History: American Subject Guide

Biographical Sources

17 resources available
- Restricted to WMU users  - Open Access

African American Biographical Database  Biographical profiles, full-text sketches and photographs of prominent African Americans from all walks of life between 1790-1950.
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American Historians, 1607-1865
PS 129 .D5x v. 30 (Ref)
Contains comprehensive biographical and bibliographical essays on 46 noted historians in American history in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, including such scholars as Cotton Mather, William Bradford, Jared Sparks, and George Bancroft.

American Historians, 1866-1912
PS 129 .D5x v. 47 (Ref)
Offers in-depth biographical and bibliographical essays on 48 historical writers of the middle to late 19th century and the early 20th century, including scholars such as Henry Adams, John Fiske, Helen Hunt Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, and Ida M. Tarbell.

American National Biography  Authoritative biographical essays on more than 17,400 deceased Americans from all eras and walks of life published by Oxford University Press. Some of these entries are for literary figures.

American Women Historians, 1700s-1990s: A Biographical Dictionary
E 174.45 .S27 1996 (Ref)
This work provides biographical and bibliographical portraits of about 200 women who have practiced the craft of history in the United States.

Biographies Plus Illustrated  Contains more than 145,000 biographies and more than 36,000 photographs. Includes full text articles from Current Biography and other biographical sources. Many of the biographies have links to other sources and citations to articles.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index  Indexes numerous printed reference sources that include usually short biograhical information on multiple persons. Covers living and deceased people all over the world in all occupations.

Biography Index  Z 5301 .B5 (Reference Collection)
Indexes biographical information from thousands of periodicals and books. Coverage from 1984. Updated weekly.

Biography.comIncludes brief biographical sketches of over 25,000 people, both living and deceased. A good place to do quick verification.

Blackwell Dictionary of Historians
D 14 .B58 1988 (Ref)
Contains over 450 biographical entries that indicate the scholarly reputation of historians, the circumstances in which they worked, and the extent to which their work has subsequently been confirmed or refuted.

Contemporary Authors  Z 1224 .C6 (Ref)
Part of the Literature Resource Center, this directory provides brief biographical information about more than 120,000 authors from the US and elsewhere. Includes writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, journalism, and many other fields.

Dictionary of American Biography
E 176 .D56 (Ref)
1928-present.
This set, which is over 30 volumes, is the most authoritative of the major biographical dictionaries of American history, and provides biographies of over 13,600 Americans, none of whom are living today. Use this in addition to the ANB because different points of view are represented in each set. Many other people besides authors are included in both sets.

Encyclopedia of Historians & Historical Writing
D 14 .E58x 1999 (Ref)
This 2-volume set provides a guide to influential historians (including non-Western writers) and historical debates since the writing of history began. Includes principal writings of the historians along with references for further reading.

North American Indian Thought and Culture  This digital collection of texts and images contains more than 119,000 pages of personal stories, many previously unpublished or rare. Virtually all Indian nations (approximately 500) are covered. This database now contains the WPA’s Indian-Pioneer History Collection which includes information, collected mostly through oral history interviews, on American Indian life.

Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary
CT 3260 .N57 (Ref)
A classic, 3-volume set that provides biographical articles on over 1,800 deceased women from the United States, many of whom are not represented in the standard biographical source, The Dictionary of American Biography. A fourth volume covering the modern period was added in 1980. Signed scholarly articles with bibliographies.

Twentieth Century American Historians
PS 129 .D5x v. 17 (Ref)
Contains extensive biographical and bibliographical essays on 59 of the most significant American historians of the 20th century, including Daniel J. Boorstin, Henry Steele Commager, Shelby Foote, Dumas Malone, Carl Becker, and Frederick Jackson Turner.

Who's Who on the Web  Provides brief, usually up to date and usually reliable biographical information about more than 1.3 million people. Entries focus on frequently needed facts, such as birthdates, education, career, publications, and other objective data supplied by the individual to the editors. Who's Who in America biographies go back to 1607. The coverage of the rest of the Marquis Who's Who series is from 1985 to the present.

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