Iowa History

UNI search engine for books and articles. For books change the "Material Type" option from "All items" to "Books" to turn OneSearch into the library catalog and look for books owned by Rod Library. To find primary materials set your search or results ("Publication Date") to the specific years of your study. Recently published books may also contain primary source material in the form of quotes, diaries, and letters.

Search the full text of over 30 million books.
Full view prior to 1929 and limited preview afterwards.

A directory of over 300 local Iowa newspaper archives providing access to thousands of historical Iowa newspapers ranging from 1836 to the present.

1,039 historical newspapers from Iowa ranging from 1800 - present. Very good for local and regional U.S. and Iowa news. Coverage varies by year and location. Use the "Advanced Search" option beneath the search blanks. Advanced Search will allow you to limit by date and geographic location.

Archives of digitized yearbooks and student newspapers from twenty different Iowa colleges and universities. Includes links Iowa college and university digital collections.

Primary news sources for modern history.

Readers' Guide does NOT provide the article - just information about the article - you must take that information and locate the articles yourself. Use the Magazine Finder to find the article online or in print (Google - Rod Library Magazine Finder - or visit https://guides.lib.uni.edu/historical-magazines).

Readers' Guide does NOT provide the article - just information about the article - you must take that information and locate the articles yourself. Use the Magazine Finder to find the article online or in print (Google - Rod Library Magazine Finder - or visit https://guides.lib.uni.edu/historical-magazines).

To focus your search results on "news" click on either: Magazines or Newspapers

Use Advanced Search to improve your search.
Limit search results to magazines or newspapers (the default is Academic Journals).

"The Iowa Homemaker was founded by the Home Economics Club in 1921. It was the first magazine on Iowa State campus written by women for women. The Iowa Homemaker covers a wide range of issues from “Canning Early Fruits and Vegetables” to “Can a Homemaker be a Citizen?” It contains the excited energy of women trying to find their place in early twentieth century Iowa, and it offers a unique perspective on the history of Iowa State." --- Iowa State University - Parks Library

This farming magazine/newspaper - published in Des Moines - has been known by many names including Wallaces' Farmer and Dairyman (1898-1929), Wallaces' Farmer and Iowa Homestead (1929-1958), and Wallaces Farmer.

"The Iowa Digital Library features more than a million digital objects created from the holdings of the University of Iowa Libraries and its campus partners." --- Iowa University Libraries

Welcome to the Primary Source Sets libguide, created for you by Special Collections & University Archives and UNI Museum at Rod Library. In this guide, you will find digital copies of primary sources from various SC&UA and Museum collections organized by topic. These topics include Immigration / Migration, Black Experiences in Iowa, American Indians in the Midwest, Elections and Campaigns, and Women's History.

The purpose of UNI ScholarWorks is to collect, preserve and make available the research and creative and scholarly output from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) community. Includes the "Old Gold" (the historical UNI Yearbooks), and digitized sources from the UNI Special Collections & University Archives.

"Discover digital photographs, maps, letters, diaries, audiovisual, and more from the Iowa State University Library. Digital Collections provides free, open access to select unique materials from the library’s collections." --- Iowa State University Libraries

The State Historical Society of Iowa has been a trustee of Iowa’s historical legacy since 1857. With a dual mission of preservation and education, it maintains a museum, archives & historical libraries, preservation office, and eight historic sites.

There are other publicly available digital archives that could contain useful primary source material for your project. Focused searches using powerful Google commands can locate digital collections based on the descriptions of archives.