Research Guides: HIS/WGS 377: Gustafson: Online Resources

Internet Resources

Do you need a specific idea for a topic, especially related to film? You Must Remember This, a podcast by Karina Longworth, focuses on the history of the first century of Hollywood, and covers film history from the Silent Era up to the 1980s/1990s. I've placed an example below.

I recommend this podcast because Longworth provides extensive lists of sources in her show notes, which are available on the podcast's website. Here's the show notes for the example episode above:

Marie Dressler, the First Female Star to Conquer Hollywood's Ageism

You can listen to this podcast on Longworth's website or any number of podcast services, such as Spotify, Stitcher, or Apple Podcast.

Public Domain Media

Public domain means that the created piece of work no longer falls under copyright. There are a large number of rules that cover public domain, but general rule of thumb is that anything created before 1925 is now in available. There are some interesting films after this date that are in public domain due to copyright lapse: His Girl Friday, Charade, Night of the Living Dead, and 1960's Little Shop of Horrors. A number of these can be found for free on YouTube or Archive.org.

Open Culture: 101 Free Silent Films
Largely hosted on YouTube or Archive.org, this list compiles links to more than 100 silent films streaming for free.
Open Culture: List of Great Public Domain Films
Available for free streaming on Archive.org, this list links to a large number of films in the public domain. The list includes films directed by D.W. Griffith, Alfred Hitchcock, and Georges Méliès.
The New York Public Library's Digital Collection
This digital archive hosts a wide variety of resources in the public domain, including portrait photographs, theatrical photographs, fashion illustrations, and more.
Archive.org's Magazine Rack
This landing page hosts Archive,org's accessible magazines.It is searchable by year published.
Magazine Art
This site features images of covers and ads from magazines, largely from 1880-1940.

Online Collections

Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers, and Broadcasters in World War II
Resources from the Library of Congress on 8 women on wartime assignments.
Duke University: Women's Travel Diaries
"Diaries written by British and American women who documented their travels to places around the globe, including India, the West Indies, countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as around the United States."
Poetry and Feminism
A selection of poetry, from the 17th century to recent years, on feminism.
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1940
"This collection of life histories consists of approximately 2,900 documents, compiled and transcribed by more than 300 writers from 24 states, working on the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program that was part of the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1940." This collection contains works from all genders.
The Vogue Archive
This is not an open access resource--you can view content, but cannot download it. The coverage of issues begins in the 1890s, and ends in the 2010s. You can view covers and the first two pages of articles (in a low resolution) for free.