Research Guides
Research Guides
American History
Delve into the Lilly collections to trace American history from the first printing in Latin of the Columbus letter through the Lincoln Era to recent U.S. political figures.
You’ll find unique holdings related to periods such as the American Revolution, creation of the U.S. Constitution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
The collection also focuses on individuals, such as Abraham Lincoln, Charles Fairbanks, Paul McNutt, Wendell Willkie and Charles Halleck.
Collections from Indiana alumni George L. Harding, Robert Spurrier Ellison and William Corr Service include resources for the study of the American West. You’ll find overland narratives and diaries, and materials about the Pacific Northwest and the California Gold Rush.
The resources in this area are vast and varied, so ask a librarian for help for your specific research area.
The first printing of the Declaration of Independence is a priceless artifact and an evocative statement of the nation's founding principles. Originally printed on the night of July 4, 1776, only 26 copies are known to exist today.
Walter Mason Camp (1867–1925) was an American author, editor, and researcher best known for interviewing hundreds of both Native American and white participants in the American Indian Wars of the second half of the 19th century. The collection consists largely of Camp’s penciled notes, mostly on small scraps of paper.
Explore the history of the War of 1812, the conflict that brought us the national anthem and trained a generation of political leaders. This site was developed for the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812.
American Literature
The broad and deep collections of American literature at the Lilly Library are one of its principal strengths.
From early works such as Anne Bradstreet's 1650 The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America to 18th century prose and verse, from 19th and 20th century groundbreaking authors to science fiction and detective novels, the holdings span the evolution of American literature.
Of particular note are collections of of James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Walt Whitman.
Holdings in twentieth-century American literature are extensive, including the principal archives of Upton Sinclair, Max Eastman, Sylvia Plath, and Galway Kinnell, as well as notable collections from Edith Wharton, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and John Dos Passos.
Plath's life and literary genius are documented in manuscript poems in multiple drafts, photographs, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, and more.
As the principal archive of Kurt Vonnegut, our collections show Vonnegut's trajectory as a writer from a novice to a national treasure.
Sinclair collections are many and varied. They document Sinclair's literary achievements, as well as his deep engagement in political and social issues.
