Additional Resources

A rich variety of additional resources for the study of the Cold War can be found elsewhere in the Library of Congress and in the city of Washington, DC. Selected study centers are listed below. Some provide online access to primary resources.

Edmund S. Valtman, artist. [Gorbachev beholds a shattered hammer and sickle]. 1991. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

United States. Department of Defense. Semiannual report of the Secretary of Defense and the semiannual reports of the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Air Force. 1954. Library of Congress.

Benjamin Halpern, photographer. North oblique of missile site control building - Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Missile Site Control Building, Northeast of Tactical Road; southeast of Tactical Road South, Nekoma, Cavalier County, ND. n

The George Washington University

National Security Archive External
As part of The George Washington University, the National Security Archive promotes investigative journalism, research on international affairs, public access to government information, and open government. It uses the US Freedom of Information Act to build a library and archive of declassified US documents.

US Central Intelligence Agency. Library.

Center for the Study of Intelligence. External
As part of the CIA Library, the CSI provides online access to its publications and to unclassified extracts from Studies in Intelligence.

US Department of State. Office of the Historian.

Foreign Relations of the United States External
The FRUS series presents the official documentary historical record of major US foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.

Library of Congress. National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.

The Cold War Multimedia Primary Source Discussion Set
Developed by the American Archive of Public Broadcasting and the Library of Congress, the set provides audio and video clips from documentary and propaganda films, news reports, and recorded interviews.

The Wilson Center. History and Public Policy Program.

Cold War International History Project External
The project seeks the release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. It presents the documents through its Digital Archive, public programs, articles, blogs, and publications to promote reassessment of the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies.
North Korea International Documentation Project External
The project serves as an informational clearinghouse on North Korea for the scholarly and policymaking communities, disseminating documents on the DPRK from its former communist allies that provide valuable insight into the actions and nature of the North Korean state.
Nuclear Proliferation International History Project External
The project is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral history interviews, and other empirical sources.
The Digital Archive: International History Declassified External
The archive provides access to an international set of declassified documents to promote the study of international relations and diplomacy, with a focus on the interrelated histories of the Cold War, Korea, and Nuclear Proliferation.

The Wilson Center. Kennan Institute.

Kennan Institute External
As a regional program at the Wilson Center, the Kennan Institute promotes advanced research on Russia and Eurasia to improve American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, and the region through research and exchange.

The subscription resources marked with a padlock (available on-site) are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

Digital National Security Archive External This link opens in a new window
The Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) contains the most comprehensive set of declassified government documents available. Each of these meticulously indexed collections is compiled by top scholars and experts and exhaustively covers the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post World War II through the 21st century. These collections offer unparalleled access to the defining international strategies of our time. Glossaries, chronologies, bibliographies, overviews, and photographs are included.

For a complete list of the collections included see the listing in the E-Resources Online Catalog.
ProQuest History Vault External This link opens in a new window
ProQuest History Vault debuted in 2011 and is continuously growing to include numerous archival collections documenting the most important and widely studied topics in eighteenth- through twentieth-century American history, digitized in partnernership with and from a wide variety of archival institutions. These modules of rich and varied content create a full spectrum of archival materials to complement coursework in many areas including African American studies, women’s studies, history, political science, military and diplomatic history, immigration, and more. Many of the collections in History Vault were originally available in microfilm from the University Publications of America (UPA) research collections and others come from the University Microfilms International (UMI) research collections with additional collections scanned from the original documents. Collections include:

American Indians and the American West
- American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971
American Politics and Society
- American Politics and Society from Kennedy to Watergate, 1960-1975
- American Politics in the Early Cold War: Truman and Eisenhower Administrations, 1945-1961
- FBI Confidential Files and Radical Politics in the U.S., 1945-1972
- Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930
- Japanese American Incarceration: Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946
- Law and Society since the Civil War: American Legal Manuscripts from the Harvard Law School Library, 1861-1976
- New Deal and World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Office Files and Records of Federal Agencies, 1933-1945
- Pinkerton's National Detective Agency Records, 1853-1999
- Progressive Era: Reform, Regulation, and Rights, 1872-1934
- Progressive Era: Robert M. La Follette Papers, 1879-1924
- Progressive Era: Voices of Reform, 1875-1945
- Records of the Children's Bureau, 1912-1969
- Students for a Democratic Society, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and the anti-Vietnam War Movement, 1958-1981
- Temperance and Prohibition Movement, 1830-1933
- Thomas A. Edison Papers, 1850-1919
Civil Rights Movement and the Black Freedom Struggle
- African American Police League Records, 1961-1988
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Federal Government Records, Supplement
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century: Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 2
- NAACP Papers: Board of Directors, Annual Conferences, Major Speeches, and National Staff Files
- NAACP Papers: Branch Department, Branch Files, and Youth Department Files
- NAACP Papers: Special Subjects
- NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Education, Voting, Housing, Employment, Armed Forces
- NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Legal Department Files
- NAACP Papers: The NAACP's Major Campaigns--Scottsboro, Anti-Lynching, Criminal Justice, Peonage, Labor, and Segregation and Discrimination Complaints and Response
- Reverend J. H. Jackson and the National Baptist Convention, 1900-1990
International Relations and Military Conflicts
- CIA Cold War Research Reports and Records on Communism in China and Eastern Europe, 1917-1976
- Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Africa and the Middle East
- Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Asia
- Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, 1960-1969, Europe and Latin America
- Creation of Israel: British Foreign Office Correspondence on Palestine and Transjordan, 1940-1948
- Nazi Looted Art and Assets: Records on the Post-World War II Restitution Process, 1942-1998
- Office of Strategic Services (OSS)-State Department Intelligence and Research Reports, 1941-1961
- U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945
- U.S. Military Intelligence Reports, 1911-1944
- Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975
- World War I: British Foreign Office Political Correspondence (1914-1920)
- World War I: Records of the American Expeditionary Forces, and Diplomacy in the World War I Era (1915-1927)
- World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes, and Refugees
Latinx History
- Latino Civil Rights during the Carter Administration: Records of the White House Office of Hispanic Affairs, 1979-1981
Revolutionary War and Early America
- Revolutionary War and Early America: Collections from the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1721-1860
Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War
- Confederate Military Manuscripts and Records of Union Generals and the Union Army (1854-1870)
- Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries (1700-1896)
- Reconstruction and Military Government after the Civil War (1865-1877)
- Slavery and the Law (1775-1867)
- Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries, 1700-1896
- Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Law and Order in 19th Century America, 1636-1880
- Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records, Part 1
- Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records, Part 2
- Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records, Part 3
- Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantation Records, Part 4
Women’s Studies
- Margaret Sanger Papers: Smith College Collections and Collected Documents
- Southern Women and their Families in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Holdings of the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Struggle for Women's Rights, Organizational Records, 1880-1990
- Women's Studies Manuscript Collections from the Schlesinger Library: Voting Rights, National Politics, and Reproductive Rights
- Women at Work during World War II: Rosie the Riveter and the Women's Army Corps Workers and Labor Unions
Workers, Labor Unions, Progressives, and Radicals
- American Federation of Labor Records: The Samuel Gompers Era, 1877-1937
- Labor Priests: Progressive Politics and the Catholic Church, John A. Ryan Papers, 1892-1945
- Labor Unions in the U.S., 1862-1974: Knights of Labor, AFL, CIO, and AFL-CIO
- Socialist Party of America Records
- Workers, Labor Unions, and the American Left in the 20th Century: Federal Records

