Research Guides: ENGL 3025: Writing Historical Fiction: Doing Research for Your Writing: Home

About this guide

This guide is primarily developed in support of the course ENGL 3025: Writing Historical Fiction. It outlines elements of research and provides links to resources and research tips.

While many suggested resources are available online, please note that research for historical fiction may require using print resources, visiting libraries and archives, and conducting personal interviews and research consultations.

Pre-research the Period and Location

Identify the location and year(s) of your piece setting.
Look at a variety of resources to immerse yourself in a period/event.

Search Summon

Search tip: Do a keyword search; for example, Berlin Wall

Limit to publications from a certain period

Look at different material types

Search the Library Catalog

Search tips

Do a catalog subject search for the event; for example,
- September 11 terrorist Attacks, 2001
- March on Washington
Subject headings may not be intuitive. Start with a keyword search, e.g., "9/11,” and then look at subject headings attached to relevant records. Then browse subject headings

Create a Convincing Picture

Find personal accounts

Where to find them

Library catalog and suggested databases (scroll down for lists of databases).

Search tips

Use the following keywords to find personal accounts:
- Interview*
- Diar*
- Memoir*
- Narrative*
- Correspondence
- Letters
- Reminiscences
- Travel
For more results click the OhioLINK button on the results screen

Study details of the period

Look for clothes, jewelry, transportation, architecture, etc.in paintings, photographs, documentaries, etc.

Where to find them

Library catalog

Search tip: To find images in the library catalog use the following keywords:

Pictorial works
Documentary photography
Digital collections of museums

Look at books/periodicals/media

created at the time of your story.

Where to find books

Tip: In Project Gutenberg explore bookshelves, e.g., US Civil War)

Where to find newspapers

Historical Newspaper Databases

Study historical maps

See "Digital Maps" in the Geography & Environmental Science Resource Guide. May of the maps listed there are historical.

Old Maps Online (multiple countries)

Some databases for researching specific periods include maps (click on the Information button for descriptions)

Research language

"...certain aspects of language can detract from the seeming authenticity of the characters’ words, and these include both archaic or “difficult” language, and anachronistic language or ideas, both of which, in their different ways, can throw the reader out of the illusion the novelist is trying to convey. "
"Ancient or modern? Language in historical fiction" by Carolyn Hughes/

Helpful resources

Oxford English Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is a guide to the meaning¸ history¸ and pronunciation of over half a million words¸ both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources¸ from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.

See also “Find personal accounts” and “Look at books/media created at the time of your story.”

Verify information

Check dates, facts, etc.

Wikipedia is great for this! Libraries have even more resources.

Online Reference Shelf

Databases for Finding Details of the Period

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) The stated aim of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is to bring together the riches of America's libraries¸ archives¸ and museums¸ and make them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression¸ from the written word¸ to works of art and culture¸ to records of America's heritage¸ to the efforts and data of science. The DPLA aims to make the realm of openly available materials more easily discovered and more widely used. This resource offers a single point of access to millions of items including photographs¸ manuscripts¸ books¸ sounds¸ moving images¸ and more from libraries¸ archives¸ and museums around the United States. Users can browse and search the DPLA's collections by timeline¸ map¸ format¸ and topic. Users can also save items to customized lists and share their lists with others
JSTOR Provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
New York Public Library Digital Collections This site is a living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.as of May 2021, 905,746 items digitized from NYPL collections.

