World War II Primary Sources

Not able to visit an archive in person? More and more primary source documents are digitized every year. Many good research projects can be done using digitized sources alone. 

General Databases

• GovInfo
  US government publications such as Congressional records, guides made for public usage, etc. Includes many thousands of documents related to WWII. Tips: Limit by date and use specific keywords such as names of places, battles, or laws. 
• National Archives (NARA) 
  US internal records from all branches of the federal government, including the Military, State Dept., etc. Tips:
  1. Limit to "Archival Materials Online". (Checkbox on the top of the search form.)
  2. It REALLY HELPS if you figure out which branch of government you want to search within! Use the NARA Record Group Explorer and search the keywords: World War II. Use the "RG Number" that you find in the "Record Group" search box. For example: National War Labor Board = RG 202
• Europeana
  General European database, heavy on images but with text/archival documents as well. Contains over 50 million items. (Many are in non-English languages.)
• Digital Public Library of America (dp.la) 
  General database of mostly images, but some documents and oral histories, from libraries and museums across America; includes over 46 million items. (Mostly in English.)

Databases specifically for WWII Research

Note: This list just scratches the surface! If you have a topic you'd like to research and need more help, email: archives@pacificu.edu and we may be able to recommend something more specific to your needs! 

• WWII Primary Sources list by the University of Washington - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  This curated list of databases by librarians at UW links to dozens of WWII databases, sorted by topic. 
• Densho: Oral Histories on Japanese American Internment
  "Watch filmed interviews with Japanese Americans and others about WWII incarceration and beyond. The Densho Digital Repository includes more than 900 oral histories, all of which are fully transcribed and segmented for ease of viewing."
• FOIA Reading Room: Declassified US Documents
  A database of materials mostly from the National Archives, grouped by topic such as OSS (predecessor of the CIA), the Rosenburgs, etc. 
• World War II Military Situation Maps
  "This collection contains maps showing troop positions beginning on June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945.  Starting with the D-Day Invasion, the maps give daily details on the military campaigns in Western Europe, showing the progress of the Allied Forces as they push towards Germany."
• World War II Rumor Project
  "The World War II Rumor Project collection contains manuscript materials compiled by the Office of War Information (OWI). [...]  The first component involved field representatives of various federal agencies in the United States instructed to enlist individuals in their communities who were willing to write down rumors and send them to the field representatives. [...] The second component involved rumors, jokes, rhymes, and anecdotes about the war from high school and college students collected by teachers."
• Yad Vashem
  An Israeli institute containing important collections on the Holocaust. 
• YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
  One of the best research centers for Jewish cultural research, told from a Jewish perspective. They maintain multiple sub-databases on topics like Jewish communities in Poland, Jewish migration to America during WWII, and more. 

Digital archives in the Pacific Northwest

• Pacific University Archives Digital Exhibits
  About 10,000 items from Pacific's archives and art collections. 
• Washington County Heritage
  Historic photographs from a dozen institutions across our county, covering roughly 1860-1970.
• Oregon Digital
  Digitized archives & photographs from OSU and University of Oregon. Includes campus publications and archival collections on a wide variety of topics, mostly related in some way to the two universities. 
• Oregon Historical Society Digital Collections
  Mostly digitized photographs, mostly about Oregon. Great if you need an historic photo of a particular place in Oregon or a famous Oregonian. 
• Washington Rural Heritage
  Digitized collections (mostly photographs) from hundreds of small libraries and collections in Washington State, covering approximately the 1800s-1950s.
• Territorial Papers of the United States - Oregon Territory (must be a Pacific student to get access)
  This database includes scanned government correspondence and other government papers from Oregon between 1824-1871. This is a good database to check if you are looking into Native American relations with the U.S. government in the Pacific Northwest during this time period. 
   

General Digital Repositories
 

These digital repositories give access to all types of primary sources -- archives, books, newspapers, etc. For many more options, see the tabs for specific formats: Newspapers & Magazines, Books, Images, etc. 

• Chronicling America : Free, digitized newspapers from across the county. See also the Newspapers tab in this guide for more options.
• Digital Public Library of America: 30 million+ documents and images from archives across the United States. This database compiles together digital sources from many smaller databases. 
• Europeana: European history and culture. Huge database with over 2,000 European institutional contributors.
• Gallica: French history and culture from the Bibliotheque National de France with 2.5 million+ items.
• Google Books Advanced Search: Books & periodicals mostly published between 1800-1923. Excellent source for American and British history. Note: the date-based search can be unreliable.
• HathiTrust: Books & periodicals published mostly published between 1700-1923. Similar to Google Books but has a superior interface and somewhat better coverage of non-English language material; however it has fewer titles overall. 
• Library of Congress Digital Collections : very diverse set of collections from the L.o.C., organized by topic; great place to look for material on the Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Great Depression, African-American culture, and much more. Good mix of documents and photos.
• Online Archive of California : Millions of documents from archives in California. Especially good for researching the American West.