This guide is for History Day resources. It is just some examples to highlight the numerous resources we have. See also specific groups under Demographic Groups page in the MAIN History Day Research guide.
While Civil Rights and Human Rights are not the same, they are grouped together here to condense organization.
The United Nations defines Human Rights as: "Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination."
The Law Information Institute (LII) explains:
"A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury.
Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of the individual's membership in a particular group or class. Various jurisdictions have enacted statutes to prevent discrimination based on a person's race, sex, religion, age, previous condition of servitude, physical limitation, national origin, and in some instances sexual orientation.
People often confuse civil rights and civil liberties. Civil rights refer to legal provisions that stem from notions of equality. Civil rights are not in the Bill of Rights; they deal with legal protections. For example, the right to vote is a civil right. A civil liberty, on the other hand, refers to personal freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights. For example, the First Amendment's right to free speech is a civil liberty."
See https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/civil_rights
These are some suggested databases - many require our library card for remote access.
This HeinOnline database covers civil rights in the United States as their legal protections and definitions are expanded to cover more and more Americans. Containing publications from the Commission on Civil Rights, legislative histories on landmark legislation, briefs from relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases, and more.
A comprehensive directory of resources available for people with disabilities, detailing independent living centers, rehabilitation facilities, state & federal agencies, associations, support groups and more.
The LGBTQ+ Rights database is a HeinOnline collection of materials relating to the gay rights movement in America, including an interactive timeline, as well as subject-coded court cases, scholarly articles, books, pamphlets, reports, and more. This collection charts the gay rights movement in America, showing the civil rights codified into law in the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as the inequalities that still exist today.
The Open Society Justice Initiative from HeinOnline is part of the Open Society Foundations. It was established in 2003 to provide expert legal support for Open Society's broader mission and values through strategic human rights litigation and other legal work.
Collection of full-text newspapers published at United States prisons by incarcerated individuals, including Connecticut newspapers digitized by the Connecticut State Library.
This HeinOnline collection brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery. Our cases go into the 20th century, because long after slavery was ended, there were still court cases based on issues emanating from slavery. The library has hundreds of pamphlets and books written about slavery—defending it, attacking it or simply analyzing it, including an expansive slavery collection from Buffalo Erie County Public Library. This library will continue to grow, not only from new scholarship but also from historical material that we continue to locate and add to the collection.
This new HeinOnline collection brings together more than 500 titles dealing with this difficult and important topic. Included are periodicals, key compiled federal legislative histories, relevant congressional hearings, CRS Reports, Supreme Court briefs, and more. Links to nearly 500 scholarly articles, an extensive bibliography, and a balanced selection of external resources to further research this subject are also provided. Research the National Firearms Act, the Miller and Heller decisions, and other key aspects of this subject.
A HeinOnline resource includes both database and PDF versions of the Eugene G. Wanger and Marilyn M. Wanger Death Penalty Collection: A Descriptive Bibliography. It also included hearings, trials, periodicals, and more.
The Supreme Court Insight Collection is a complete online collection of full opinions from Supreme Court argued cases, including per curiam decisions, with dockets, joint appendices and amicus briefs starting with the 1975 Court term.
Comprehensive historical collection of legal and law-related material, including many North American legal journals. Coverage: From 1800s to present. Continually adding new content.
HeinOnline has several collections - scroll through the main menu page and click on items such as:
Collection of full-text newspapers published at United States prisons by incarcerated individuals, including Connecticut newspapers digitized by the Connecticut State Library.
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