Microfilm and Microfiche: 1800-1899

The American Memory Historical Collections, a major component of the Library's National Digital Library Program, are multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures, and text from the Library's Americana collections.

"In addition to e-text, users may also view original page facsimiles of many of these documents by clicking the View Image button within a document"

Sources and Documents of United States Constitutions is an annotated collection of the fundamental instruments recording the historical development of constitutional government in each state in the Union. For example, the Florida section includes the Treaty of Amity (1819); Act of March 3, 1821; territorial acts; and Florida Constitutions, 1838-1968.

• General Collection KF 4530 .S94

Sources and Documents of United States Constitutions, Second Series provides a substantial number of additional documents dealing with constitutional development, but not directly or exclusively relevant to a single state, starting with Privileges and Prerogatives granted to Christopher Columbus (1492) and ending with Bakke v. University of California Regents (June 28, 1979).

• General Collection KF 4530 .S942

• Microfilm E 169.1 .A47 (all reels were withdrawn due to damage)
• 643 reels (all reels were withdrawn due to damage)
• 471-page guide -- Reference E 169.1 .A47

American Culture Series, 1493-1875. -- Early American books and pamphlets. ACS I is a single complete unit of about 250 titles arranged in chronological order, 1493-1806, on 26 reels. ACS II consists of more than 5,500 titles arranged in categories repeated in 20 units on reels 27-643. The ACS II units are not chronological; each of the units may contain books or pamphlets published between 1604 and 1951. The ACS II categories include

• Art & Architecture (274 titles)
• History (1,574 titles)
• Literature & Languages (903 titles)
• Music (45 titles)
• Philosophy, Psychology & Religion (472 titles)
• Economics (578 titles)
• Education (135 titles)
• Journalism (58 titles)
• Politics & Law (311 titles)
• Military & Naval History & Science (293 titles)
• Anthropology & Sociology (240 titles)
• Sciences--astronomy, botany, chemistry, geography, geology, mathematics, medicine, physics, & zoology (683 titles).

See also: Early American Imprints. Series I. Evans and PCMI Library Collection.

• Reference E 173 .A793
• 21 volumes

Provides the history of America through letters, documents, speeches, etc - beginning with a letter home from Columbus in 1493 and ending with part of an article by Scott Buchanan, philosopher, educator, and writer on politics, published in the Center Magazine in 1968.

• Reference E 178.5 .A48
• 7 volumes

"The intent ...is to tell the history of America through pictures made at the time the history was being made."

The UCF Library has the digital collection, but does not have the microfilm version based on Joseph Sabin's bibliography, "Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America From its Discovery to the Present Time"
Reference Z 1201.S2 1961

• Microfiche (call number varies)
• 990 titles on microfiche
• 107-page guide -- F591.W47 Guide

1,012 books and documents, primarily of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, on the American West.

Search the UCF library catalog by the series title "Western Americana" or by individual titles to identify unique call numbers.

• Microfilm/Microfiche HQ 1121 .G47
• 2 volume guide -- Reference HQ 1121 .G47

International coverage. Includes 4,311 monographs and 265 serials on 17,500 microfiche and 241 reels of microfilm.

• Microfilm CD 3269 .A2 C32
• 12 reels
• 45-page guide -- Reference CD 3269 .A2 C32

Microfilm of manuscript collection in the University of Notre Dame Archives.

• Microfilm E 99 .I7 I7
• 50 reels
• 718 page guide -- Reference E 99 .I7 I7

• Microfilm F 591 .F7 (microfilm damaged, no longer available in UCF Libraries collection)
• 123 reels

Manuscripts collected by Lyman Draper (1815-1891) chiefly on the history of the trans-Allegheny West. Occasionally referred to as the "Draper Papers."

Appendix III on pages 419-459 of the guide [Reference F 591.F7 Guide] identifies more than 575 cartographic pieces in the Draper Manuscripts. "Diverse in topics, areas covered, and the skill of the cartographers, these include numerous sketches delineating prehistoric Indian mounds in Ohio and the interior of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky..., maps depicting the early Virginia-Tennessee-Kentucky border region..., land survey plats, plats of the Tippecanoe battlefield in 1811 by two participants..., the Old Northwest in 1812..., and an 1821 map of the area which became Minneapolis, Minnesota...."

