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Open Educational Resources

History Resources

This is a selection of openly licensed textbooks that has been created for free use in courses. These resources may be adopted for use as classroom text, modified to create new texts, or used as a supplemental learning tool to aid in understanding key concepts. 


U.S. History


World History

U.S. History Courses

Open Yale Courses
​Yale University has published a number of open courses that address U.S. history. Most contain syllabi, as well as videos of the lectures given as part of the course. Unless otherwise noted, most of the lectures and course material produced by Yale are licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0. Courses include: 


World History Courses

Open Yale Courses
Yale University has published a number of open courses that address European History. Most contain syllabi, as well as videos of the lectures given as part of the course. Unless otherwise noted, most of the lectures and course material produced by Yale are licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0. Courses include: 

Saylor Academy Open Courses
Saylor Academy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free and open online courses to anyone who wishes to learn. Most courses include readings, assignments, and quizzes, and some links to outside content. All content authored by Saylor Academy is made available under a Creative Commons CC-BY 3.0 Unported License. Topics Include: 

General History Resources

  • TeachingHistory.org
    TeachingHistory.org is a national clearinghouse of educational resources that are made openly available. Unless otherwise noted, the site is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported license.

U.S. History Resources

  • American Government 3e
    An open, reviewed textbook from OpenStax that provides an introduction and overview of the United States government. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0. 
     
  • Civil War Interactive Poster
    An interactive website that uses primary source materials to educate students on the Civil War. Unless otherwise noted, the site is licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0. 
     
  • Sage American History 
    An open website that offers mini, chronological lessons on key events in U.S. history. The site is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported license. 
     
  • USHistory.org
    USHistory.org contains thousands of pages covering a wide array of topics related to U.S. history. Many of the historic documents are in the public domain. All other items are individually licensed. 

World History Resources

  • Animated Atlas of African History
    A visual map that allows students to trace political developments throughout the history of the African continent, from 1879-2002. The atlas is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 United States license. 

The collections below are repositories containing a variety of primary source materials, and each collection contains its own individual license(s) that must be adhered to. For additional material types, see the drop down menu to the left. 

 

Digital Public Library of America

The DPLA is a digital library of millions of resources held in libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each item is licensed individually, so be sure to pay attention to the specific permissions of use granted to you. 

 

Europeana

Europeana is a digital collection of more than 50 million items held in libraries and museums across Europe. Each item is licensed individually, so be sure to pay attention to the specific permissions of use granted to you. 

 

Google

Google's 'Advanced Search' feature allows results to be limited to openly-licensed resources.

 

Library of Congress Digital Collections

 

The Library of Congress has an extensive online digital collection of primary source resources. The copyright permissions for use vary according to the individual item. 
New York Public Library Digital Collection

The New York Public Library has an extensive digital collection of more than 740,000 items that have been digitized from the library's collections. Items primarily include still images, texts, music, and other recordings. Permissions for use vary according to the individual item. 

 

U.S. National Archives

The United States National Archives acts as the nation's record keeper, keeping important legal or historical documents and materials for preservation. Most of the documents and images contained within the archive, unless otherwise noted, are in the public domain. 

 

Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons is a collection of nearly 50 million freely usable media files, which are contributed by individual users. Each item is individually licensed by the author who submits it to the collection. 

 

World Digital Library

The World Digital Library is a project started by the U.S. Library of Congress, in conjunction with UNESCO. It contains primary resources from a wide variety of countries and cultures in a multilingual format, free of charge. Licensing is dicated by the individual contributing partners. 

 

**Note: Not all results returned are guaranteed to be openly licensed. Pay special attention to check the licenses on each item you intend to use.