History Day Resources

Did you know that your library can help you with your History Day project? There are lots of free resources on the library website which you can access from home. You can also ask your library staff for personalized help!

What are you looking for?

Background Information and General Resources*

Books

  • GRRL Catalog - You'll find plenty of secondary sources and some primary sources in your library's collection. Just request any copy and we'll send it to your preferred branch.
  • MnLINK Gateway - Can't find what you need at GRRL? Request books from libraries all over Minnesota for free!

Newspaper Articles*

  • St. Cloud Times Index - This historical index contains brief summaries of local news articles and obituaries. Copies of articles can be requested from your local library.
  • Historical Minneapolis Tribune - This database has full-text articles and images from the Minneapolis Tribune (1867-1908) and the Minneapolis Morning Tribune (1909-1922).
  • ProQuest Global Newsstream - Need newspaper articles from other areas of the United States? This database lets you search for full-text articles from hundreds of newspapers.

Pictures, Letters, and Other Primary Source Documents*

  • Minnesota Reflections - Search the collection of more than 40,000 images and documents depicting the history of Minnesota. As always, check the copyright information before you take an image for your project.
  • Digital Public Library for America - Search hundreds of digital library collections from all over the United States for images, documents, archives, manuscripts, books, and even sounds! As always, check the copyright information before you take an image for your project.

Many of the links above will have an option to search/filter by primary resources and documents. For more sources check out the GRRL Databases page. Ask your local library for help and suggestions or contact us on the Ask a Librarian page.

*If you access this page outside of the library, you will need to log in using your library card and PIN.