History Research Guide

Subject indexing allows researchers to assess specific cases and groups of cases. Users can also search by organization or personal names, including names of petitioners, respondents and attorneys. Amicus brief indexing allows researchers to retrieve all briefs submitted by a single organization or a Member of Congress. Pro and con positions are also noted.

Searchable and cross-searchable, full text collection of primary and secondary materials that include The Adams Papers, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, The Dolley Madison, The Papers of James Madison, The Papers of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Harriott Pinckney Horry, The Papers of George Washington, The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, and Founders Early Access.

Another key collection included consists of the records of the Subversive Activities Control Board (SACB). The SACB files constitute one of the most valuable resources for the study of left-wing radicalism during the 1950s and 1960s.

Also includes Forman’s involvement with the "Black Manifesto" and the Bureau’s "COINTELPRO" investigations into "Black Nationalist - Hate Groups / Internal Security," which include information on the activities of SNCC.  Forman acted as Executive Secretary of SNCC until 1966, arranging transportation, food, and housing for volunteers, and raising funds. From 1967-1969, Forman served as SNCC’s International Affairs Director and became involved with linking SNCC to the black power movement.  He authored a memoir, The Making of Black Revolutionaries, and founded the Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee (UPAC), a nonprofit social action organization, serving as its president from 1974-2003. 

Afghanistan's history, internal political development, foreign relations, and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia. In modern times, as well as in antiquity, vast armies of the world passed through Afghanistan, temporarily establishing local control and often dominating Iran and northern India. Islam has played a key role in the formation of Afghanistan as well. Although it was the scene of great empires and flourishing trade for over two millennia, Afghanistan did not become a truly independent nation until the twentieth century. In much of the twentieth century, Afghanistan remained neutral. It was not a participant in World War II, nor aligned with either power bloc in the Cold War. However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union and the U.S. vied for influence by building such infrastructure works as roads, airports, water and sewer systems, and hospitals. The U.S. State Department Central Classified Files are the definitive source of American diplomatic reporting on political, military, social, and economic developments throughout the world in the twentieth century.

Beginning in 1946 with reports of the CIA’s predecessor, the Central Intelligence Group, CIA Research Reports reproduces over 1,500 reports on eight areas: Middle East; Soviet Union; Vietnam and Southeast Asia; China; Japan, Korea, and Asian security; Europe; Africa; and Latin America. This series deals with international questions and biographical reports, offering profiles of relatively unknown leaders. The Murphy Collection provides information on war recovery efforts, international aid, and the formation of countries and substantial information on the Chinese Communist Party.

The Africa files cover the brutal civil war between Biafra and Nigeria in the late 1960s, the 1964 Rivonia trial of Nelson Mandela and seven leaders of the African National Congress, violent protest against the South African government coupled with police crackdowns on the resistance, the troubled relationship between the U.S. and the apartheid regime, and the first years of independence in Ghana and the Congo. The files on Egypt offer considerable detail on the Egyptian political structure which was dominated by Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1960s. Political issues are also covered in extensive detail in the files on Iran, Iraq, and Israel. Documents on Iran follow Ali Amin's tenure as prime minister and his succession by Asadollah Alam. In Israel, State Department personnel tracked developments in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), the political fortunes of important members of the Israeli government, and the fragile security situation faced by Israel.

Major topics covered in the China files include the tensions between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China, the U.S.'s Two Chinas policy, and the Cultural Revolution in China. In Japan, State Department personnel reported on student demonstrations, the activities of Japanese political parties, the 1964 Olympics, negotiations regarding Japanese import and export restrictions, issues pertaining to the Japanese Self Defense Force, relations with South Korea, the possible reversion of Okinawa to Japan, diplomatic meetings, and the Japanese fishing industry. In the Vietnam files, documentation on agricultural commodities shipped to Vietnam as part of the Food for Peace program will give researchers a sense of agricultural prices, currency rates, and the food supply in Vietnam during the war. State Department records on Vietnam also cover relations between Buddhists and the government, and U.S. military intervention and military assistance in Vietnam. The records on Laos in this module focus on the political instability in Laos.

Some topics covered in these files include: incidents between U.S. and Soviet fishing boats in Alaskan waters; Cuban sugar industry; international reaction to the Bay of Pigs invasion; East-West tensions in Berlin, Germany; development aid from West Germany to developing nations; activities of the Organization of American States; settlement of the dispute over the Chamizal region in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua; salt content of the Colorado River waters delivered to Mexico; anti-American protests in Panama; American military aid to Latin American nations; and visits and meeting with Soviet leaders such as Nikita S. Khrushchvev, Aleksei Kosygin, Andrei Gromyko, Anastas Mikoyan, and others.