Legal History Research Guide

The University Libraries Government Publications Library is a full U.S. government depository. Its website includes serveral guides and search tools including a guide to, Historical U.S. Government Publications on the Web.

Founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to check rising government secrecy, the National Security Archive at George Washington University combines a unique range of functions: investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents ("the world's largest nongovernmental collection" according to the Los Angeles Times), leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information, global advocate of open government, and indexer and publisher of former secrets.

This website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), includes links to 13 Presidential libraries (Herbert Hoover - George W. Bush). Note: Before the advent of the Presidential Library system, Presidents or their heirs often dispersed Presidential papers at the end of the administration. Though many pre-Hoover collections now reside in the Library of Congress, others are split among other libraries, historical societies, and private collections.

This website provides in a single, searchable database: the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Washington - Taft (1789 -1913); the Public Papers of the Presidents: Hoover to Obama (1929 - ); the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: Carter to G.W. Bush (1977-2009); the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents: Obama (2009-2015). The database archive also contains over 110,000 documents categorized into over 40 different document types (executive orders, proclamations, signing statements, written and oral messages, addresses, memorandums, debate, and more). Presidential election data, media recordings from as early as the Hoover administration, and links to presidential libraries/museums are also available.

Includes updated biographies and information for approximately 12,000 Representatives, Delegates, Resident Commissioners, and Senators, from the 1st through the 113th Congresses. Also includes includes a list of related research collections for each member.

The Historical Office collects and provides information on important events, precedents, dates, statistics, and historical comparisons of current and past Senate activities for use by members and staff, the media, scholars, and the general public. A variety of historical information and resources are provided on this website.

A collaborative project of the Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House's Office of Art and Archives. The site includes a variety of resources on the history of the House of Representatives and its members.

The National Archives and Records Administration's, Center for Legislative Archives, preserves and makes available to researchers the historical records of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The website provides access to a number of featured congressional documents. It also offers various finding aids and helpful guides to the Center's archives and to congressional research.

The Center for Legislative Archives maintains an index of archival repositories and congressional collections to assist researchers in locating the papers U.S. senators and representatives.

The Association of Centers for the Study of Congress encourages the preservation of material that documents the work of Congress, including the papers of representatives and senators, and supports programs that make those materials available for educational and research use. ACSC manages a directory of member institutions, many of which house archival collections of the papers of current and former members of the House of Representatives, Senate, and other related research collections.

This Library Congress, American Memory Project website brings together online the records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress, including the first three volumes of the Congressional Record, 1873-75. Includes various journals of Congress, and Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789.

Another Library Congress, American Memory Project, the Continental Congress Broadside Collection (256 titles) and the Constitutional Convention Broadside Collection (21 titles) contain 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Compiled by members of the Legislative Research Special Interest Section of the Law Librarians Society of Washington D.C. Includes links to research guides, directories, lists and other unique and helpful sources for researching Federal legislative, executive and administrative documents and information.

The Legislative Reference Library (LRL) serves the Minnesota Legislature and citizens of Minnesota. Collection strengths include public policy print and digital materials focusing on state-level issues and comparative statistics. LRL is the state depository for state agency and consultants reports, including all mandated reports required by the Legislature. The Library compiles research guides (Resources on Minnesota Issues) on topics of interest to Minnesota legislatiors. The LRL's guide, Minnesota Legislative History - Step by Step, describes the process and documents for researching Minnesota legislative history. The Historical Information section of the LRL website contains historical information about the Minnesota Legislature and state government.

University Libraries' directory of sources for policy and legislation in the state of Minnesota.

Official state portal of Minnesota.

A directory of links and contact information for state archives and historical societies by the Archives Library Information Center of the National Archives and Records Administration.

The Law Library of Congress' annotated guide to sources of information on U.S. state and territorial government and law available online.

Georgetown Law Library's collection of research guides includes guides to basic legal research resources for U.S. states and territories, and also for foreign and international law. It also includes guides for researching various legal topics and areas of law.

Links to state agency websites arranged by state. A project of the State and Local Documents Task Force (SLDTF) of the Government Documents Round Table, American Library Association.

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers' website maintains a state profiles directory that includes links to offidcial state web sites for all fifty states, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Directory of state, court and county law libraries that are members of the American Association of Law Libraries', Government Law Libraries Special Interest Section. Includes links to library websites and court directories where available.

University of Minnesota Government Publications Library's guide to data and statistics resources. Includes databases and websites.