Thousands of US history images. Old photos U.S. Links to free historical photo collections of America, and of Canada. Wide variety of themes and locations.
400 Years of Native American Portraiture – US History Images
NY Public Library collection entitled “After Columbus: Four-hundred Years of Native American Portraiture” contains about 230 historic photographs and other images.
See the Menu at the top of every page for Directories of Free Online Fiction and NonFiction Books, Magazines, and more, on 400 pages like this at Century Past
1930s – 1940s in Color
Photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) created the images between 1939 and 1944.
19th Century Canada
552 Photos from 19th Century Canada, taken by Ontario photographers. In the Flikr collection “19th Century Canadian Photographs”.
African American Photographs Assembled for 1900 Paris Exposition
The Paris Exposition of 1900 included a display devoted to the history and “present conditions” of African Americans. W.E.B. Du Bois and special agent Thomas J. Calloway spearheaded the planning, collection and installation of the exhibit materials, which included 500 photographs. Library of Congress.
Age of Reason of American Architecture – US History Images
Little information on this collection was found, but appears to include only buildings designed or influenced by Thomas Jefferson. Many photos of details of the original Library of Congress building.
Agricultural machinery – US History Images
Search results of 123 photos from the NY Public Library digital collections. Subject photos from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries.
Early Photography in the U.S.A. – Old Photos U.S.
Over 10,000 photos taken before 1920 around the U.S., including studio portraits. “Early Photography in the U.S.A.” collection in Flikr, with many contributors.
Architecture of the American South
From Library of Congress. Photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) from the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South, depicting some 1,700 buildings and sites in southern states.
World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 – Chicago – Old Photos U.S.
From Illinois Digital Archives. This event was also known as the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. In addition to photographs, this collection includes official records, objects, and personal memorabilia such as the Robbins Family Scrapbook commemorating their seven visits to the Exposition.
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest
An extensive digital collection of original photographs and documents about the Northwest Coast and Plateau Indian cultures, complemented by essays written by anthropologists, historians, and teachers about both particular tribes and cross-cultural topics. 2,300 photos. University of Washington Libraries.
Arizona State Archives Historic Photographs
The Archives’ photographs focus upon the unique cultural heritage of the state and territory of Arizona, beginning in 1863. The collection includes about 90,000 images, including photographs, slides, negatives, glass plate negatives, tintypes, transparencies, postcards and others. The majority of photographs in the collection pre-date 1940. From the Arizona Memory Project.
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Photos
314 photographs of Civilian Conservation Corps in the Intermountain West, built in the Depression Era of the 1930s. Weber State Univ. Library.
Edward S. Curtis Collection: The North American Indian – Old Photos
Edward S. Curtis is today one of the most well-recognized and celebrated photographers of Native people. In the early 20th century Curtis visited more than eighty tribes across the U.S. and north into Alaska and parts of Canada. He published a 20-vol ethnographic study from 1907-1930. About 1,000 photos are here. Library of Congress.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Dozens of photos of Eleanor Roosevelt, friends and family. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Ellis Island Photographs 1902-1913
A 2-part collection. The 1st part has photos of immigrants by Augustus F. Sherman; part 2 has photos of Ellis Island by Edwin Levick. NY Public Library.
Friday night at a 1938 Louisiana roadhouse – Old Photos
Night life in rural Louisiana documented in photos.
Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs
Almost 350 images showing African Americans and related military and social history. The Civil War era is the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945. Library of Congress.
Historypin Collection of Milwaukee
Almost 600 old photos of places in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in a ‘Historypin’ application, which enables mapping the locations and comparing photos to current views.
Migrant Labor Camp Photographs, 1935-1936 – Old Photos
63 photographic prints of various sizes documents migrant labor camps in California. The photographs were taken in 1935-1936, many likely by Harry Everett Drobish.
Milwaukee Polonia
Draws from the work of studio photographer Roman Kwasniewski to illustrate the history of Milwaukee Polonia from the early 1900s through the 1940s. The archive consists of over 32,000 images. UW-Milwaukee Libraries.
National Child Labor Committee Collection
Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Lewis Hine (1874-1940) documented working and living conditions of children in the United States between 1908 and 1924. More than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass negatives. Library of Congress.
News in the 1910s
22,000 photos from the Bain News Service around the U.S., and especially NY City, ca. 1910-1912. Library of Congress.
Old World Wisconsin – US History Images
Entrants in a photo contest for five years at Old World Wisconsin, a living history museum in southeast Wisconsin.
The Changing Face of the Auto Industry – Old Photos
Photographs and postcards documenting the auto industry in the Detroit, Michigan area during the first half of the twentieth century. 2,290 items. Wayne State Univ. Libraries.
Wisconsin Railroad Stations – US History Images
Search Results at “Recollection Wisconsin”, in the Digital Public Library of America.
Immigration Images from Canada – Old Photos
Assortment of 11 photos in flickr from Library and Archives Canada.
Library and Archives Canada
North West Mounted Police in Yukon
24 photos from the end of the 19th century, at the time of the Yukon gold rush. flickr collection posted by Canada Library Archives.