There are many places to find these types of sources.
Not everything is available online or online for free.
Many reference books will contain the text of historical documents, reproductions of maps, statistics, etc. These are considered primary even though they have been collected into a book. Reference books, however, also contain analysis of documents, which would be considered secondary. Use the parts that fit your information need.
The Merced County Courthouse Museum is also an excellent resource for local Merced History
Many of these databases also contain other source types, so make sure you use the limiters to filter results to the kind of content you're interested in.
An online database collection on African American history and culture Developed with the guidance of African American librarians and subject specialists
America: History & Life with Full Text is the definitive database of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With selective selective indexing for 1,700 journals from 1955 to present, this database is without question the most important bibliographic reference tool for students and scholars of U.S. and Canadian history. America: History & Life with Full Text also provides full-text coverage of more than 200 journals and nearly 100 books.
The American Indian Experience is an invaluable digital resource that provides in-depth historical accounts and cultural information about the indigenous peoples of North America.
The first-ever database dedicated to the history and culture of Latinos, the largest, fastest growing minority group in the United States.
Designed for public libraries, provides full text for nearly 1,700 general reference publications dating back as far as 1975 covering nearly every subject area. Also contains full text for nearly 500 reference books and over 164,000 primary source documents and over 500,000 images.
Many of these reference books include a mixture of source types, including primary sources (text of historical documents, statistics, etc.), secondary sources (analysis of the historical documents, statistics, etc.), and tertiary sources (bibliographies, references, etc).
California Place Names - The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names by
Absco, a Southern Pacific station, was coined in the 1920s from the name of the American Beet Sugar Company, which had a factory in Oxnard. Pochea is an Indian village site in Riverside County, said to mean "where the rabbit went in." Siskiyou was the Chinook word for 'bobtailed horse,' originally taken over from the Cree language. From Abadi Creek to Zzyzyx Spring, thousands of discoveries await the reader of California Place Names. This is the fourth edition, extensively revised and expanded, of a classic work of Californiana. The curious traveler or resident, as well as the serious student, will find a wealth of description and history in these names, as rich and various as the California landscape itself. Like its predecessors, this edition concentrates on the origins of the names currently used for the cities, towns, settlements, mountains, and streams of California, with engrossing accounts of the history of their usage. It has been updated to incorporate the latest research on California place names published by regional historians and to include new names that have been added to the California map since 1969. Readers will appreciate the local pronunciation of place names with unusual spellings; anyone curious about how to say La Jolla or Weitchpec can find the information here, in phonetic transcriptions. Finally, the many California place names of American Indian origin--such as Yreka, Shasta, Napa, Sonoma, Tamalpais, Yosemite, Lompoc, Mugu, Coachella, or Poway--receive particular attention from editor William Bright. The dictionary includes a Glossary and a Bibliography.
From Mission to Microchip by
There is no better time than now to consider the labor history of the Golden State. While other states face declining union enrollment rates and the rollback of workers' rights, California unions are embracing working immigrants, and voters are protecting core worker rights. What's the difference? California has held an exceptional place in the imagination of Americans and immigrants since the Gold Rush, which saw the first of many waves of working people moving to the state to find work. From Mission to Microchip unearths the hidden stories of these people throughout California's history. The difficult task of the state's labor movement has been to overcome perceived barriers such as race, national origin, and language to unite newcomers and natives in their shared interest. As chronicled in this comprehensive history, workers have creatively used collective bargaining, politics, strikes, and varied organizing strategies to find common ground among California's diverse communities and achieve a measure of economic fairness and social justice. This is an indispensible book for students and scholars of labor history and history of the West, as well as labor activists and organizers.
Lawmen and Desperadoes by
Covering the history of the United States from 1790 to 2003, and including select data projections through 2050, Datapedia presents the best available data on several hundred indicators of social, economic, political, and cultural developments within the nation.
Our Roots Run Deep: The Black Experience in California by
First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Taming the Elephant by
Taming the Elephant is the last of four volumes in the distinguished California History Sesquicentennial Series, an outstanding compilation of original essays by leading historians and writers. These topical, interrelated volumes reexamine the meaning of the founding of modern California during the state's pioneer period. General themes run through all four volumes: the interplay of traditional cultures and frontier innovation in the creation of a distinctive California society; the dynamic interaction of people and nature and the beginnings of massive environmental change; the impact of the California experience on the nation and the world; the influence of pioneer patterns on modern California; and the legacy of ethnic and cultural diversity as a major influence on the state's history. This fourth volume treats the role of post-Gold Rush California government, politics, and law in the building of a dynamic state, with influences that persist today. Provocative essays investigate the creation of constitutional foundations, law and jurisprudence, the formation of government agencies, and the development of public policy. Authors chart the roles played by diverse groups--criminals and peace officers, entrepreneurs and miners, farmers and public officials, defenders of discrimination and female and African American activists. The essays also explore subjects largely overlooked in the past, such as the significance of local and federal government in pioneer California and early struggles to secure civil rights for women and racial minorities.
Wherever There's a Fight: How Runaway Slaves,Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California by
Wherever There's a Fight captures the sweeping story of how freedom and equality have grown in California, from the gold rush right up to the precarious post-9/11 era. The book tells the stories of the brave individuals who have stood up for their rights in the face of social hostility, physical violence, economic hardship, and political stonewalling. It connects the experiences of early Chinese immigrants subjected to discriminatory laws to those of professionals who challenged McCarthyism and those of people whohave fought to gain equal rights in California schools: people of color, people with disabilities, and people standing up for their religious freedom. The authors bring a special focus to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, focusing on the infamous Korematsu case, which was foreshadowed by a century of civil liberties violations and reverberates in more recent times--regrettably, even today in the Patriot Act. And they follow the ongoing struggles for workers' rights and same-sex marriage. State and federal constitutions spell out many liberties and rights, but it is the people who challenge prejudice and discrimination that transform those lofty ideals into practical realities.Wherever There's a Fight paints vivid portraits of these people and brings to light their often hidden stories.
Newspapers are an excellent place to go for primary sources. Use this Research Guide for California Newspapers. This primarily for the Central Valley, although some of these papers are from Los Angeles and San Diego. These are published in English, Spanish, and Russian.
These are some examples of online primary resource collections.
There are many university and government libraries and museums with online collections of primary source materials. Find these collections using Google.
You can even add the words library or archive to the end of the words you enter in the search box to see if a library out there has a collection on your topic, historical period, or historical figure.
If you have a collection you want to share, contact the librarians.