Guides: Social Policy & Practice: Primary Sources & Archives

Primary Sources & Archives

Relevant Archival Collections | Archival Collections at Penn Libraries | Philadelphia Social Work Archives

Relevant Archival Collections

Human Rights Documents Online
Online fulltext access to "more than 77,000 documents from nongovernmental human rights organizations (NGOs) such as Arab Organization for Human Rights, Central American Association of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared, Association of African Women for Research and Development, The World Health Organization (WHO), and over 700 others worldwide….This collection of “grey literature”… and other primary source material has been collected since 1980 by Human Rights Internet and includes select documents back to 1967." -- resource intro
Amnesty International Archives
"Presents the archival records of the International Secretariat of Amnesty International from the period of 1961-1991. These records are housed at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. Covering a wide range of human rights concerns and issues, the documents in Amnesty International Archives allow researchers to follow not only the influence Amnesty International had on the global human rights movement in the late twentieth century, but also to chart the internal growth and development of the organization through the first three decades since its founding in 1961." -- resource intro
ProQuest History Vault: Records of the Children's Bureau, 1912-1969
The Bureau's records provide a rich source for an understanding of twentieth-century American society. Founded in 1912 as part of the federal government's new commitment to promoting individual and family welfare, the Children's Bureau played an active role in the design and administration of many important social welfare measures including the 1921 Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act to reduce infant mortality and the campaign to reduce child labor in the 1930s.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender : LGBTQ history and culture since 1940
The archive illuminates the experiences not just of the LGBTQ community as a whole, but of individuals of different races, ethnicities, ages, religions, political orientations, and geographical locations that constitute this community. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as well as publications by and for lesbians and gays, and extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis.
ProQuest History Vault. Papers of the NAACP
Nearly 2 million digitized pages of internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the country. It charts the NAACP's work and covers issues including: lynching, school desegregation, and discrimination in the military, the criminal justice system, employment, and housing, among others. It provides a comprehensive view of the NAACP's evolution, policies, and achievements from 1909-1970
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century : Federal Government Records
The focus of the Federal Government Records module is on the political side of the freedom movement, the role of civil rights organizations in pushing for civil rights legislation, and the interaction between African Americans and the federal government in the 20th century.
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Also see: Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century : Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 2 (http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/125196)
Digital transgender archive.
The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.
Proquest Congressional House and Senate Unpublished Hearings Digital Archive.
Provides users with access to a comprehensive collection of historic and current congressional information.
The women's wear daily archive
Searchable and browsable archive of Women's Wear Daily, from the first issue in 1910 to material from within the last twelve months, reproduced in high-resolution, full color images. Every page, article, advertisement and cover has been included, with searchable text and indexing.
ProQuest History Vault
ProQuest History Vault is a growing collection of archival collections documenting some of the most important and widely studied topics in 20th Century American History including: the Black Freedom Struggle; the Vietnam War; and International Relations and Military Conflicts.
Women and social movements in the United States 1600-2000
A resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history. Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000
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It currently includes 72 document projects with 2,100 documents, 28,000 pages of additional full-text documents, and 1,600 primary authors. It includes as well book, film and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.
U.K. parliamentary papers
Encompasses all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy, showing how issues were explored and legislation was formed. Includes House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present, with supplementary material back to 1688
African American historical serials collection
Collection includes African American periodicals, annuals and reports published from 1829-1922 including materials from African American religious organizations and social service agencies.
Black studies center
This fully cross-searchable gateway to Black studies includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more.

Race Relations in America
Based at Fisk University from 1943-1970, the Race Relations Department and its annual Institute were set up by the American Missionary Association to investigate problems in race relations and develop methods for educating communities and preventing conflict. This resource showcases the speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Department’s staff and Institute participants, including Charles S. Johnson, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall.
British Poor Schools in the Nineteenth Century, 1812-1901
Consists of 60 documents housed in four volumes: British and Foreign School Society, 1814-1900; Wesleyan Education Committee, 1838-1901; National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor, 1812-1900; and Catholic Poor School Committee, 1848-1900. Includes more than 30,000 pages of content regarding Church Schools during the Georgian and Victorian ages. “These papers cover schools from the Anglican and Wesleyan denominations as well as secular and Catholic schools. The reports chart the rise of education for the poor from the industrial revolution to the Victorian era...Introductions to the reports describe the progress of each society over the past year. As charities that were funded by subscriptions, the societies made the case for their work at the beginning of each report. The reports include the lists of subscribers, including titles such as “Rev,” “MP,” and “Countess.” These lists also include the amounts donated.” – resource introduction

Archival Collections at Penn Libraries

Harvey Finkle Photographs
Harvey Finkle (Penn MSW '61) is a self-taught documentary photographer who has documented the social, economic, cultural, and political issues in the city of Philadelphia and across the globe. Finkle's work largely focuses on marginalized communities, including low income and homeless families, homeless veterans, refugees, immigrants, and people with disabilities, to name only a few. Finkle donated his archive to the Penn Libraries in 2020. A finding aid for the whole collection is available.

Philadelphia Social Work Archives

Social Base Map of Philadelphia
Shows schools (by type), churches (by denomination), public buildings, open spaces (by use), leisure time locations, welfare and other institutions and other misc. buildings.
Project under the combined sponsorship of the Council of Social Agencies and the Philadelphia Board of Education.
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Also available through
*Van Pelt - Microtext. Microfilm 4378
*Rare Book & Manuscript Library - Rare Book Collection. Pass-through Portolio G3824.P5E1 1939 .P5.