Like the works of the "New Deal' era? Here is an excellent site to browse!
The People of California
"California as I Saw It”
From the Library of Congress’ American Memory website, “First-Person Narratives of California’s Early Years, 1849-1900” consists of the full texts and illustrations of 190 works documenting the formative era of California’s history through eyewitness accounts.
African Americans In California
From The Bancroft Library this website provides access to the Bancroft’s research-level collection in African-Americana (major published source materials, manuscripts, photographs & ephemera) and features Historical Timelines. The site also serves as an “umbrella” highlighting African American resources in California.
California Cultures
This “Calisphere” site documents California’s rich history of diversity and multicultural contributions. Calisphere is the University of California’s gateway to over 150,000 primary sources that reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.
The Chinese in California, 1850-1920
This site from the Bancroft Library documents, through 8,000 images and primary source materials, the Chinese immigration story in California.
Italian Americans in California
Visit the exhibit produced by The Bancroft Library portraying the Italian-American experience in California.
Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California
This California Department of Parks and Recreation (Office of Historic Preservation) website, first published in book format in1988, features five ethnic groups – their history and experiences in California (American Indians, Black Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Mexican Americans)
The Gold Rush
California Gold Rush Collection - Library of Congress
Correspondence, travel journal, and typescripts of notes by various individuals who participated in the California Gold Rush. Correspondence chiefly of miners and individuals working in mining camps to family members and friends documenting their experiences. Subjects include the hardships of mining, methods of mining, homesickness, and impressions of mining camps and cities. California towns and camps represented are Downieville, Foster's Bar, Georgetown, Log City, Mariposa, Nevada City, Placerville, Rose's Bar, Rough and Ready, and Sacramento. Also features Saint Joseph, Mo., the starting point for many miners. Includes a letter (1852 February 5) by Ogden Ellery Edwards accompanied by a lithograph illustrating mining techniques and life in mining camps and typescripts of his anecdotes, circa 1900, about his experiences in California. Correspondence also concerns women's rights, California politics, and the Mariposa Indian War. Also includes a journal of Lyman P. Wason, kept while sailing around Cape Horn, Chile, to San Francisco in 1849 and while mining for gold in at the Georgetown mining camp in El Dorado County, Calif., 1850-1852.
Exploring the California Gold Rush
The California State Library has assembled a fascinating array of primary sources such as maps, letters, books (including “how to” books for novice miners), pictorial letter sheets (stationary that depicts mining camps, cities, natural wonders and events so individuals could write home on a “postcard” showing California life!), drawings, and sketches. The material is organized into 12 sections covering a wide variety of topics on the Gold Rush.
Land of Golden Dreams
California in the Gold Rush Decade 1848-1858 is a presentation of the Huntington Library’s collection of Gold Rush manuscripts, drawings, and printed materials. The original exhibition was created to bring this unique event to life through Californians’ stories from this compelling era
California General Research
The Online Archive of California
The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides free public access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections maintained by more than 200 contributing institutions including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California and collections maintained by the 10 University of California (UC) campuses.
Calisphere is your gateway to California’s remarkable digital collections. Calisphere provides free access to unique and historically important artifacts for research, teaching, and curious exploration. Discover over one million photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings, and more. The collections on Calisphere have been digitized and contributed by all ten campuses of the University of California and other important libraries, archives, and museums throughout the state.
California's first legislature, meeting in 1849–50, charged the Secretary of State to receive "…all public records, registered maps, books, papers, rolls, documents and other writings . . . which appertain to or are in any way connected with the political history and past administration of the government of California." The Public Records Act was the first law signed by California's first governor on January 5, 1850. The California State Archives, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, continues to serve in the spirit of those early instructions, providing a repository for the state's permanent governmental records as well as other materials documenting California history. The California State Archives serves a wide variety of researchers whose interests range from legislative intent and public policy to genealogy and railroad history in California.