Great historical media collections

January 6, 2009 12:28 PM

Where can I find lots of historical media? I'm looking for any kind of photos or film, newsreels, anything.

I've always been fascinated by old photos of the Civil War and such, as well as newsreels and archive footage from WWII-era. I'm interested in military stuff as well as everyday life. I'm tired of searching everywhere for a few pictures and newsreels - please help me find some centralized collections!

(Free would be preferable)

posted by Hargrimm to media & arts (10 comments total)

Library of Congress has lots of archive photos.
posted by delladlux at 12:36 PM on January 6

archive.org
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 12:41 PM on January 6

archive.org
posted by nitsuj at 12:41 PM on January 6

Die Deutsche Wochenschau is a newsreel that ran from the late 1930s (I believe) on well past WWII.
posted by mynameisluka at 12:41 PM on January 6

University libraries. They're usually open to the public, though borrowing privileges and some electronic resources are only available to students/faculty/staff. The kind of things you're likely to find are dependent upon geography to a certain extent, though funded collections can be found in completely random places.
posted by valkyryn at 12:44 PM on January 6

I like Ohio State's "eHistory" site.
posted by Otis at 12:48 PM on January 6

Shorpy is a blog with lots of really nice photographs, mostly of everyday life and black & white. Timewise roughly 1900-1950.
posted by bjrn at 12:56 PM on January 6 [1 favorite has favorites]

Most states will have a state library that will have a historical section full of what you are looking for.
posted by Foam Pants at 1:04 PM on January 6

Google recently provided a searchable index of all Life Magazine photos.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:11 PM on January 6 [1 favorite has favorites]

More specifically, the Prelinger Archives have a great collection of 2000 films that are at least somewhat organized. It's all free culture stuff so you can appropriate it and use it as you want to.
posted by jessamyn at 2:28 PM on January 6