Databases for Researching Specific Periods

Ad*Access The Ad*Access Project¸ funded by the Duke Endowment "Library 2000" Fund¸ presents images and database information for over 7¸000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio¸ Television¸ Transportation¸ Beauty and Hygiene¸ and World War II¸ providing a coherent view of a number of major campaigns and companies through images preserved in one particular advertising collection available at Duke University.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America Explore manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. Browse through a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals.
Early American Imprints¸ Series I. Evans (1639-1800) Based on the renowned American Bibliography by Charles Evans. The definitive resource for every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th- century America¸ from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs¸ diplomacy¸ literature¸ music¸ religion¸ the Revolutionary War¸ temperance¸ witchcraft¸ and just about any other topic imaginable. Upon completion¸ Evans Digital will consist of more than 36¸000 works and 2¸400¸000 images. Coverage - 1639 - 1800
Early American Imprints, Series I: Supplement From the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), 1652-1800 The definitive online resource for researching every aspect of 17th- and 18th-century America—has been expanded. From the renowned holdings of the American Antiquarian Society, this new collection offers digital editions of more than 750 additional books, pamphlets, broadsides, maps and scores, many of which were not included in either Charles Evans’ monumental work, or Roger Bristol’s supplemental bibliography. Printed over the course of the American Colonial Era and the formation of the United States, these rare and unique items represent a second major enrichment of the Readex digital edition of Early American Imprints. Also see - America's Historical Imprints: Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.
First World War Portal The First World War portal presents rich and varied primary source documents on the personal experiences of men and women¸ recruitment¸ and the development and dissemination of various forms of propaganda. The documents feature in four self-contained modules: 1) Personal Experiences¸ 2) Propaganda and Recruitment¸ 3) Visual Perspectives and Narratives¸ and 4) A Global Conflict; and these can be explored seamlessly. The wealth of original documents include: personal narratives¸ diaries¸ newspapers¸ posters¸ postcards¸ photographs¸ printed books¸ military and government files¸ ephemera¸ official and personal photographs¸ manuscripts¸ rare printed material¸ artwork¸ objects and film. This material is complemented by a range of contextual secondary features. Use the Interactive Maps to learn about the extension of the conflict¸ explore significant dates and events of the Great War through the chronology and view fascinating visual images in bespoke galleries. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Nineteenth Century Collections Online is a global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century. Designed specifically with the researcher in mind¸ Nineteenth Century Collections Online has been built on a research platform that offers the robust search functionality and annotation and tagging tools necessary for scholarly work. The database includes a variety of content types--monographs¸ newspapers¸ pamphlets¸ manuscripts¸ photographs¸ ephemera¸ maps¸ statistics¸ and more--and unites them in one central¸ cross-searchable location. This database now includes parts 1 to 8: 1)Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange¸ 2) British Politics and Society¸ 3) British Theatre¸ Music and Literature: High and Popular Culture¸ and 4) European Literature¸ 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection¸ 5) Europe and Africa: Commerce¸ Christianity¸ Civilization¸ and Conquest¸ 6) Photography: The World Through the Lens¸ 7) Science¸ Technology and Medicine¸ 1780-1925¸ and 8) Women: Transnational Networks
Oxford African American Studies Center Comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture¸ coupled with precise search and browse capabilities. Features over 7¸500 articles from Oxford's reference works¸ approximately 100 primary sources with specially written commentaries¸ over 1¸000 images¸ over 100 maps¸ over 200 charts and tables¸ timelines to guide researchers through the history of African Americans and over 6¸000 biographies. The core content includes: Africana¸ which presents an account of the African and African American experience in five volumes ; the Encyclopedia of African American history ; Black women in America¸ 2nd ed ; and the African American national biography
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape, which includes the manuscript collections of the Wordsworth Trust, offers students and researchers of the Romantic period unique access to the working notebooks, verse manuscripts and correspondence of William Wordsworth and his fellow writers, including Dorothy Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas De Quincey and Robert Southey. Also contains a collection of fine art pieces by such artists as J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and Benjamin Robert Haydon. All of the documents are digitized in colour and include: verse manuscripts, printed manuscripts, prose manuscripts, printed verse, correspondence, diaries, travel journals, autograph albums, guide books, fine art and maps. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.

Primary Texts by Period

The Library provides networked access to many more full-text, primary source databases than can be listed here. Others may be located through the Library Catalog and Databases, which contains an alphabetical list of online resources related to Language and Literature.

