Browse Primary Sources
Locate primary sources, including images, objects, media, and texts. Annotations by scholars contextualize sources.
Video: Indian Boy Scouts at 1929 World Jamboree
This video features film footage of events at the Boy Scouts’ third World Jamboree, held in England in 1929. The jamboree was known as the “Coming of Age” Jamboree, since it marked twenty-one years since the foundation of the Boy Scouts. The footage reveals the importance of militarism and representations of masculinity to the Boy Scout movement.
Video: March of Flags from 1929 Boy Scout World Jamboree
This video shows the opening ceremony at the Boy Scouts’ third World Jamboree, held in England in 1929. The jamboree was known as the “Coming of Age” Jamboree, since it marked twenty-one years since the foundation of the Boy Scouts. In the video, Scouts are marching with the flags of their respective countries.
Photograph of the Boy Scout World Jamboree in 1929
This photograph shows the South African contingent at the Boy Scouts’ third World Jamboree, held in England in 1929. The jamboree was known as the “Coming of Age” Jamboree, since it marked twenty-one years since the foundation of the Boy Scouts.
Photograph of “Indian Tableaux at Endon”
This photograph, which was originally published in the G.F.S. Magazine in September 1923, is from a tableau performed by members of the Girls’ Friendly Society (GFS), which was a youth organization akin to the more popular Girl Guides.
Calendar from Cham manuscript, early 20th century
An image of the Cham calendar from an early 20th century Cham manuscript. The column on the left and top row indicate measurements of months of the calendar drawn from the Islamic lunar calendar. Numerals written in Cham script in the middle are symbolic of the Cham Hindu solar calendar.
Ariya Cam Bini
Ariya Cam Bini is one of the few ariya that has little to no historical references in the poem. It is possible to deduce from the language of the poem and from the study of extant versions of the manuscript that its origins likely lie in the 19th century. The story, however, is one of star-crossed lovers, one Cham, and one Bani.
Maya Deity-Face Jade Pendant, 7th-8th century
This small carved jade ornament, about 2 inches square, was most likely the central ornament on the paper headband of a Maya ruler. Kings received the paper headband during the ritual in which they became king, signifying the moment in which they were “wrapped” into the office of kingship, transitioning from human mortal into divine king.
Maya Drinking Vessel with Seated Lord, 7th-8th century
This large ceramic vessel, made for drinking chocolate, shows a figure wearing a loincloth, necklace, and a large headdress that looks like the tail feathers of the quetzal bird.
Maya Vase with Mythological Scene, 7th-8th century
This drinking cup shows the aging Rain God Chank with a ceremonial ax in one hand and the other on a building that has split open. Other figures on the cup may represent the Maize God, who the Rain God is bringing back to life by breaking open the building’s roof, although the mythic scene is difficult to interpret.
Maya Monument with glyphs, 4th-9th centuries
This stone monument carved with glyphs comes from Tortuguero, a Maya archeological site in southernmost Tabasco, Mexico that has been badly damaged by development. The monument is in a museum in Tabasco, and the smaller fragment is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
"The Problems of Third World Development"
The text is an excerpt from the 1974 Houari Boumédiène’s speech to the 6
Economic Declaration of Nonaligned Countries
This document is part of the economic declaration of the Fourth Nonaligned Movement (NAM) conference in 1973 in Algiers, Algeria.
Chinese Migrants to U.S. by way of Mexico
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the United States passed laws that barred the entry of Chin
Mijikenda textiles
Words are historical artifacts which can be analyzed as evidence much like written documents or material records.
"We can stop this Makapuu madness!"
After World War II, the rise of jet travel and mass tourism brought new visitors—and new pressures—to many places within the Pacific Ocean. Hawaiʻi is a prime example of how tourism-driven development and activist responses have shaped local environments.
Heading of east portal Tunnel No. 8
In the late nineteenth century, multiple transcontinental railroads were built across the United States and Canada. These were Pacific projects twice over: Each railroad aimed to open new routes for global trade with Asia, and each depended heavily on Asian laborers for their construction.
Marshall Islands stick chart
Across millennia, Pacific people voyaged out to sea and settled the ocean’s thousands islands and atolls, linking new discoveries back to existing territories. Opening and sustaining these links was fundamentally a spatial project, requiring the development, refinement, and repeated mobilization of oceanic geographic knowledge.
Coca Cola Overseas
Multinational corporations do not usually have archives. And even when they do, these are seldom accessible.
Policy Statement of the Federal Military Government Issued by Nigerian Embassies Abroad, 1966
In 1966, Nigeria was only a few years removed from colonial status. Nigeria as a unified political and economic entity had only been established in 1914 with the merger of the very different regions of northern and southern Nigeria.
Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 1994
Established in November of 1994 by Resolution 955 of the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was intended to try those responsible from the Rwandan genocide ethnic Tutsi and politically moderate Hutu and other Rwandan violations of international law from January 1st to December 31st of 1994.