Decades
American Encyclopedia of Social History Ref. HN57 .E58 1993
Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000 Ref. HN373 .E63 2001
The Timetables of History: a Horizontal Linkage of People and Events Ref. D11 .G78 1991
Oxford Reference Online: Timelines
Contains 4,600 journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.
Date Coverage:Varies; primarily 1970s-present with some titles covering earlier dates
Maximum Users: Unlimited
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Auto Alerts: http://libraryguides.missouri.edu/alerts/ebsco
Date Coverage: 1890-1982
Maximum Users: Unlimited
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Free account can be created for personalization.
Date Coverage: 1970 - date
Maximum Users: 4
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Index to Black Periodicals (and previous title variants) Room 202 AI3 .I552
These subject terms help find books on social or cultural background:
social history
social aspects
social life and customs
popular culture
We have several databases providing statistics, demographic data, and survey results.
The collection consists of six core data sets: U.S. Federal Censuses from 1790 through 1930, genealogy and local history books, Periodical Source Index (PERSI), Revolutionary War Records, Freedman’s Bank Records and LexisNexis U.S. Serial Set records. Access provided by MOREnet.
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Help: https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/HQA/ResearchAids
Search Guide: https://www.ancestrycdn.com/aainstcommons/2026/researchAids/ancestry-anne-top-10-search-tips.pdf
HeritageQuest is designed for genealogical research, but provides interesting census data and online local and family histories.