• Microfilm PR 1 .E53
• 969 reels
• 96-page guide -- Reference PR 1 .E532

Consists of 341 titles published in Great Britain during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Although predominantly literary in nature, these periodicals nevertheless encompass a wide variety of subject matter and thus provide a wealth of information about the cultural life of the times.

The electronic index was incomplete, but growing; it was canceled due to budget cuts. The print index provides very limited subject access to the complete set and is shelved in the UCF Library's Reference Collection. About twenty-five of the periodicals in this collection are at least partially indexed in Poole's Index to Periodical Literature [Reference AI 3 .P7] (1802-1906).

Search the UCF library catalog by individual periodical title (i.e., Journal/Magazine Title: "albemarle") for call numbers, then get reel number from the note in the catalog record; or search by series title (Title: "english literary periodicals") for a list of titles. Some titles listed in the print index are not yet listed in the library catalog, but are available in the microfilm.

• Microfiche AC 1 .P25

Full text reproductions on ultrafiche of works from American civilization, literature, humanities, science & technology, and social sciences. No guide is available, but the individual titles are included in the UCF library catalog.

Browse the UCF library catalog by call number

See also: Early American Imprints. Series I. Evans and American Culture Series.

• Microfilm E 332 .J654 1977
• 10 reels
• 96-page guide -- Reference E 332 .J654 1977 (guide is also available online at University of Virginia)

See also the Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress.

• APS I, 1741-1799, 33 reels -- Microfilm AP 2 .A387 -- 2-volume guide -- Reference AP 2 .A387 Guide
• APS II, 1800-1850, 1,966 reels -- Microfilm AP 2 .A388 -- 341-page guide -- Reference AP 2 .A388 Guide
• APS III, 1850-1935, 771 reels -- Microfilm AP 2 .A389

Includes more than 1,100 periodicals.

American Periodical Series Online is incomplete, but growing, and provides full text access. American Periodicals Index (subscription canceled) is also incomplete, but may have some coverage not yet included in the full text database.

American Periodical Series covers all known periodical publications that had their inception and ending from 1741 to 1935. The full text of the actual periodicals are in the UCF Library in three microfilm collections (often referred to as APS I, APS II and APS III). You may find the CD-ROM version available in the Library's Electronic Reference Area easier to use. The print index provides very limited subject access to the complete series and is shelved in the UCF Library's Reference Collection [REF AP2.A388]. A more detailed 2-volume print index is available for APS I [REF AP2.A387], providing citations to specific articles. Nearly one hundred of the periodicals in the APS II & APS III collections are at least partially indexed in Poole's Index to Periodical Literature [REF AI3.P7] (1802-1906). See also Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature [Gen Coll AI3.R48] for some indexing of articles from 1890-1935.

Search the UCF library catalog by individual periodical title (i.e., Journal/Magazine Title: "american apollo") for call numbers, then get reel number from the series note in the catalog record; or search by series title (Journal/Magazine Title: "american periodical series") for a list of titles.

Asia & the West: Diplomacy & Cultural Exchange, including:

• British Foreign Office:
• Japan Correspondence, 1856-1923
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in China, Siam, Java, Netherlands East Indies, Philippine Islands, Vietnam
• Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church Correspondence, 1846-1949 (China, Japan, Korea)
• Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in China (1849-1931) and in Japan (1855-1912)

British Politics & Society, including:

• British Cabinet Papers, 1880-1906
• Home Office Papers & Records, Registered Papers, Disturbances Entry Books, Domestic Entry Books, Post Office Correspondence, Domestic Correspondence from 1773 to 1861
• Papers of
• Charles James Fox, 1749-1806
• Sir Robert Peel (Prime Minister, 1834-5, 1841-5 & 1845-6)
• John Cam Hobhouse, 1809-1869
• Rare Radical & Labour Periodicals of Great Britain
• Working Class Autobiographies
• Whitechapel Murders Papers: Letters Relating to the "Jack the Ripper" Killings

British Theatre, Music, & Literature: High & Popular Culture, including:

• British Playbills, 1754-1882
• Drury Lane Theatre Archive; Manuscript Plays & Correspondence
• King's Theatre Haymarket Archive
• Popular Literature in 18th & 19th Century Britain
• Wandering Minstrels Archive
• Royal Philharmonic Society Archive & Music Manuscripts

Europe & Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization & Conquest, including:

• Colonial African Newspapers
• Despatches from U.S. Consuls in British Africa, British West Africa, Cape Colony, Cape Verde Islands, Congo, Dakar, Gaboon, Gambia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Portuguese Africa, St. Helena, Sierra Leone, The Transvaal, Zanzibar
• International Population Census, Africa
• Personal Narratives & Reminiscences of the Exploration of Africa
• Selected Colonial Office Files, Foreign Office Files, and India Office Files on Africa
• Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1846-1912: Africa
• Yale Divinity School Periodicals on Africa

European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection

• 3,250+ works by 1,250+ authors in English (more than 1,000 titles by women)
• 3,658 works in French (more than 500 by women)
• 2,654 works in German

Photography: The World through the Lens, including:

• History of Photography
• Photographs from British Admiralty Office, British Colonial Office, Victoria & Albert Museum, Royal Archives
• British Journal of Photography & Annual, 1854-1914
• Early Rare Photographic Books from the Northwestern Museum of Science & Industry Collection
• Albums from David Octavius Hill & Robert Adamson, 1843-1848
• Japanese Old Photographs in Bakumatsu-Meiji Period

Science, Technology & Medicine: 1780-1925, including:

• American Medical Periodicals
• Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Civil Engineering
• Color Theory & Practice
• Electricity & Electromagnetism
• Evolution & the Origin of Species
• Mathematics
• Scientific & Technical Periodicals from the Royal Society of London's Catalogue of Scientific Papers, 1800-1900

Women: Transnational Networks, including:

• British Birth Control Material at the British Library of Political & Economic Sciences: 1800-1947
• Diaries of Elizabeth Fry, 1797-1845
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton
• Quaker Women's Diaries: 18th-19th Centuries

• Microfilm E 302.6 .B9 B9
• 27 reels
• 100-page guide -- Reference E 302.6 .B9 B9

Burr, Aaron, 1756-1836.

• Series I: Letters written by and to Burr, the records of his public career, & miscellaneous business records such as receipts, promissory notes, & deeds. (Reels 1-11)
• Series II: Orderly books kept by Burr during the Revolution and the Journal kept by him for the period 1808-1812. (Reel 12)
• Series III: Records of Burr's legal practice, 1782-1836. (Reels 13-27)

• General Collection D 2 .A7
• Latest 5 editions in Reference D 2 .A7
• Internet Library of Early Journals provides free online full-text for volumes from 1758-1778

"Contents vary. 19th- and early-20th-century volumes are strong in biographical information in the obituary sections. Recent volumes have few obituary notices. Includes survey articles on the year's developments in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and other countries of the world; international organizations; and chapters on religion, science, law, the arts, economics, etc. Includes some public documents, and many abstracts of political speeches. Gives English affairs with more fullness than those of other countries." [ALA Guide to Reference Books, 11th ed.]

• Microfilm PS 535 .W7
• 1,400 reels
• 416-page guide -- Reference PS 535 .W7
• related online guides for American Fiction, 1774-1910 and 1911-1920
• Many of the titles from 1851-1875 are also available online.

"Among the prose forms represented in this series are romances, short stories, fictitious biographies, travels and sketches, and allegories. Although the earliest writings reveal a preoccupation with travel, adventure, temperance, and matrimony, by the mid-1800's many authors began turning to more serious themes, such as slavery and the war, women's rights, westward migration, and social reform. In the last quarter of the century, as the U.S. began to emerge as a modern industrial nation, writers portrayed the diverse life-styles of the population. The collection contains all of the obtainable titles, 10,827 items in all, cited by Lyle H. Wright in his three definitive bibliographies,"

• American Fiction 1774-1850 -- Reference PS 375 .W67
• American Fiction 1851-1875 -- Reference PS 375 .W68
• American Fiction 1876-1900 -- Reference PS 375 .W69

• Microfilm E 340 .W79 B6
• 24 reels
• 23-page guide -- Reference E 340 .W79 B6

Wirt, William, 1772-1834.

Over 8,000 items from the papers of a successful author and eminent lawyer who was Attorney General of the United States from 1817-1829.

The UCF Library has several microfiche sets providing full text of documents from the U.S. Government, including:

• CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index, 1833-1969
• American Statistics Index (1984+)

See also: Congressional Publications: Finding Aids

• CIS U.S. Serial Set Index / American State Papers, 1789-1969
• CIS Index of Congressional Publications & Legislative Histories (1970+)
• The index for the microfiche is available in ProQuest Congressional
• Online versions

• Microfilm E 98 .M65 M3535
• 13 reels
• 9-page guide -- Reference E 98 .M65 M3535
• finding aid (Kansas State Historical Society)

Papers of Rev. Isaac McCoy (1784-1846), Baptist minister, Indian missionary and surveyor.

• Microfilm HB 3711 .R42
• 7 reels
• 7-page guide -- Reference HB 3711 .R42

Collection of books and government documents on depressions and monetary situations in the United States

• Microfiche T 1 .F825 F72
• 536 fiche
• 74-page guide -- Reference T 1 .F825 F72

• Microfilm E 98 .M65 M64
• 2 reels
• 5-page guide -- Reference E 98 .M65 M64
• finding aid (Kansas State Historical Society)

Papers of Rev. Jotham Meeker (1804-1855), Baptist minister, Indian missionary and printer

• Microfilm HQ 1413 .S67 S7 1992
• 45 reels
• 203-page guide -- Reference HQ 1413 .S67 S7 1992
• ser. 1. The Revolution (1868-1872) (reels 1-3)
• ser. 2. National Woman Suffrage Association collection (1880), Chicago Historical Society (reels 4-5)
• ser. 3. Chronological collection, 1831-1906 (reels 6-45)
• Selected materials are available online (Rutgers University)

• Microfilm E 98 .M6 A4
• 35 reels
• 100-page guide -- Reference E 98 .M6 A4

"The Confidential Print comprises diplomatic dispatches and other papers...it is important to note that British diplomats used a wide variety of contemporary sources—newspapers, speeches, government documents, political pamphlets and manifestos, economic statistics, census reports, personal interviews, and formal and informal discussions with the leaders of their host countries—as the factual bases for their dispatches and reports. These sources were not only used and quoted but were frequently translated and included as addenda in the Confidential Print."

• Series A: Russia, Soviet Union & Finland (1859-1950)
• Series C: North America (1837-1950)
• Series D: Latin America (1845-1950)
• Series G: Africa (1848-1950)

Other series not available at UCF:

• Series B: The Near & Middle East
• Series E: Asia
• Series F: Europe
• Series H: The First World War, 1914-1918
• Series I: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919
• Series J: The League of Nations, 1918-1941
• Series K: Economic Affairs, Cultural Propaganda, & the Reform of the Foreign Office, 1910-1939
• Series L: World War II & General
• Series M: International Organizations, Commonwealth Affairs & General

• Microfilm DA 550 .V5 1990
• 10 reels
• 66-page guide -- Reference DA 550 .V5 1990

• Microfilm DA 550 .V5 1990
• 12 reels
• 87-page guide -- Reference DA 550 .V5 1990

• Microfilm HN 400 .R3 R37 1970 -- Period I
• Microfilm HN 400 .R3 R3 1970 -- Period II
• 1,138 fiche & 46 reels
• No guide is available

"Protest Literature of the Industrial Revolution, 1794-1881, includes publications of Jacobins and other republicans, Owenite cooperators, and Chartists who helped stimulate the growth of class consciousness and the development of trade union power in 19th-century England. Marxism and the Machine Age, 1867-1914, covers the varieties of Marxist, socialist, anarchist, and syndicalist ideologies behind the development of the British Labour Party to the eve of World War I."

Period I:

• [Pt. 1.] Reynold's Political instructor, no. 1-27, 1849-1850
• [Pt. 2.] Working man: weekly record of social and industrial progress, 1866. Series 1/1-26, series 2/1-25
• [Pt. 3.] People's paper; Champion of political justice and universal right. No. 1-34, May-Dec, 1852
• [Pt. 4.] Diplomatic review. Vols. 1-6, Oct. 1855 - Dec. 1858.

Period II:

• [Pt. 1.] Social economist: industrial partnerships' record and cooperative review. Vols. 1-3, 1867-1869
• [Pt. 2.] International herald (International Working Men's Association. British Section) No. 1-81, 1872-1873
• [Pt. 3.] Labour standard : an organ of industry. Vols. 1-5
• [Pt. 4.] Progress: a monthly magazine of advanced thought. Vols. 1-7, 1883-1887
• [Pt. 5.] Our Corner. Vols. 1-12, 1883-1888
• [Pt. 6.] Today: the monthly magazine of scientific socialism. Series 2: v. 1-11, 1883-1889
• [Pt. 7.] Labour world: a journal devoted to the interests of all who toil. Series 1: v. 1-6/no.9. Series 2: v. 1-2, 1884-1891
• [Pt. 8.] Commonweal: organ fo the Socialist League. Series 2: v. 1-2, 1885-1894
• [Pt. 9.] Labour elector: the organ of practical socialism. Series 1: no. 1-9. Series 2: v. 1-5, 1888-1894
• [Pt. 10.] International review. No. 1-3, 1889
• [Pt. 11.] Liberty: a journal of anarchist communism. Vols. 1-3/no. 12, 1894-1896
• [Pt. 12.] Social democrat: a monthly socialist review. Vols. 1-15 1897-1911
• [Pt. 13.] Voice of labour: a weekly periodical for those who work and think. No. 1-36, 1907
• [Pt. 14.] S.D.P. news: a monthly journal of internal affairs for members of the Social Democrats Party. Vols. 1-2, 1910-1911
• [Pt. 15.] Worker. No. 1- 23, 1910-1912
• [Pt. 16.] Herald of revolt: organ of the Coming social revolution. Vols. 1-4/no. 5, 1910- 1914
• [Pt. 17.] British socialist. Vols. 1-2, 1912-1913
• [Pt. 18.] Joutnal of internal affairs for members of the British Socialist Party. Series 1: no. 1-11. Series 2: no. 1-12, 1912-1916

"Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology."

• General Collection E 464 .U6
• Ser. I. [Formal reports, both Union and Confederate, of the first seizures of United States property in the Southern States] (53 v. in 111)
• Ser. II. [Correspondence, orders, reports and returns, Union and Confederate, relating to prisoners of war and to state or political prisoners] (8 v.)
• Ser. III. [Correspondence, orders, reports and returns of the Union authorities] (5 v.)
• Ser. IV. [Correspondence, orders, reports and returns of the Confederate authorities] (3. v.)
• General index and additions and corrections

Online versions are available from Cornell University and Ohio State University and in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.

Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies is available in the UCF Library Atlas Collection -- Atlas G 1201 .S5 U6 1958

• Part 1
  • Plates 1-84: Maps and illustrations relating to military operations in the field
• Part 2
  • Plates 85-135: Maps and illustrations relating to military operations in the field
  • Plates 136-161: General topographical maps
  • Plates 162-171: Military divisions and departments
  • Plate 172: Uniforms, soldiers and enlisted men
  • Plate 173: Ordnance, ordnance stores, etc.
  • Plate 174: Care of, and means of transport of sick or wounded
  • Plate 175 Corps flags, badges, etc.

 See also: Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion

• General Collection E 591.U58
• available online from Cornell University and in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set

• Microfiche JK 9803 .A4
• 76 fiche
• no guide; general index on microfiche, v.7, p. 847-966
• online version (American Memory)

On verso of t.p. (v.1): In the Senate of the United States, January 28, 1904. Resolved, That the secretary of war be, and he is hereby, directed to transmit to the Senate a copy of the Journal of the Provisional and the First and Second Congresses of the Confederate States of America, now in the custody of the War Department.

"Convention to frame permanent constitution...Feb. 28-March 11, 1861," and "Constitution for the Provisional government of the Confederate States of America": v.1, p. 851-924.