All Periods/Long Full-Text Coverage

LitFinder LitFinder provides the opportunity for complete appreciation and study of great literary works by offering access to more than 135¸000 full-text poems¸ stories¸ plays and more. It puts complete works - and additional information sources such as biographies¸ essays and explanations - into the hands of students and researchers for further study¸ evaluation and enjoyment
American Poetry 1600-1900 A collection of 1,200 books and anthologies of early American poetry providing access to 40,000 poems of American writers from the 17th to the early 20th century. This database contains the works of all major American poets, including Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Phillis Wheatley, Walt Whitman, and John Greenleaf Whittier. It also covers many less familiar names Coverage: Full Text 1600 - 1900
English Poetry Database The English Poetry Full-Text Database (EPD)¸ published by Chadwyck-Healey¸ contains the full text of over 160¸000 poems written in English by approximately 1¸350 poets between the years 600 and 1900. Coverage: Full Text; 600 - 1900
English Prose Drama 1280-1915 Based on plays listed in the New Cambridge bibliography of English literature that were written or intended for the stage and wholly or primarily in prose. EPD contains more than 1,800 plays by approximately 400 authors from the Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century
English Verse Drama Database contains over 2,200 works by over 500 named authors and over 300 anonymous works from the Shrewsbury Fragments of the late thirteenth century through the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods to the end of the nineteenth century. A verse drama is generally defined as a work acted on or intended for the stage which is either completely in verse or includes significant verse content. EVD complements and extends the English Poetry database. It adds six centuries of poetry intended for the stage. The bibliographic basis is the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. The database includes the works of all writers of verse drama listed in NCBEL and principally active before 1900. Editions chosen are usually contemporary with their authors. Masques and short dramatic pieces written primarily in verse, selected translations, works written for children and numerous adaptations are included. The entire text of each verse drama is included, together with any accompanying text written by the original author.
Fiction Core Collection The selective list presented in this collection features classic and contemporary works of fiction recommended for a general adult audience¸ written in or translated into English. The best authors and their most widely-read works in literary and popular fictionâ€”old and newâ€”are listed¸ including mysteries¸ science fiction¸ fantasy¸ Westerns and romance.
Shakespeare in Performance: Prompt Books from the Folger Shakespeare Library Shakespeare in Performance showcases rare and unique prompt books from the world-famous Folger Shakespeare Library. These prompt books tell the story of Shakespeare’s plays as they were performed in theatres throughout Great Britain, the United States and internationally, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.

Middle English

Corpus of Middle English Prose & Verse A collection of Middle English texts including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales & Troilus and Criseyde¸ Langland's Piers Plowman¸ Malory's Morte Darthur¸ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight¸ Everyman¸ and many others. Coverage: 1066 - mid-to-late 15th Century

Early Modern

Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare includes the complete text of eleven major editions of Shakespeares works, from the First Folio (1623) to the Cambridge edition of 1863-6. It also includes twenty-four separate contemporary printings of individual plays, selected apocrypha and related works, and more than 100 adaptations, sequels, and burlesques from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
Early American Fiction Early American Fiction contains 440 works of 80 novelists and short-story writers¸ 1774-1850. This database comprises the full texts of the first editions of American novels and short stories written before 1850 by authors of significance during their lifetimes. Coverage: 1774-1850
Early English Books Online Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains over 125¸000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640)¸ Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700)¸ and the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661). The Early English Books Tract Supplements will also be added to EEBO soon. Among the thousands of titles featured in EEBO are works by Malory¸ Bacon¸ More¸ Erasmus¸ Boyle¸ Newton¸ Galileo; musical exercises by Henry Purcell and novels by Aphra Behn; prayer books¸ pamphlets¸ and proclamations; almanacs¸ calendars¸ and many other primary sources. Coverage:Full Text; 1473-1700
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) The Eighteenth Century Collections Online provides access to the digital images of every page of 150¸000 books published during the 18th Century. With full-text searching of approximately 33 million pages¸ the product allows researchers new methods of access to critical information in fields of history¸ literature¸ religion¸ law¸ fine arts¸ and sermons to advertisements-and works by many well-known and lesser-known authors¸ all providing a diverse collection of material for the researcher of the eighteenth century. Included are works from women writers of the eighteenth century; collections on the French Revolution; and numerous editions of the works of Shakespeare. Multiple editions of each individual work are offered to enable scholars to make textual comparisons of the works. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.
Eighteenth Century Fiction Full text of 96 works of prose fiction written in the British Isles. Coverage: Full Text; 1700 - 1780

