LibGuides: HIST 660- Cold War “Developments” in Latin America: USAID Gender, Race, Post-Coloniality: Cold War Primary Sources

Primary Source Databases for Cold War Research

Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Digitized collection of over 104,000 declassified government documents culled from the collections of the National Security Archive, covering the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post World War II through the 21st century. Glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs are included.

CIA Freedom of Information Act Library
An important part of CIA's ongoing effort to be more open and to provide for more public accountability has been a recognition of the importance of declassifying historically significant Agency documents. The process of opening up the Agency's historical record began in the 1980s when then Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) William Casey authorized the declassification and transfer of nine million pages of OSS records to the National Archives and established the Historical Review Program.
CIA Historical Collections
Cold War History: Collections from the Wilson Center Digital Archive
Cold War Origins
"This collection of primary source documents discusses international relations during World War II and the years shortly after. It begins with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed in 1939 and ends with documents from the 1950’s. The collection contains a wide variety of documents including agreements, memorandums, meeting minutes, cables, letters, diary entries, and military reports from WWII. The documents mainly come from Russian and Bulgarian archives." (Wilson Center Digital Archives)
Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy (Mt. Holyoke Univ)
The National Security Archive (GWU)
The National Security Archive is a project based at George Washington University that has focused on declassifying and publishing US government documents using the Freedom of Information Act

The Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) houses technical and project materials while the Development Data Library (DDL) preserves USAID-funded data. Both repositories play a pivotal role in preserving USAID data and information for years to come.

Digital Archive of the Guatemalan National Police Historical Archive
"A product of broad international collaboration, these digitized documents from the Guatemalan National Police Historical Archive (AHPN) aim to facilitate scholarly and legal research into a vast cache of historical documentation. The discovery of the National Police Historical Archive in 2005 opened an extensive and timely resource for the study of Guatemalan history and human rights in the region, spanning a broad array of topics...."

Fidel Castro Speech Database
The Fidel Castro Speech database contains the full-text translations of speeches, interviews, and press conferences of Fidel Castro from 1959 to 1996. The collection is based on the records of the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), a U.S. government agency responsible for monitoring broadcast and print media in countries throughout the world. These records are in the public domain.
Cuban Posters
This site offers select archival and manuscript materials, books, and periodicals held by the Cuban Heritage Collection and housed at the University of Miami Libraries.
Latin America and the Caribbean:Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints
This site provide a sample of thousands of photographs relating to Latin America and the Caribbean held Southern Methodist University's DeGolyer Library.
Cuban Heritage Collection-University of Miami
The Cuban Heritage Collection is a repository for primary and secondary sources of Cuba and the Cuban diaspora from colonial times to the present maintained by the University of Miami Libraries.