American national biography
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History and Literature: A Guide to Research Resources
American National Biography Online
A standard source for U.S. historical biography with over 17,000 individual entries. The ANB Online is fully searchable and includes illustrations, cross-references, and links to external web sites.
African-American Biographical Database
Includes biographies of thousands of African Americans from 1790-1950.
Oxford African American Studies Center
Browse Biographies for full-text entries from an array of reference sources.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The electronic version of the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published in 2004, the sixty volumes of which include 50,000 biographies and some 10,000 images of deceased "men and women who have shaped all aspects of the British past." Enhancements available online include the ability to view articles from the earlier edition of the DNB; a "Themes" section that provides access to "reference lists" of individuals who have held particular offices (e.g., Archbishops of
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Biography
Find biographical information on the Internet through searchable databases and dictionaries, and read obituaries.
Contents:
ALIC Resources
- Biography and Genealogy Master IndexAvailable in the Archives Library Information Center.
- BGMI contains over 20 million biographical citations on over 6 million individuals.
- African American Biographical DatabaseAvailable in the Archives Library Information Center.
- The AABD provides profiles and full-text sketches of African Americans from various sources, many rare, from the period 1790-1950.
- American National Biography.Available in the Archives Library Information Center.
- Published by the Oxford University Press, this 24-volume dictionary is the most inclusive biographical resource for American history available. Go the the ANB Biography of the Day web site to see a sample entry.
- Bibliography of Biographical Resources in ALIC
Databases & Directories
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Search for members of Congress from 1774 to the present.
- Biography
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Tell my story.
The central issue that I still struggle with — two years into this research — is this:
Can I write a credible biography with only secondary sources?
Yes, I am still desperately seeking Emmett Wilson’s scrapbooks. This one is on the Panama Pacific International Expo in San Francisco. Now THAT is a scrapbook! Source: SFPL
This bothers me, because, well, you know. I want to do the best job I can with Emmett’s story.
It isn’t impossible to do a bio with only secondary sources available; in research, primary sources are preferred. But, there are times when you just have to work with what you have, and do the best job you can.
Case in point:
The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough. Source: Amazon.com
David McCullough‘s recent bestseller about Wilbur and Orville Wright. Not a new story.
Definitely, the man was using secondary sources to write this, unless:
- He really is THAT old and hung out with the Wright Brothers in person, or,
- He has access to a time machine that no one else has at present
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