A Trans History of the United States: Research Databases
A guide to library research
Search Tips
Search Tips: Use an asterisk as a wild card: histor* finds history, histories, historical.
Use Boolean operators to search for synonyms or related terms: transgend* OR transsex* OR transvest*
Some full text databases also allow you to use proximity operators (to search for words within a defined number of words from another).
"passing women" finds the exact phrase can be used in nearly all databases
Gale uses N: passing N1 women (finds the terms within one word of each other in either direction)
ProQuest uses: N: ethel N/2 kimball hathaway
Readex uses ADJ for direct order and NEAR for either order: george ADJ2 wilson AND cummings
Archival Databases
- Archives of sexuality and gender This link opens in a new windowThis vast collection includes personal papers, organization papers, magazines, photographs, books, and ephemera. It has a robust advanced search, and an excellent navigational interface.
- Women's studies archive. Women's issues and identities. This link opens in a new windowIncludes records of the Committee of Fifteen (1900-1901) and other organizations focused on regulating morality and private behavior.
- American Civil Liberties Union Papers This link opens in a new windowThis database includes invaluable documents related to LGBTQ rights, as well as the civil rights of all Americans, especially those who have been the victims of discrimination and violence. It is in three sections: The Roger Baldwin Years (1912-1950), The Years of Expansion, 1950-1990, and the Southern Regional Office Files. The files can be cross-searched with other Gale databases Archives of Gender & Sexuality, and the Women’s Studies Archive. Not all ACLU records are contained in these databases, to see other collections that have not yet been digitized, consult the finding aid at Princeton University.
- Defining gender, 1450-1910 . This link opens in a new window"Ephemera, pamphlets, college records and exam papers, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, account books, educational practice and pedagogy, government papers from the Home Office and Metropolitan police, illustrated writings on anatomy, midwifery, art and fashion, manuscript journals, poetry, novels, ballads, drama, receipt books, literary manuscripts, travel writing, and conduct and advice literature."
- Sex & sexuality. This link opens in a new windowThis collection explores changing attitudes towards human sexuality, gender identities and sexual behaviors from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. This unique collaboration with the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections presents correspondence, research papers and records spanning the tenures of the first three Institute directors; Dr Alfred C. Kinsey (1947-1956), Dr Paul H. Gebhard (1956-1982) and Dr June Reinisch (1982-1993). Includes Harry Benjamin Collection and the Lynn Edward Harris Papers.
Core Databases
- America, history and life with full text . This link opens in a new window
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This is the primary index for articles published in US and Canadian history. Use the advanced search to find articles about a specific time period, eg 1800-1870. - LGBTQ+ source. This link opens in a new window
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Provides indexing and abstracts of worldwide literature on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, as well as full text for more than 50 journals, magazines and regional newspapers and dozens of monographs; also includes a specialized LGBT thesaurus with over 6,400 terms. - LGBT thought and culture. This link opens in a new windowLGBT Thought and Culture is an online resource hosting books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. The collection includes documents ranging from letters, speeches, interviews, and ephemera covering the political evolution of gay rights as well as memoirs, biographies, poetry, letters and works of fiction that illuminate the lives of lesbians, gays, transgendered, and bisexual individuals and the community.
- Gender studies database . This link opens in a new window
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GSD covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia - GenderWatch / from ProQuest Company. This link opens in a new window
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Primarily a full text database, with some abstracts. - LGBT magazine archive. This link opens in a new windowFull text searchable database of selected LGBTQ periodicals. includes Transgender Tapestry.
- ProQuest. This link opens in a new window
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This resource includes articles, dissertations, and books in academic & professional disciplines, e.g., business, economics, gender studies, health, literature, management, political science; as well as news and general interest items.
Ebscohost Research Databases
Search across all the the core research databases, including Medline, PsycInfo, MLA Bibliography, Gender Studies Database, LGBTQ+ Source, America History & Life, Index to Legal Periodicals, as well as education, social science, and economic databases. Most of the articles date from the 20th and 21st centuries, though there is content from the 18th and 19th centuries as well.
Historical text collections of books, pamphlets, documents
- America's historical imprints . This link opens in a new window
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Searchable monographs, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents and ephemera; 17th-19th centuries. - Hathi Trust : a shared digital repository. This link opens in a new windowA digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the immense collections of partner institutions. Full text access for material that is out of US copyright (all government documents or material published before 1928).
- Nineteenth Century collections online . This link opens in a new window
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Includes monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more. Can be limited to US imprints.
For more historical text collections, see John Tofanelli's Research Guide for US History and American Studies
- AncestryLibrary.com . This link opens in a new windowWide-ranging collections of information for conducting genealogical and local history research. Includes: digitized images of the United States Federal Census from 1790 forward; the American Genealogical Biographical Index; Passenger and Immigration Lists Index; United Kingdom and United States Directories 1680-1830; court, land, and probate records; and many other resources.
Useful Full Text Databases
- Duke University Press. This link opens in a new windowDuke University Press website, including searchable database of print and electronic books and serials in the humanities and social sciences, and full-text access to electronic collections including e-Duke Books Collection and e-Duke Journals collection.
- Independent voices : an open access collection of an Alternative Press. This link opens in a new windowA four-year project to digitize over 1 million pages from the magazines, journals, and newspapers of the alternative press archives of participating librareis. Starting with collections by feminists and the GI press, the collection will grow to include small literary magazines, underground newspapers, LGBT periodicals, the minority press (Latino, Black and Native American) and the extreme right-wing press.
- JSTOR. This link opens in a new window
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Under advanced search, select "Gender Studies" as your journal group to further limit to these journals. - Project Muse. This link opens in a new window
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Full-text versions of peer-reviewed journals from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies, as well as thousands of ebooks, with emphasis on humanities and social sciences.