Research Guides: American Studies 101: 1893 Chicago World's Fair

Primary Source Search Strategies

Begin with broad searches and then use filters/limits to narrow results further by topic, date, type of source, etc.
In archival and library databases, look for Subjects that describe the topic (e.g., World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.). Subjects group items on the same topic and can lead to more relevant search results.
When searching newspapers, think like a news reporter and use the vocabulary of the time (e.g., Negro or Colored). See also Search Strategies for the Chicago World's Fair from the Library of Congress.

Once you have selected some primary sources, analyze and evaluate each item using these questions:

Who created the item?
Why or for whom was it created?
What story does it tell?
Why is it important?
What questions do you have about it?
What perspective or content is absent from it?
What narrative is it part of? What happened before it was created, and what happened after?
What ethical issues does this item raise?

Also consider questions related to the repository/site that provided access to the primary source:

Digital Public Library of America
Provides public access to digital holdings of archives, libraries, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions in the United States.
Library of Congress
Searches across print and digital collections at the Library of Congress, which documents the history of the United States. Includes photos, prints, drawings, maps, books, manuscripts, audio recordings, films, notated music, newspapers, and archived websites.

Chronicling America: Historic American Papers This link opens in a new window
Searchable digitized copies of historical newspapers from throughout the United States provided by the Library of Congress. See their Chicago World's Fair guide for search strategies.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers (US) This link opens in a new window
Searches across the full text and images of major U.S. and Black historical newspapers. Includes the Chicago Tribune (1949-1997).
AM Explorer This link opens in a new window
Searches across several primary source collections. Use the "Collections" link at the top of the screen to access and browse the World's Fairs collection.

Searching the Williams Libraries catalog for World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.) will find many primary and secondary sources. Use the date filter to narrow your searches to primary or secondary sources.

Enter 1890 to 1895 to find primary sources
Enter 2000 to 2020 to find recent secondary sources (some primary sources may come up if the date wasn't coded)

To find additional secondary sources, search article databases for History.