ENGL 3223: New York in Ten Objects

Includes over four million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more from over 1,000 different archival institutions. Search all collections by keyword, or find archives by location (scroll down the list on the home page and locate archives by country).

Just like the name implies, Google has a database of searchable patents.

Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.

The Library of Congress Digital Collections database offers a wide variety of public domain media materials created on behalf of, or collected by, the federal government. Items include historic maps, photographs, musical scores, oral histories, full text documents, and much more.

You can access the digital collections of Barnard Archives here. Our Digital Collections feature a small fraction of our collections, including the yearbook, the Barnard Bulletin, student publications, and some photographs, with more added daily.

Brooklyn Historical Society collects, preserves, and makes accessible the world’s most comprehensive collection of materials related to Brooklyn’s history and culture. The collections foster new and cutting-edge scholarship; support public learning and research; and enrich BHS’s exhibitions, educational activities, and public programming.

The Brooklyn Collection at Brooklyn Public Library offers images and maps (and other materials) related to sites in Brooklyn and beyond.

Lets you access records of archival collections at Columbia University Libraries, including finding aids, collection descriptions, and available digital content, such as online exhibits and images. Search the repositories of Avery Library, Department of Drawings & Archives, Burke Library Archives, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University Archives, Health Sciences Library Archives & Special Collections, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and Starr East Asian Library Rare Books and Special Collections.

See the fraction of the collections that are digitized here. Relying on the expertise of distinguished curators and scholars, You can view exhibitions, books, articles, photographs, prints, audio and video streams, and selected external links for research in the history and cultures of the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora.

Digitized maps and and photographs, which are also searchable through an interactive map feature.

Created as part of the library, this digital collection represents a small portion of NYHS' archival and photographic holdings. You can search the entire holdings of NYHS' library through their catalog.

Inclusive of libraries in Manhattan the Bronx and Staten Island, NYPL has a huge cache of historic photographs of the City of New York, (including Queens and Brooklyn). NYPL has a world class map collection, which includes street level maps across the five boroughs. The digital archives of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture are also a part of this collection.

The bulk of the Archives' holdings consists of architectural plans dating between the 1910s and 1966. There is also a modest collection of material related to the history and development of the Yard, artifacts salvaged from the Yard, and personal papers donated by individuals or families of Yard workers. Our digital library contains more than 10,000 photographs, architectural plans, artifacts, and ephemera related to the history of the Yard, as well as the full run of the Yard's newspaper, the Shipworker.

The mission of Interference Archive is to explore the relationship between cultural production and social movements. This work manifests in an open stacks archival collection, publications, a study center, and public programs including exhibitions, workshops, talks, and screenings, all of which encourage critical and creative engagement with the rich history of social movements. The archive contains many kinds of objects that are created as part of social movements by the participants themselves: posters, flyers, publications, photographs, books, T-shirts and buttons, moving images, audio recordings, and other materials.

The Lesbian Herstory Archives is home to the world's largest collection of materials by and about lesbians and their communities. The collection includes digital images of ACT UP demonstrations and related ephemera.

This database contains over 185,000 images (including photographs, maps, archival materials and multimedia) related to the history of New York City.

The catalog contains over 76,000 works of modern and contemporary art, as well as objects in the MoMA's design collection.

The Municipal Archive's gallery is trove of photographs take in the service of city business. There are a number of relevant collections to choose from, including historic tax photos of building in the city and police department photos as well.

The Parks Photo Archive is a repository of more than 200,000 images created by the Parks Department from 1856 to the present. The majority of the photographs were taken after 1933, and the collection is especially strong in representing the era when Robert Moses was Parks Commissioner (1934–1960). The Parks Photo Archive contains comprehensive images of parks acquisition, development and use, including design and construction improvements, special events, significant features, general park activities, and aerial views. The Archive additionally includes a small collection of color motion picture footage from the 1930s and 1940s.

The mission of the New York Transit Museum is to collect, exhibit, interpret and preserve the structural, sociological, and technological history of land-based public transportation systems in the New York metropolitan region, past and present, and to conduct research and educational programs that make its extensive collection accessible and meaningful to the broadest possible audience. You can view their online collections or make an appointment at collections@nytransitmuseum.org

DPLA connects people to the riches held within America’s libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions. All of the materials found through DPLA—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and so much more—are free and immediately available in digital format. The cultural institutions participating in DPLA represent the richness and diversity of America itself, from the smallest local history museum to our nation’s largest cultural institutions. This link takes you directly to their WNYC collection.

Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas visualizes Manhattan’s and Brooklyn’s transformations during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Drawing on 1850, 1880, and 1910 census data, it shows how migration, residential, and occupational patterns shaped the city. The Digital Atlas breaks new ground by locating each person counted in the Census at their home address, sometimes before the street grid was even established. This is a living project that will expand to include all five boroughs up to the 1940 census.

NYC Then & Now shows New York City from above as it’s grown and changed over time. Search any address and use the tools at right to swipe or fade between decades.

Allows you to explore historical photos from the NYPL’s Photographic Views of New York City, 1870s-1970s collection. Photographs are attached, by location, to points on a map of all five boroughs of New York City.

Covering Brooklyn news from 1841 - 1963.

Welcome to the Archive of the Columbia Daily Spectator, the newspaper of Columbia University and Morningside Heights and the second-oldest college daily paper in the country. The Archive spans the run of the newspaper from 1877 to 2015.