Dig Into the Record
Understanding the roots of where we are today isn’t just an academic exercise. It’s how we find patterns, question assumptions, and think more clearly about the future.
It’s easy to inherit someone else’s interpretation of history. Primary sources let you go one step further: to the original record, in its own words, from its own moment in time.
This page exists to help you find them.
U.S. Government & Official Records
FBI Vault The FBI’s online reading room. Thousands of previously released files on individuals, organizations, and events — from civil rights leaders to Cold War operations. Searchable and free.
CIA Reading Room Declassified CIA documents made available through FOIA and other review processes. Includes records on foreign policy, covert operations, and historical events.
National Security Archive Hosted at George Washington University, the Archive has filed thousands of requests over decades and publishes document sets with expert analysis on topics ranging from nuclear history to U.S. foreign policy to government surveillance.
CourtListener The largest free collection of federal court documents and dockets on the Internet.
DocumentCloud A platform used by journalists and researchers to upload, annotate, and share primary source documents — including thousands of FOIA releases. Search by agency, topic, or date.
National Archives The official record of the U.S. federal government — census data, military files, immigration records, congressional documents, and more.
Library of Congress One of the most extensive digitized collections in the world: photographs, manuscripts, maps, films, and sound recordings spanning American history.
Israeli Archives & Sources
Israel State Archives The official repository of Israeli government records including diplomatic cables, declassified military and intelligence files, and administrative records are available digitized and free to search online.
Akevot Institute A research institute focused on documenting the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through declassified Israeli military and government records. Akevot files records requests with Israeli state bodies — functioning much like a FOIA operation — and publishes its findings with full documentation.
Central Zionist Archives Holding records from the late 19th century through the establishment of the state including letters, meeting minutes, correspondence between major political figures, and organizational records documenting the Zionist political project.
Books & Texts
Internet Archive Over 20,000,000 freely downloadable books and texts, including texts that are nearly impossible to find elsewhere. There is also a collection of 2.3 million modern eBooks that may be borrowed by anyone with a free archive.org account.
HathiTrust Digital Library Over 17 million volumes from research libraries worldwide, including out-of-copyright books, journals, and government documents.
Project Gutenberg More than 70,000 free eBooks — diaries, histories, speeches, and literature from across the centuries.
Digital Public Library of America Millions of photographs, artifacts, manuscripts, and books from libraries and museums across the United States, all in one searchable place.
International Collections
Europeana Millions of items from European cultural institutions — artworks, photographs, manuscripts, maps, and more.
World Digital Library Primary sources from cultures and countries around the globe, contributed by major libraries and UNESCO.
Maps & Place
David Rumsey Map Collection Over 150,000 historical maps with tools to overlay them against modern geography — an extraordinary way to see how places changed.
Old Maps Online Search historical maps by location from dozens of contributing archives.