Finding Resources: Free to Use & Reuse Primary Source Sets

Last Updated on September 11, 2022

These primary source sets provide just a small sample of the Library’s digital collections that are free to use and reuse. The digital collections comprise millions of items including books, newspapers, manuscripts, prints and photos, maps, musical scores, films, sound recordings and more.

Click the topic link to access each Free to Use & Reuse set from the Library. Those sets that have related sets of images found on the Library’s Flickr Photostream or sets of Library resources and/or learning resources curated/created by PSN are included in bulleted lists below the associated topic links.

19th-Century Portrait Photos
portrait photos from the C.M. Bell Studio Collection

Abraham Lincoln
highlights from the Library’s collections on Abraham Lincoln

Advertising Food
all kinds of signs advertise food, including buildings

African-American Women Changemakers
educators, activists, artists, and more

Aircraft
images of balloons, gliders, blimps, dirigibles, airplanes, fighter jets, helicopters, and space shuttles

American Revolution and Founding Washington
maps representing cities, battles, and symbols involved in the founding of the United States

Primary Source Spotlight: American Revolution

Architecture & Design
gorgeous gardens, breakthrough buildings and notable designs

Primary Source Spotlight: Architecture

Art of the Book
examples of illustration, binding, and typography from a variety of locations and historical moments

Athletes
highlights athletes in more than forty different professional and recreational activities

Autumn and Halloween
activities and scenery from late September through early November

Today in History: Halloween

Baseball cards
cards dating from 1887 to 1914

Bicycles
photos and illustrations of bicycles and cycling through history

Primary Source Spotlight: Bicycles

Birds
images of a variety of our feathered friends across time periods, communities, and places

Bridges
featuring the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs and many more

Cars
images of classic cars, race cars, steam-powered cars & more

Today in History: First American Automobile Race

Cats
photos, posters & illustrations

Cherry Blossoms
images from Japan and Washington, D.C.

Today in History: Cherry Blossoms

Civil War Drawings
selections from Adolph Metzner Civil War Drawings

Classic Children’s Books
links to read these books online

Diners, Drive-ins and Restaurants
highlights architecture, signage, and people at diners, drive-ins and restaurants—one in each state and the District of Columbia

Disability awareness
people with disabilities throughout U.S. history—at work, at play, at school, and advocating for change

Discovery & Exploration
maps that shaped our view of the world throughout history

Dogs
pictures of canines and their humans

Families
serious and humorous family portraits and activities concentrates on the 1800s to the 1940s

Farm Life
aspects of life on American farms: landscapes, work, play, and everyday moments from dinner to doctor visits

Primary Source Spotlight: Life on the Farm
Today in History: Mexican Americans & United Farm Workers of America
Guided Primary Source Analyses
- A Plan of My Farm
- A Preacher Tries Farming
Citizen U Dolores Huerta lesson plans
Learning from the Source: Cesar Chavez & Good Citizenship lesson plan

Films
selection of films from the National Film Registry

Fish & Fishing
traditional, scientific, nostalgic, commercial, and humorous views from the 16th to 21st centuries

Flickr Favorites
favorite images selected from the Library’s Flickr photostream

Football
selected images

Primary Source Spotlight: Football

Games for Fun & Relaxation

Genealogy
family registers, family trees and photos, maps that document land ownership and more

Hats
offers a challenge to see how many of the hats you can match with an occupation, time period, or geographic location

Historic Sites
fascinating perspectives on how sites were designed

Historical Travel Pictures
color images from Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Asia and the South Pacific as they appeared in the 1890s and early 1900s

Country Primary Source Sets

Holidays
images from the Library’s collections

Primary Source Spotlight: Holidays

Horses
scenes from the open range, farms, and cities as well as sports, the military, and recreation

Today in History: Cowboys & Fall Roundup Time

Hotels, Motels & Inns
from Palm Springs to Paris, New York to Norway and all around the world

Ice cream
photos of ice cream parlors, ice cream advertisements and Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream recipe

Today in History: The Ice Cream Cone

Irish Americans
includes a variety of primary source types

Today in History: St. Patrick’s Day

Independence Day
reflect on how the holiday has traditionally been celebrated and also to discuss the complex history and symbols surrounding American Independence

Jazz Photos
selections from the William P. Gottlieb Collection

Libraries
libraries in all shapes and sizes serving their local communities

Lighthouses
American lighthouses primarily from the 1800s and 1900s

Maps of Cities
from individual buildings to panoramic views of large urban areas

Motion Picture Theaters
from classic theaters to beautiful historical film posters to snapshots of American moviegoing life

Natural Disasters
images of avalanches, blizzards, droughts and dust storms, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, heat waves, hurricanes, landslides, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and waterspouts from the 16th to the 21st centuries

Older People
images from the 19th and 20th centuries shows older women and men in formal portraits; scenes at work and at home; as grandparents and veterans; with happiness, sorrow, and determination

Not an Ostrich
photos selected for the Annenberg Space for Photography exhibition “Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library

Poster Parade
1890s through the 1960s featuring travel, commercial products, war propaganda, entertainment, and more