ECC Library building under construction in 1953
Source: El Camino College Warrior Yearbook, 1953
The El Camino College Student Media Digital Archive is a searchable database comprising of past issues of the student-produced newspaper the Union, formerly known as The Warwhoop, and the student-produced magazine Warrior Life, which began as the El Camino yearbook but changed to a general interest magazine in 1963. These past publications, rich in El Camino history, are accessible to the public, as are all current publications produced by students in the EC journalism department, which maintains a strong commitment to providing accurate information to the community. For current news and information, go to the Union's online news site at www.eccunion.com.
Learn more about the grant project here: https://elcamino.ptfs.com/knowvation/app/consolidatedSearch/#search/v=thumbnails,c=1,sm=s,l=library1_lib
This July 21, 1969 photo shows the front page of the New York Times after Apollo 11 landed on the moon. (The Associated Press)
The El Camino College Library has acquired access to a number of digital primary source archival, newspaper and book collections on various subjects of historical interest, including the ECC Digital Archive, which includes scans of old campus yearbooks, magazines & newspapers.. Consider using some of the following library databases, which are available from the Library Databases A-Z directory and are highlighted below.
Note: When accessing library e-resources from off-campus, you will be prompted to login using your standard ECC email & password.
Gale Archives Unbound offers primary source collections covering African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, LGBT Studies, Holocaust Studies, Women's Studies and more. The collections includes an important combination of newspapers, manuscripts, books, pamphlets and court cases covering U.S. and global events from the 18th through the 21st Century. They are cross-disciplinary, providing coverage on a wide variety of topics, including those addressing important conversations around diversity & inclusion.
the largest collection available on sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ studies; global in scope. 1.5 million pages of primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities worldwide. Unique content from newsletters, papers, government documents, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other types of primary sources sheds light on the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more. Historical documents from 35 countries, with over 15 languages represented.
Focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries, Women's Studies Archive provides a history of the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives and offers a look at the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society. Through a variety of documents such as diaries, letters, photographs, news clippings, organizational records, and journals, it presents a record of the issues that have affected women, societal contributions, social status, and women's movements.
Newspapers are a wonderful resource for learning about the "events of the day" in U.S. history, both nationally and regionally. If you're researching something that's more likely to have been written up in a local newspaper for that region, you'll want to try to get your hands on that material. Alternative presses are useful for getting the views of marginalized groups and those outside of the mainstream. Below are library newspaper databases that you may wish to explore:
Gale's 19th Century U.S. Newspapers -- a full-text searchable, facsimile-image database providing an as-it-happened window on events, culture, and daily life in nineteenth-century America. The collection features publications of all kinds, from the political party newspapers at the beginning of the nineteenth century to the mammoth dailies that shaped the nation at the century's end. Every aspect of society and every region of the nation is found in the archive -- rural and urban, large cities and small towns, coast to coast, etc. Includes major newspapers as well as those published by African Americans, Native Americans, women's rights groups, labor groups, the Confederacy, and other groups and interests. Also included are illustrated papers that bring the nineteenth century to life through the drawings of many artists.
U.S. Newsstream enables users to search the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Access includes major dailies including the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. US Newsstream also offers one of the largest collections of local and regional newspapers.
A full-text database containing newspapers, magazines, journals, and newsletters of the ethnic, minority, and native press. Publications offer additional viewpoints from those offered by the mainstream press.
Make use of the library's many excellent eBook resources that are available to find collections of primary source materials. These include:
Below are some examples of library eBooks that might be used for U.S. History-related research:
Defining Documents in American History - Court Cases by 
Speeches of the American Presidents, Third Edition by 
Defining Documents in American History - Native Americans by 
Ripples of Hope by 
The AIDS Generation by The library's OneSearch discovery platform (found on the library's website homepage) is a great tool for searching materials accessible from across *almost* all the library's online database collections, including eBooks, newpapers, magazine & academic journals, videos and more. Below are some tips to use when searching for primary source materials:
Search by Keyword
As noted on the guide page about Finding Primary Sources, consider using these keywords alongside your
Memoirs, speeches, writings, or correspondence of a person can be found by doing a filtered search by Author using the name (last name, first name) of the person.
Papers of organizations, government agencies, political parties, and other groups can be found by searching for the organization as an author.
To search by title, you need to have a known title in mind. Be sure to mine the bibliographies of class readings and your secondary sources find to identify relevant titles of primary sources.
Remember, primary sources were written around the same time as an event or during a particular historical time period. To find contemporary writings, you can do searches in OneSearch (or the individual databases) and limit to the years in question. Using the search filters (on the left-hand side of the results page), select the years you wish to search using the "Creation Date" filter.
