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HIS267 Business History

Primary Sources

Introduction to Primary Sources

Library Subscription Database

Mergent Archives This link opens in a new window
Mergent Archives contains global historical annual company reports back to 1844.
It also contains Moody's Manuals, books dating back to 1909 with company information.
To access the Moody's Manuals, click on Mergent's Manuals on the upper left. Click on Corporate Manuals, and then search. You can narrow your search by year.
The MDDI (Million Dollar Directory) has US and Canadian directory information for private companies dating back to 1959.

General Online Collections - External Websites

Primary Source Sets from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Library of Congress Prints & Photos Online Catalogue
Harvard Special Collections: Baker Library (Business)
Digital Museums Canada
Library & Archives Canada Collection Search
Our Ontario
City of Toronto Archives - What's Online
The Business History Conference: Resources for Teaching and Research
Business history teaching resources. Includes a partial open bibliography of business history and race and an extensive list of online teaching resources compiled between 2009-2014.
The Business History Conference: Teaching and Research Resources
Links to Books of Interest, Bibliographies and Syllabi, Archives, Projects by BHC members.

Specific Topics - External Collections

Mu$eum of American Finance
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study: Digital Collections
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Link goes directly to Gold Rush resources. Additional resources are listed.
Museum of Chinese in America: Collections
Search artifacts, photographs, oral histories, and library items.
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Jim Crow Museum
Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920 (Duke University)
Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900, Library of Congress Primary Source Sets
Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929, Library of Congress Primary Source Sets
Resources List: Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
List of multimedia resources available for the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.
Directory of Corporate Archives in the US and Canada

Other Research Guides

For articles, primary sources, and newspapers available through the University of Toronto Libraries collections, please see the links below.

History Research
by Jesse Carliner Last Updated Apr 2, 2025 194 views this year
Newspapers
by Kyla Everall Last Updated Mar 31, 2025 4652 views this year
Biography & autobiography
by Robarts Library Last Updated Oct 23, 2024 72 views this year

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