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Located along a fifteen mile stretch of Interstate 90 in western South Dakota, the site consists of the Visitor Center, Launch Control Facility Delta-01, and Launch Facility Delta-09.
The National Cold War Center External
Located on Eaker Air Force Base in Blytheville, Arkansas, the National Cold War Center was designated by the US Congress as an official museum of the Cold War.
National Museum of American Diplomacy
Located in Washington, DC, the museum is not yet open to the public. Its website features a section on "Cold War Diplomacy" under the category "Discover Diplomacy."
The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. External
Located in southeast Albuquerque, New Mexico, the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History is a Smithsonian Affiliate serving as a national resource for nuclear history and science. Together with the Atomic Heritage Foundation and the Los Alamos Historical Society, the museum maintains the “Voices of the Manhattan Project,” a collection of oral histories of Manhattan Project veterans and their families.
Nike Missile Site SF-88
Located in the Marin Headlands of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, CA, the park is “the most fully restored Nike missile site in the country,” according to the National Park Service.
Titan Missile Museum External
Located near Tucson, Arizona, the Titan II missile complex 571-7 is preserved as a National Historic Landmark.

Aquí, pero allá (Here, But There): A Guide on Chile from 1964-1990 and Chilean Exiles Living in the United States
The guide highlights Library of Congress collection items related to the election of leftist leader Salvador Allende in 1970, to his overthrow in 1973 by right-wing forces backed by the United States, and to the repression that followed.
Cold War: Finding Images in the Prints & Photographs Division
The guide lists collections of images that provide visual documentation of many aspects of the Cold War, with a special focus on pictures that are rights-free.
Cold War Military Archives from Hungary, Poland, and Romania
The guide provides comprehensive lists of microfilm collections of Warsaw Pact military archives selected and declassified by the US Department of Defense.
Communist International (Comintern) Archives at the Library of Congress
The records of the Communist Party of the Unites States of America (CPUSA) are fond 515 in the archives of the Communist International (Comintern) in the custody of the Russian State Archives for Social and Political History (RGASPI) in Moscow. RGASPI digitized some one million pages of documents from the Comintern archives, which can be viewed at a dedicated terminal in the European Reading Room of the Library of Congress. As part of the project, Library staff created an English index to the RGASPI material. The digital index is available in the European Reading Room, and provides further detail on the contents of the CPUSA microfilm in the Manuscript Reading Room.

Library of Congress Research Guides

Aquí, pero allá (Here, But There): A Guide on Chile from 1964-1990 and Chilean Exiles Living in the United States

This guide highlights historical events in Chile through 1964-1990, emphasizing the dictatorship of Pinochet. The materials selected provide insight on those who influenced this period and those who lived through it.

Cold War: Finding Images in the Prints & Photographs Division

This guide highlights collections that are strong for coverage of events and individuals relating to international and diplomatic struggles between 1946 -1991 with an emphasis on rights-free images. Search tips and related resources are also covered.

Cold War Military Archives from Hungary, Poland, and Romania

This guide provides indexes to the Library of Congress microfilm collections of formerly classified records from the military archives of Hungary, Poland and Romania. Also includes papers from the conference "Cold War Archives in the Decade of Openness"

Communist International (Comintern) Archives at the Library of Congress

The Comintern operated from 1919-1943 to foment world revolution. This guide describes a project to make metadata and materials from the Russian State Archives for Social and Political History (RGASPI) in Moscow available at the Library of Congress.

Cold War Resources in the Manuscript Division

Manuscripts: Ask a Librarian