Primary Sources

*NEW* -The Memphis Commercial Appeal is a daily newspaper founded in Memphis,Tennessee. It covers the news in Memphis and the surrounding area from the 1840s to today.

Audience: Middle School, High School, College/Research, Public, Genealogy

Explore primary sources, lesson plans, and other educational tools designed for social studies teachers and students. Content is organized by both historical eras and Tennessee social studies content standards.

Audience: Middle School, Educators

Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present including 125 newspapers from Tennessee.

Audience: Public, Genealogy

Collection of genealogical and historical sources, with coverage dating back to the 1700s. Search U.S. census records, full-text family and local history books, Freedman's Bank records and more.

Audience: High School, College/Research, Public, Genealogy

The Digital Library of Tennessee provides free access to unique materials from museums, libraries, and archives across the state.

Audience: Public, Genealogy

Digital repository of Tennessee history and culture featuring historical records, photographs, documents, maps, postcards, film, audio and other original materials of enduring value.

Audience: Public, Genealogy

Digitized pages of The Tennessean (1812-2009) provide unique historical insight into the regional issues and concerns, such as local government, industrialization, prohibition, and racial struggles. Audience: Middle School, High School, College/Research, Public, Genealogy

Tennessee records, including birth, death, and tax lists are available online thru a partnership with Ancestry.com. While other Ancestry.com resources require a subscription; these records are free for Tennesseans.

Audience: High School, College/Research, Public, Genealogy

*NEW* - Newspapers.com Southeast Edition provides access to newspapers from the southeast United States including 2000+ historical and recent newspapers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Audience: Middle School, High School, College/Research, Public, Genealogy

The Tennessee Blue Book: A History of Tennessee- Student Edition is written for students in upper elementary and middle school who are studying the history of Tennessee.

Audience: Elementary School, Middle School

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world.

Audience: Public, Genealogy

*NEW* - The Knoxville News Sentinel is a daily newspaper founded in Knoxville, Tennessee. It covers the news in Knoxville and the surrounding area from the 1880s to today.

Audience: Middle School, High School, College/Research, Public, Genealogy

Volunteer Voices is a state-wide digitization project that will provide access to primary sources that document Tennessee's rich history and culture.

Audience: Public

*NEW RESOURCE* - Full color issues of The Tennessean newspaper with a seven day delay from publication.  Provides Nashville and Middle Tennessee regional coverage.

Audience: Middle School, High School, College/Research, Public