LibGuides: Religious Studies: Religion in America

Online Reference Sources

The Avalon Project of the Yale Law School will mount digital documents (transcripts) relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government.

Catholic Encyclopedia

Online version of the 1913 edition.

Center for Religion and Democracy

Eletronic Text Center

University of Virigina's Scholar Lab; Contains publically accessible important texts
Religious Resources

Encyclopedia of American Studies

Encyclopedia Mythica

An encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and legend. Covers a variety of cultures and time periods.

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, & Abolition

Making of America

At University of Michigan
At Cornell University

Mormons in Transition

Sponsored by the Institute for Religious Research, this page provides criticism on different aspects of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

New Testament Gateway

Directory of internet resources of possible interest to New Testament scholars.

Religion Gateway

Annotated guide to religion resources on the Internet.

Theory and Method of American Cultural Studies

United States Department of Justice Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Reading Rooms

This site includes copies of documents frequently requested from the Department of Justice and its subsidiary agencies (including the FBI) under the Freedom of Information Act. There is also a collection of links to the FOIA Reading Rooms of other Federal departments and agencies.

University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections

This site showcases some of the print, photograph and textual collections held in the University of Washington Libraries and in UW academic departments, as well as some found in the collections of their partner libraries, museums and historical societies. Current collections include an extensive collection of images and texts on American Indians of the Pacific Northwest; the "Digital Northwest" image collections; several biological and environmental image collections, and a database of architecture and city views from around the world.

Valley of the Shadow Project

The Valley of the Shadow Project takes two communities, one Northern and one Southern, through the experience of the American Civil War. The project is a hypermedia archive of thousands of sources for the period before, during, and after the Civil War for Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Those sources include newspapers, letters, diaries, photographs, maps, church records, population census, agricultural census, and military records. Students can explore every dimension of the conflict and write their own histories, reconstructing the life stories of women, African Americans, farmers, politicians, soldiers, and families. Also included is a GIS Atlas of the areas covered.

Western History Photography Collection

This collection of the Western History/Geneology Department of the Denver Public Library and the Colorado Historical Society, contains some 80,000 selected images and catalog records of Native Americans, pioneers, early railroads, mining, Denver and Colorado towns, from their total archives of over one million items. Notable collections depict the daily lives of the Tenth Mountain Division ski troops and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, the Clarence Moreledge photographs at Wounded Knee, and the Charles S. Lillybridge collection which depicts daily life in Denver around the turn of the 20th century.

Wilfred Owen Multimedia Digital Archive (WOMDA)

The Wilfred Owen Multimedia Digital Archive contains a host of material relating to the First World War poet Wilfred Owen, in particular, and a large amount of related background material on the War in general . Contents include high quality digital images of his manuscripts and letters, copies of photographs, audio interviews with WWI veterans, video clips from official British Army films of the war and other miscellany.

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000

Women and Social Movements is intended to serve as a resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history. Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, the website seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding at the same time that it makes the insights of women's history accessible to teachers and students at universities, colleges, and high schools.

World War II Resources

This site, created by the Pearl Harbor Working Group, is an extensive collection of primary texts covering World War II, and the pre- and post-war periods, from many of the governments involved, plus links to other WWII Web resources. The original core of the collection was the complete Congressional hearings on the Pearl Harbor attack (over 5,000 pages) but it has grown to encompass far more than that.

Virtual Religion Index

Rutgers University offers one of the best gateway sites for Religious Studies.

Primary Sources

Subscription Databases (Login with UCSB NetID)

Religions of America
Religions of America traces the history and unique character of religious movements that originated in or were re-shaped by the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection pays especially close attention to America’s unique role as a birthplace for new religious movements, especially after World War II. This collection includes materials from a variety of sources in an efforts to capture the varieties of the American religious experience. This database includes materials from the UCSB Library's American Religions Collection.

Date Coverage: 1823-2004; 19th century; 20th century
Materials Indexed: Archival Materials, Correspondence, Journal Articles, Magazine Articles, Newsletter Articles, Pamphlets, Periodical Titles, Primary Sources
African American Newspapers: The 19th Century
This collection contains a wealth of information about the cultural life and history during the 1800s, and is rich with first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day, including the Mexican War, Presidential and congressional addresses, Congressional abstracts, business and commodity markets, the humanities, world travel and religion. These newspapers also contain large numbers of early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements all of which embody the African-American experience.

Date Coverage: 19th-century America
Materials Indexed: Biographical Information; Newspaper Articles; Poetry; Primary Sources; Statistics
American Civil War: Letters and Diaries
Diaries, letters, and memoirs of politicians, generals, slaves, landowners, farmers, seaman, wives, and even spies giving not only both the Northern and Southern perspectives, but those of foreign observers also.

Date Coverage: American Civil War, 1860 -1866
Materials Indexed: Primary Sources
Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective
Full text of major articles from The New York Herald, The Charleston Mercury and the Richmond Enquirer, published between November 1, 1860 and April 15, 1865.

Date Coverage: November 1, 1860 - April 15, 1865, American Civil War
Materials Indexed: Newspaper Articles
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans (1639-1800)
Based on the renowned American Bibliography by Charles Evans. The definitive resource for every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, witchcraft, and just about any other topic imaginable.