19th Century

African American Poetry 1760-1900 African-American Poetry 1760-1900¸ published by ProQuest, and formerly by Chadwyck-Healey¸ contains the full text of almost 3¸000 poems written between 1760 and 1900. Poets included are among those listed in Afro-American Poetry and Drama¸ 1760-1975¸ by W.P. French et al. Coverage: 1760 - 1900
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Nineteenth Century Collections Online is a global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century. Designed specifically with the researcher in mind¸ Nineteenth Century Collections Online has been built on a research platform that offers the robust search functionality and annotation and tagging tools necessary for scholarly work. The database includes a variety of content types--monographs¸ newspapers¸ pamphlets¸ manuscripts¸ photographs¸ ephemera¸ maps¸ statistics¸ and more--and unites them in one central¸ cross-searchable location. This database now includes parts 1 to 8: 1)Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange¸ 2) British Politics and Society¸ 3) British Theatre¸ Music and Literature: High and Popular Culture¸ and 4) European Literature¸ 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection¸ 5) Europe and Africa: Commerce¸ Christianity¸ Civilization¸ and Conquest¸ 6) Photography: The World Through the Lens¸ 7) Science¸ Technology and Medicine¸ 1780-1925¸ and 8) Women: Transnational Networks
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape, which includes the manuscript collections of the Wordsworth Trust, offers students and researchers of the Romantic period unique access to the working notebooks, verse manuscripts and correspondence of William Wordsworth and his fellow writers, including Dorothy Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas De Quincey and Robert Southey. Also contains a collection of fine art pieces by such artists as J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and Benjamin Robert Haydon. All of the documents are digitized in colour and include: verse manuscripts, printed manuscripts, prose manuscripts, printed verse, correspondence, diaries, travel journals, autograph albums, guide books, fine art and maps. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.
William Blake Archive A free site on the World Wide Web since 1996¸ the Blake Archive was conceived as an international public resource that would provide unified access to major works of visual and literary art that are highly disparate¸ widely dispersed¸ and more and more often severely restricted as a result of their value¸ rarity¸ and extreme fragility. A growing number of contributors has given the Archive permission to include thousands of Blake's images and texts without fees.

Modern and Contemporary

African Writers Series The African Writers Series offers access to key works from the highly acclaimed Heinemann's African Writers Series. This series provides seminal works from the canon of African literature of the twentieth century¸ covering such authors as Steve Biko¸ Ama Ata Aidoo¸ and Buchi Emecheta. Top novels and short stories¸ along with drama and poetry¸ are fully searchable and richly indexed. Author biographies are included. Coverage: 1962 - present
Short Story Index Short Story Index includes more than 84¸000 stories-plus the full text of more than 1¸600 stories. For the reader seeking short fiction by a favorite author¸ the teacher looking for the quintessential example of a particular genre¸ or the student researching the body of work of a literary figure¸ Short Story Index is a practical resource. The periodicals included are those indexed in Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and Humanities Index. Coverage: Indexing 1984+, "select" Full Text 1994+

Historical Newspaper Databases

African American Newspapers: 19th century¸ Parts 1-5 (Accessible Archives) This collection of African-american Newspapers contains information about the cultural life and history during the 1800s¸ and is rich with first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day¸ including the Mexican War¸ Presidential and congressional addresses¸ Congressional abstracts¸ business and commodity markets¸ the humanities¸ world travel and religion. They also contain large numbers of early biographies¸ vital statistics¸ essays and editorials¸ poetry and prose¸ and advertisements all of which embody the African-American experience. Coverage: 1827 - 1876
African American Newspapers¸ 1827-1998 (Readex) African American Newspapers¸ 1827-1998 provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection features papers from more than 35 states including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles. Newly digitized¸ these newspapers published by or for African Americans can now be browsed and searched as never before. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center. Coverage: 1827-1998
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers This site allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1880-1922 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Coverage: 1880-1922
Cincinnati NEWSDEX Produced by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County NEWSDEX provides indexing to Cincinnati newspapers.
Early American Newspapers¸ Series I: 1690-1876 Offers more than 700 historical American newspapers from 23 states and the District of Columbia printed between 1690 and 1876. Focusing largely on the 18th century¸ Series 1 is based on Clarence S. Brigham's "History and Bibliography of American Newspapers¸ 1690-1820" and other authoritative bibliographies. The core of the collection is formed by American Antiquarian Society (AAS) founder Isaiah Thomas' own collection of colonial and early national period newspapers and supplemented by issues added by Thomas' successors at the AAS. Coverage: 1690-1876
New York Times (1851-2020) The New York Times (1851-2020) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center. Coverage: 1851 - 2020
Pennsylvania Gazette¸ 1728-1800 Published in Philadelphia from 1728 through 1800¸ The Pennsylvania Gazette is considered The New York Times of the 18th century. It provides the reader with a first hand view of colonial America¸ the American Revolution and the New Republic¸ and offers important social¸ political and cultural perspectives of each of the periods. Thousands of articles¸ editorials¸ letters¸ news items and advertisements cover the Western Hemisphere¸ from the Canadian Maritime Provinces¸ through the West Indies and North and South America¸ giving a detailed glimpse of issues and lifestyles of the times. Also included is the full-text of such important writings such as: the Declaration of Independence¸ the Constitution¸ Letters from a Farmer¸ Thomas Payne`s Common Sense¸ The Federalist Papers¸ etc. Coverage: 1728-1800
Times Digital Archive¸ 1785-2012 Researchers can search through the complete digital edition of The Times (London)¸ using keyword searching and hit-term highlighting to retrieve full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper is captured¸ with all articles¸ advertisements and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching. Supported by the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.

