Titles or Types of Materials
American State Papers
The American State Papers are in a Remote Storage Facility. To access these documents you will need to request materials from Remote Storage by emailing your request to both Archives and Special Collections (speccoll@usd.edu) and Circulation (circ@usd.edu). Materials can take 2-5 business days for retrieval. All materials must be used in the reading room of Archives and Special Collections. All usage is governed by Archives and Special Collections policies as found here.
This is the earliest collection of Legislative and Executive documents, many originating from the important period between 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817. It is the precursor of the Serial Set and is indexed with Full Text in the Library of Congress American Memory website, Readexdatabase and in the Heinonline database.
The American State Papers are arranged in Series:
Foreign Relations - v.1-6
Indian Affairs - v.7-8
Finance - v.9-13
Commerce and Navigation - v.14-15
Military Affairs - v.16-22
Naval Affairs - v.23-26
Post Office - v.27
Public Lands - v.28-35
Claims - v.36
Miscellaneous - v.37-38
Bills
I.D. Weeks does not have the bills but the Library of Congress Century of American Lawmaking includes some early bills.
House of Representatives - 1st-43rd congress.
Senate - 1st-43rd congress.
Census Materials - HA 201 - Located in the Reference Collection on 1st Floor.
Early Censuses covered population, manufactures and agriculture.
I.D. Weeks Library has some Census and Population Schedules in Microfilm. They are located on 2nd Floor.
HeritageQuest Online - Census name rolls from 1790 to 1930 are indexed and available in full text. Find ancestors in the complete set of U.S. federal census images.
Geneology Microfilm Catalogs - The National Archives has catalogs for the Federal population censuses from 1790 to 1930 and subject catalogs that list publications by topic and provide roll-by-roll lists of contents.
A publication from the Census titled Availability of Census Records about Individuals explains what census material are available and how to obtain them and also lists the sources for some other useful records about individuals.
Congressional Record - X - (Call Number)
1873 - present - Located on 2nd Floor, Government Documents area. December 1, 1873 to May 8, 1896 is also available in Microfilm on 2nd floor, Reels 350-400.
The Congressional Record is preceded by the following titles.
Congressional Globe -- 1833-1873 - To access these documents, you will need to request materials from Remote Storage by emailing your request to both Archives and Special Collections (speccoll@usd.edu) and Circulation (circ@usd.edu). Materials can take 2-5 business days for retrieval. All materials must be used in the reading room of Archives and Special Collections. All usage is governed by Archives and Special Collections policies as found here.
The Congresssional Globe is also in the Microfilm Collection on 2nd floor. Reels 301-349.
Register of Debates --- 1824-1837 - Microfilm Reels 295-300, Microfilm Collection on 2nd floor.
Annals of Congress --- 1789-1824 - To access these documents you will need to request materials from Remote Storage by emailing your request to both Archives and Special Collections (speccoll@usd.edu) and Circulation (circ@usd.edu). Materials can take 2-5 business days for retrieval. All materials must be used in the reading room of Archives and Special Collections. All usage is governed by Archives and Special Collections policies as found here.
Also in Microfilm Collection on 2nd floor. Reels 285-294.
Available in Full Text from the Library of Congress American Memory web site.
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Foreign Relations of the United States - JX 233 .A3 - Located on 3rd floor..
FRUS began in 1861 and consists of sensitive correspondence, other documents of the State Department, and other materials affecting the foreign relations of the United States. Materials are not released for publication until 25 years after they were originally produced. Prior to 1861 similar materials were printed in the Annual Report of the Secretary of State which can be found in the Serial Set.
Historical Statistics of the United States - HA 202 .H57 2006 - Located on 3rd floor.
This five volume set contains statistics from colonial times to the present. The statistics are from a variety of sources, not just the U.S. government. Notes on the tables give the source and may lead to further information.
Presidential Papers
The Library of Congress American Memory project has many presidential papers available, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln. These vary considerably in scope and coverage.
Serial Set
1818 - 1994 -To access these documents you will need to request materials from Remote Storage by emailing your request to both Archives and Special Collections (speccoll@usd.edu) and Circulation (circ@usd.edu). Materials can take 2-5 business days for retrieval. All materials must be used in the reading room of Archives and Special Collections. All usage is governed by Archives and Special Collections policies as found here.
1995 - present - Located on 2nd floor Government Documents area. Call number - Y 1.1/2:
American Memory Century of American Lawmaking - selected volumes
The Serial Set contains all Congressional reports and documents. During the 19th century it often contained departmental reports, reports on explorations, and many other materials. See the US Congressional Serial Set Finding List from the College of Wooster to agency publications within the Serial Set.
Statutes at Large - Located at McKusick Law Library.
HeinOline - includes full text of Statutes at Large.
American Memory Century of Lawmaking - contains the Statutes at Large from 1789-1875.
Compilation of laws passed by Congress during each session. There are two cumulative indexes, one from 1789- 1873, and one from 1873-1907. It is only indexed annually after 1907. the Statutes at Large was published by private publishers until 1873. There were three different private editions, each of which is slightly different from the others. Check in the microfiche editions or in Century of American Lawmaking if the citation you have isn't available in paper.
Statutes at Large citations are to volume number and page number, for example, "102 Stat 343."
Sometimes citations appear as "Act of January 2, 1800, ch. 3", sometimes "Act of January 2, 1800, ch. 3, 2 Stat. 4."
United States Reports - Located at McKusick Law Library.
Library of Congress. Index and full text of all Supreme Court opinions
These are the opinions of the Supreme Court. Older editions may be referred to as Dallas, Cranch, Wheaton, Peters, Howard, Black or Wallace (early compilers). Citations to the United States Reports look like 345 US 567. The first number is the volume number, the second is the page.
Z call numbers
Journals of the Continental Congress - To access these documents you will need to request materials from Remote Storage by emailing your request to both Archives and Special Collections (speccoll@usd.edu) and Circulation (circ@usd.edu). Materials can take 2-5 business days for retrieval. All materials must be used in the reading room of Archives and Special Collections. All usage is governed by Archives and Special Collections policies as found here.
They can also be found at American Memory Century of American Lawmaking.
All materials from the Revolutionary period and the first 14 Congresses are classed as "Z" SuDoc numbers. This includes such materials as the debates of the Constitutional Convention and the Journals of the Continental Congress.
I.D. Weeks Library has some Census and Population Schedules in Microfilm. They are located on 2nd Floor.