HST 4900-01 Research Seminar: Home

Special Collections & Archives
401 Dunbar Library
Wright State University Libraries
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy.
Dayton, OH 45435-0001
library-archives@wright.edu
 

A primary source is a rare, one of a kind item typically created by an eyewitness to an event. Letters, diaries, photographs, business records, church records, organizational records, and family papers are considered primary sources. 

Secondary sources are published materials that often use primary sources for the background research. Books, journal articles, magazines, and blogs are considered secondary. 

The DDN Archive is comprised of the newspaper's photograph and clipping files covering the 1940s-1990s. The Journal-Herald files are also included. The collection is rich in all aspects of Dayton and Miami Valley news and history for the latter half of the 20th century. 

Dunbar Library holds an extensive collection of historical Ohio newspapers on the 2nd floor. More information on the collection is available here. 

Special Collections & Archives collects and preserves material related to the Wright Brothers, aviation, the history of the Miami Valley, and Wright State University. Our Miami Valley material dates back to the early 1800s and includes letters, diaries, family records, church records, business records, photographs, and so much more. 

SC&A staff members are available via email Monday-Friday from 8:30am-5pm. You can use the Ask an Archivist page for questions. 

We are now open for research appointments. The hours are Tuesday-Friday from 10am-4pm and 10am-8pm on Wednesdays. Appointments are 2-hour blocks with a maximum of 2 per day. Requests for appointments can be made here.

Our web site is a great place to start with your research. A site search will list all collections and other material related to your topic. A Finding Aid, also know as a collection guide or inventory, is a guide to a specific collection that provides detailed information on the contents and organization of the material. Each collection here at SC&A will have a finding aid and all finding aids are available on our web site.

The collection guides are lists of collections grouped together by a specific subject (i.e. Aviation, Civil War, Politics, Women, etc.). Each collection has a brief description and link to the finding aid. The following are collection guides related to specific class research topics (in bold).

• The Arts
• Business and Industry
• Dayton, Ohio, Local Government Records
• Medical History
• Miami County Local Government Records
• Railroad and Canal History 
• Women's History

These are collections or select items from collections that have been digitized and are available on CORE Scholar, the University institutional repository. 

• Donald McKinney Wallace Diary, Sept.-Dec. 1918 (MS-92)
• Katharine Kennedy Brown Papers (MS-146)
• Miami County Manumission Book
• Prohibition Material
• Ruth Herr Papers (MS-91)
• Suffrage Collections

Please use our Contact Us form.