Newspapers/Research Databases (Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Study Secondary Sources

Secondary sources include non-fiction accounts, biographies, academic papers, interviews with historians and experts.

Follow academic discourse related to your historical period or event for different angles, recent findings, and bibliographies.

Secondary sources will also help you identify social issues of the period.

Suggested databases

Electronic Journal Center (OhioLINK) Includes electronic titles from Academic Press¸ American Physical Society (APS)¸ Elsevier Science¸ Institute of Physics (IOP)¸ Kluwer¸ MCB¸ MUSE¸ Royal Society of Chemistry¸ Springer-Verlag and Wiley - currently about 2500 titles.
Historical Abstracts (EBSCO ) Historical Abstracts is a reference guide to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada¸ which are covered in America: History and Life). Over 2¸000 journals published throughout the world are covered in the database. In addition to including the key historical journals from virtually every major country and journals of regional history¸ Historical Abstracts includes a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history. Historical Abstracts also cites new books reviewed in key English-language history and review journals. Dissertation citations relevant to the serial's subject scope are derived from Dissertation Abstracts International.Coverage: 1955 - present

History Compass "Peer reviewed survey articles from across the discipline.

History of Science, Technology and Medicine History of Science, Technology and Medicine reflects the influences these fields have had on society and culture throughout time, from prehistory to the present. The database includes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews and dissertations in all scientific disciplines and related fields.  
JSTOR JSTOR is a digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines. The collections include top peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as respected literary journals, academic monographs, research reports from trusted institutes, and diverse primary sources. Explore the visual side of JSTOR, including artwork, newspapers, manuscripts, photographs, and other artifacts contributed by libraries, museums, archives, and historical societies around the world
Periodicals Archive Online Periodicals Archive Online is the new name for PCI Full Text - an archive of hundreds of digitised journals published in the arts¸ humanities and social sciences. It provides researchers with access to more than 200 years of scholarship¸ spread across a wide variety of subject areas¸ direct from their computer.
Project MUSE Access to articles from over 40 journals in the humanities starting in 1995. Coverage: Full Text; 1995 - present

Sources Used - Find More Tips There

"Helpful Research Sources for Historical Fiction Writers." Write to Done.

"How to Do Historical Research for a Novel by Claudia Merrill.

"How to effectively research historical fiction" by Kat Clay.

"Historical Fiction: 7 Elements of Research" by M.K. Todd. Now Novel blog.

Get Help With Your Research

Subject librarians Contact a specialist in your discipline.
All Online Research Guides
Ask a Librarian (Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton Coutny)

Document Your Sources

MLA Handbook Plus "The ninth edition of the MLA Handbook is a textbook and reference guide that offers student writers and writing instructors guidance on creating works-cited-list entries in MLA style using the template of core elements. It features advice on punctuation, grammar, inclusive language, formatting research papers, and in-text citations. Includes an appendix of sample works-cited-list entries, illustrations, and an index"--|cProvided by publisher

MLA Formatting and Style Guide (the OWL at Purdue) This resource offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

Who wrote this guide

Olga Hart

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Phone: (513) 556-1850

Subjects: Communication, Ethnic & Cultural Studies, Languages & Literature, Music, Dance, Drama & Film