Library Guides: Immigration and Refugee Studies: Primary Sources

Primary source databases

Here is a sampling of collections of primary sources that may be helpful in contextualizing your character in broader histories of immigration.

For more complete lists of sources, refer to the History research guide, and the guides authored by our resource librarians.

Born in Slavery : Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938
(Library of Congress)
Ellis Island Passenger Search
Immigration History Research Center Archives
Includes a searchable archive of oral histories and immigrant letters. Maintained by the University of Minnesota.
Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees: The West’s Response to Jewish Emigration
Migration collection in Europeana
Europeana, the European Union's portal to digital collections, includes a large section of material related to migration to, from and within Europe, including over 600 migration stories.

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories

Contains letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, of immigrants to the United States and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Includes 342 authors and approximately 37,500 pages of material, including some audio material.

Visual History Archive

The USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive (VHA) contains more than 55,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of genocide, crimes against humanity, and related persecution.