Issued as Senate Document no. 234 of the 58th Congress, 2nd Session. Also available in the UCF Library on microfiche and online in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set, numbers 4610-4616

• Microfilm HE 2791 .G775
• 25 reels
• 23-page guide -- Reference HE 2791 .G775

Most of the material is concerned with the period prior to 1923.

• Series A: Board of Directors' minutes and corporate histories
• series B: labor
• series C: settlement and development.

• Microfilm HE 2791 .N587
• Microfilm HE 2791 .N857
• 25 reels
• 22-page guide -- Reference HE 2791 .N587

Most of the material is concerned with the period prior to 1923.

• Series A: Board of Directors' minutes and corporate histories
• series B: labor
• series C: settlement and development.

• Microfilm E 93 .I46
• 136 reels
• 233-page guide -- Reference E 93 .I46

• Microfilm E 51 .U5...
• 42 reels
• 127-page guide -- Refererence E 51 .U5 Guide
• Part 1. Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. Bulletins, 1887-1971 (Reels 1-27)
• Part 2. Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. Annual reports, 1879-1931 (Reels 28-42)

Some volumes are available in the U. S. Congressional Serial Set.

Some print and microfiche volumes are also available in the UCF Library:

• U.S. Documents SI 2.1:
• Special Collections E 51 .U55 (1903/04, 1912/13)
• Microfiche E 51 .U55 (1879/80-1930/31)
• Microfiche AC 1 .P25 no.838-840 ( 1899-1910)

List of Publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology with Index to Authors and Titles -- Reference GN 550 .S58 Guide

Other online sources for the Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology:

• 1879-1930 (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
• 1885/86 (University of Georgia)
• 1897/98 pt.1 (University of Georgia)

• Microfiche LB 1050 .W469
• Guide -- Reference LB 1050 .W469

Provides a retrospective compilation of reading research documents from key journals, books, research reports, and monographs published between 1884 and 1980. The full text documents are available in the UCF Library on microfiche. An author/subject guide is available in the Reference Collection. Author/subject index cards in the drawers preceding the microfiche also provide abstracts.

• Microfilm F 499 .T6 J659 1976
• 15 reels
• 95-page guide -- Reference F 499 .T6 J659 1976

Samuel Milton Jones was the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, from 1897 to 1904. The collection is a rich source of primary materials documenting the development of liberal thought and political action in the United States.

• 8-page guide-- Reference E 93 .U6773 Guide -- for the three following sets:
  • South Dakota Emergency Relief Administration
    Survey of Indian Reservations, 1935.
    • Microfilm E 78 .S63 S7
    • 3 reels
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Indian Affairs
    Survey of Conditions of the Indians in the United States. 1928-1943
    • Microfilm E 93 .U6773
    • 8 reels
  • United States. Superintendent for the Five Civilized Tribes
    Reports of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes. 1894-1920
    • Microfilm E 78 .I5 U85
    • 3 reels

See the database "Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records & Personal Papers, Part 1" for online access.

• Part 1: Minutes of National Conventions, Publications, and President's Office Correspondence
• Part 2: President's Office Files, 1958-1968

The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc. (NACWC) is the oldest African American secular organization in existence today. The NACWC series provides researchers access for the first time to the records of this crucial social movement. This collection documents the founding of the organization and the role that it has played in the political, economic, and social development of the modern African American community, as well as its involvement in national and international reform movements.

See the database "Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records & Personal Papers, Part 2" for online access.

The Arthur W. Mitchell Papers, 1898-1968 comprise a collection of some 73,000 pages within ProQuest History Vault's module Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 2. Held by the Chicago History Museum Research Center of the Chicago Historical Society, the correspondence and collected professional papers span a period of 70 years, with particular emphasis on the period 1935-1943 during which Mitchell was the first Black American elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Congress. The collection documents the activities and insights of the Congressman who was a keen chronicler of the changing role of Black Americans in society and on a handful of key civil rights issues, among them: anti-lynching legislation, abolishment of Jim Crow laws that permitted racial segregation in interstate transportation, and increased employment opportunities for Black Americans tied to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and the entry of the U.S. into World War II.