Date Coverage: 1639-1800, 17th- and 18th-century America
Materials Indexed: Books; Pamphlets; Primary Sources
Empire Online
A collection of original documents relating to Empire Studies from 1492 - 2007.

Date Coverage: 1492 to present.
Materials Indexed: Biographical Information; Book Chapters; Books; Images; Journal Articles; Pamphlets; Photographs; Primary Sources
Everyday Life and Women in America
Rare primary source material from the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History. It comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing 19th and early 20th century political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.

Materials Indexed: Photographs; Primary Sources
Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online
Books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the revolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights.

Date Coverage: 1843 -1945
Materials Indexed: Books; Journal Articles; Magazine Articles; Primary Sources
Godey's Lady's Book
In 1830, in Philadelphia, Louis Antoine Godey (1804-1878) commenced the publication of Godey's Lady's Book which he designed specifically to attract the growing audience of American women.

In addition to extensive fashion descriptions and plates, the early issues included biographical sketches, articles about mineralogy, handcrafts, female costume, the dance, equestrienne procedures, health & hygiene, recipes & remedies, etc.

Date Coverage: 1830-1880
Materials Indexed: Newspaper Articles; Primary Sources
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Letters and diaries from individuals writing from colonial times to 1950, plus journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings, much of the material is in copyright.

Date Coverage: Colonial times to 1950
Materials Indexed: Primary Sources
Pennsylvania Newspaper Record: Delaware County
Documents the industrialization of predominantly agrarian culture established by Quaker farmers in the 18th century. Contains full-text transcriptions of articles, advertisements, and vital statistics, providing insight into technology, business activity and material culture in a down-river milling and manufacturing community at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Date Coverage: 1819 -1870, 19th Century
Materials Indexed: Newspaper Articles; Primary Sources
Sixties: Primary Documents Personal Narratives 1960-1974
Diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary.

1960 -1974 Sixties
Materials Indexed: Interviews, Oral History Interviews, Primary Sources

Other Primary Sources

Adherents.com

A collection of religious adherent statistics and religious geography citations. Contains references to published membership/adherent statistics and congregation statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, etc.

All-in-one Biblical Resources Search

Engine which searches the full text of several versions (in several languages) of the Judeo-Christian Bible.

The American Religion Data Archive

A database of quantitative data on American religions including churches and church membership, religious professionals, and religious groups.

AmericanSouth.org

Southern history and culture. Not to be confused with Documenting the American South, see below.

Documenting the American South

Provides access to digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture including slave narratives, first-person narratives,Southern literature, Confederate imprints, materials related to the church in the black community, and North Caroliniana.

Lincoln/Net: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project

Presents historical materials from Abraham Lincoln's Illinois years (1830-1861), including Lincoln's writings and speeches, as well as other materials illuminating antebellum Illinois.
Lincoln/Net offers comprehensive interpretive materials including discussions of eight historical themes and an online Lincoln biography.

Perseus Project

Tufts University's digital library project, containing materials related to: Greece & Rome, Renaissance, 19th century America and more. Access to Greek and Latin lexica.

Restoration Movement

Contains primary and secondary source material for researching the Restoration Movement (out of which came the Churches of Christ, the Christian Churches, and the Disciples of Christ).

Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project

Collection of primary source materials, including court records, contemporary books, maps, images, and literary works, relating to the Salem witch trials of 1692.

Shaker Manuscripts Online

Links to various Shaker manuscripts.

United States Historical Census Browser

Data for each state and county from 1790 to 1970.
For other sources of census data see the InfoSurf US Federal documents page.

Print Reference Sources

Atlas of American Religion: The Denominational Era, 1776-1990
Main Ref BR 515 N49 2000

Complete Guide to Buddhist America
Main Ref BQ 724 C65 1998

Contemporary American Religion (2 vols.)
Main Ref BL 2525 C65 2000

Encyclopedia of African American Religions
EGSL Ref BR 563.N4 E53 1993

Encyclopedia of American Jewish History (2 vols.)
Main Ref E 184.35 E53 2008

Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics
Main Ref BL 2525 D58 2003

Encyclopedia of American Religions (2 vols.)
Main Ref BL 2525 M449 2003

Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States (2 vols.)
Main Ref BP 67 U6 E 53 2007

Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects and New Religions
Main Ref BL 2525 L49 1998

History and Annotated Bibliography of American Religious Periodicals and Newspapers Established from 1730 through 1830
Main Ref PN4888.R4 A43 1994

New Historical Atlas of Religion in America
Main Ref G 1201 E4 N4 2001

New Religions: A Guide
Main Ref BP 601 C47 2006

Religious Periodicals of the United States: Academic and Scholarly
Main Ref PN4888.R4 L5 1986

The Religious Right: A Reference Handbook
Main Ref BR 526 U88 2007

Libraries and Research Centers

American Religions Collection

A guide to the holdings in UCSB Library's Special Research Collections.
Includes J. Gordon Melton's manuscript collection.

Center for the Study of American Religion & Culture

A research and public outreach institute devoted to the promotion of the understanding of the relation between religion and other features of American culture.

Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism

A leading center for the historical study of Roman Catholicism in the United States.

Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life

Promotes the study of religious pluralism. This web site also has a useful list of links to other pages about this topic.