Strategies: Find Primary Source Books

To find books on the dress of a particular era:

Strategy 1: Search by era and item

• Example: 1980s AND (dress OR fashion)

Strategy 2: Browse by Subject Heading: 

• Example:
  • Fashion History 19th century. (205 items)
  • Fashion History 20th century. (384 items)
  • Fashion History 21st century. (71 items)
  • Clothing and dress History.

It looks like this - and I included the first five book results: 

Strategy 3: Try adding the subject: Pictorial Works.

• though you may not need it!

Advertisements from Old Magazines:

These can give you a perspective on the society and cultural values of a historic era, as well as a window into the clothing styles and technological advances of the day!

Find a collection of old ads in these books:

Find primary sources in the following history databases.

• Limit to primary sources and images if necessary.
• Use filters to find sources from the appropriate period.

Historical Newspaper Databases: 

CQ Research Reports on Issues

CQ Researcher is a multidisciplinary collection of reports on contemporary cultural issues - that extend back to the 1920s! This makes it a good source of primary materials!

• When you search or browse CQ Researcher, be sure to pay attention to the date of the report to be sure it addresses the era you are focused on. You can set date limits and search by keyword from the Advanced Search.
• This search of women between 1920 and 1950 returned, among other reports, this report on women in the employment force post WWII.

Sample Search in ProQuest Historical 

Step 1: Select Browse and Study Units on the right.

Step 2: Limit to American History and choose the appropriate time range.

Step 3: Choose a Topic

Step 4: Choose Primary Sources, Images and more

Using original print resources

The library has paper copies of old magazines! These can be useful as primary sources!

1. Note the date/time period of the historical event or era you are researching
2. Browse through the back issues of magazines in the periodicals section of the library (they are shelved alphabetically upstairs in Holman Library)
3. You can photocopy or scan and save to your One Drive any images and articles you find in your research. Just be sure to keep track of and cite the original source.

from January 11, 1960

Read this cover story article
(find the paper copy in the library):
What were the concerns with the world's population from a 1960's perspective?
Are they the same concerns we have today?

Some suggested places to start:

A Secondary Source: Cultural History of African American Women's Magazines