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Biography and History

Looking for a biography? Want to learn about history? These online resources are great place to begin your research.

Of course, we have lots of materials available in the library too. Try asking a librarian.

Free Anywhere

American Memory provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

Provided by the Library of Congress 

This is a librarian recommended website. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Use this database for over 400,000 biographies covering literary figures, science, multicultural studies, business, entertainment, politics, sports, government, history, current events and the arts. Indexes all print volumes of the series.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free Anywhere

This site allows you to search and read newspaper pages from 1900-1910 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

This is a librarian recommended website. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

Heritage Hub, formerly America’s Obituaries & Death Notices, is a large and comprehensive collection of newspaper obituaries and death notices. An easy-to-use interface allows searching by name, dates, or text keywords such as workplace, schools attended, towns lived in, social clubs, churches attended or charities.

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free Anywhere

A great local history resource! Search by keyword in Historic Northampton’s digital catalog and archives containing thousands of photographs, historic newspapers and maps, and extensive digital collections database. Includes the Howes Brothers Collection, genealogy resources, and images of the earliest issues of the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

This is a librarian recommended website. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Researchers at all levels will find the information they need on authors and their works in all genres and disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world. Includes biographical entries on more than 135,000 authors, more than 850,000 full-text articles, critical essays and reviews from scholarly journals, literary magazines, and other reference books.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

Offering a unique, interdisciplinary approach to U.S. and Global history and culture, Sharpe Online Reference (SOLR) explores the broad range of events, people, movements, and political, social, economic, and cultural issues that have shaped the nation and the world from earliest times to the present day.

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Gale U.S. History in Context provides contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History. Includes reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Gale World History in Context provides contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in World History. It offers reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.