Citing Archival
Material
Students often inquire
about the correct format for citing archival material,
and many style manuals do not address citations for
primary documents. The examples below are based on the
Chicago Manual of Style and the formats used by most
publishers of historical books and articles.
Bibliographic
Entries
Format
Name of collection
(available on the Archives web site), name of archives.
Examples
Erskine Ramsay Papers,
Birmingham Public Library, Department of Archives and
Manuscripts
Birmingham, Ala. Police
Department Surveillance Files, Birmingham Public
Library, Department of Archives and Manuscripts
Endnotes and
Footnotes
Format
Item, date, file number,
name of collection, name of archives.
Examples
Letters
Thomas A. Harrison
letter to Louisa C. Harrison, December 14, 1843, File
#765.1.4, Faunsdale Plantation Papers, Birmingham
Public Library, Department of Archives and Manuscripts.
Diaries
Diary of Charles C. J.
Carpenter, March 26, 1951, file #241.19.23, Charles C.
J. Carpenter Papers, Birmingham Public Library,
Department of Archives and
Manuscripts.
Scrapbooks
London, Edith Ward
Scrapbook, file#96.14.1, Edith Ward London and Family
Papers, Birmingham
Public Library, Department of Archives and Manuscripts.
Memos and
Unpublished Reports
Birmingham Police
Department Inter-Office Communication, March 12, 1963,
file #268.13.2, Theophilus Eugene ‘Bull’
Connor Papers, Birmingham Public Library, Department of
Archives and Manuscripts.
Pamphlets,
Brochures and Other Publications
Parke, Thomas D., Report
on Coalburg Prison (Birmingham: Roberts and Son, 1895),
found in file #21.2.5, Thomas Dukes Parke Papers,
Birmingham Public Library, Department of Archives and
Manuscripts.
Boutwell, Albert
campaign brochure, 1954, file #45.1.13, Election
Campaigns Miscellaneous Literature, Birmingham Public
Library, Department of Archives and Manuscripts.
Interviews
Joe History interview
with author, Birmingham, Alabama, January 14, 2008.
Nicholas Christu
interview, file #809.1.42, Birmingfind Papers,
Birmingham Public Library, Department of Archives and
Manuscripts.
Census Records
1840 United States
Federal Census, Alabama, microfilm roll 16, page 240.
Trial
Transcripts and Jail Records
Alabama. Tenth Judicial
Circuit Court Alabama v. Robert E. Chambliss Trial
Transcript, Birmingham Public Library, Department of
Archives and Manuscripts.
Birmingham Jail Docket,
April 12, 1963, Birmingham Public Library, Department
of Archives and Manuscripts.
Newspaper
Articles
Birmingham News, March
22, 1956.
Birmingham Post, April
6, 1949, found in James W. ‘Jimmie’ Morgan
Scrapbooks, Vol. 16, Birmingham Public Library,
Department of Archives and Manuscripts.
Birmingham News,
September 12, 1973, found in vertical file Education
and
Schools – Public
– Birmingham – Board of Education, Southern
History Department, Birmingham Public Library.
