Research Guides: AMST 405: The Immigrant Experience: Conducting Primary Source Research

Ancestry Library Edition
If you are in the residence hall, you will need to use VPN to gain access.

Ancestry contains thousands of family history databases, including vital records, census records, ship passenger lists, military records, newspapers, Jewish family records, African American history, and more.
In addition it has information from dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference works; stories, memories & histories, including slave narratives; photos and maps.

Maps

PolicyMap
Upon first login, users will be presented with a registration form.

PolicyMap is a US national data and GIS mapping tool and analytics platform with varied applications. PolicyMap provides access to thousands of data indicators that can be analyzed as layers, as well as data points, on interactive maps. PolicyMap’s data indicators are related to demographics, neighborhood conditions, real estate markets, federal program-eligible areas, money and income, lending activity, jobs and economy, education, health, and more. Data can be viewed on a census block or census tract level in many cases, city, county, zip, state, US, as well as by congressional district, school district, state house and state senate districts.
Social Explorer
Social Explorer is an online research tool that provides access to historical census data and demographic information. It creates intuitive maps and reports to help users visually analyze and understand demography and social change throughout history. The site currently includes the entire US Census history from 1790 to 2021, all annual updates from the American Community Survey, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study from 1980 to 2010. Users can customize, save, print, and email maps and reports and export them to a variety of programs for further analysis and presentation.

Newspapers

Boston Globe (historical + current) 1872-present
Text-only articles. No images, except for pre-1993 historical content.
Search the full run of the Boston Globe from one place. Access is from 1872-present. The extensive coverage provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
Mass Media Digital Archives
The Mass Media is UMass Boston's student newspaper. This digital collection includes issues of the paper from 1966 through 2011. As the publication is ongoing, the Archives will be working to add issues post-2011 to this collection.
New York Times (1851 - 2021) (Proquest)
Text-only articles. No images.
The New York Times offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue in 1851. It does not include the current years three years. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Printing: Use Print to fit option