JSTOR is an online library of hundreds of years of academic research. Use the rich JSTOR library to build out your family tree’s historical, cultural, and social contexts.  Gain the knowledge and details around places, times, and historical trends:

• Researching historical figures, places, and events
• Finding state- and region-specific information and history
• Learning about immigration patterns, political movements, and social issues of the day

JSTOR can be the key resource to build out the story around your family history. No one lives in isolation and knowing the context around your family’s history can lead to a deeper understanding of your past.

We have more than 2,000 journals to place your family story in history. You’ll find articles from a wide range of disciplines, from history and politics to religion and geography, to build the story around your family tree. To help you get started, we highlighted a handful of journals that may be of particular interest to family history researchers.

The Genealogy Factor column is a free eight-part series on unearthing discoveries to provide context and clarity for anyone tracing their past, by D. Joshua Taylor. A professional genealogist and co-host of the popular PBS series Genealogy Roadshow, Taylor wrote the series for our online news magazine, JSTOR Daily.

JSTOR Daily also publishes other relevant articles on history, sociolgy and many other topics. Check out the newest articles:

Sign up for the weekly JSTOR Daily newsletter

• When looking at an article on JSTOR, pay attention to the Thumbnails and References tabs
  • Thumbnails tab shows previews of all the pages
  • References tab shows all cited works, which can potentially lead to new sources
• All public domain content on JSTOR is freely available
  • Content published in the United States before 1921
  • Content published outside the United State before 1870
• Check to see if you’re near a library with JSTOR access  
  • Register for a MyJSTOR account to read three articles for free at a time (no PDF downloads)
  • JPASS provides unlimited reading access and up to 120 PDF downloads/year. Use this link for a 10% discount off the yearly plan

This selection of journals highlights the history of the diverse religions and populations in America. See more religion and population titles. 

We work with more than 30 state and regional historical societies to make their journals available on JSTOR. The selection below is only small subset of the available history journals: