HIST 33803: Arkansas and the Southwest

Finding information on the history, politics, and cultures of Arkansas

About United States Government Documents

Depository Library Seal

The University Libraries have been a selective depository for United States documents since 1907, and we hold United States federal documents dating back to the 18th century. Documents are housed  in Mullins Library, in Young Law Library, and in offsite storage and can be found in print, microform, and online

From 1976 - present most United States documents can be found in OneSearch.

Earlier documents may also be found in OneSearch or by using print or online indexes such as ProQuest Congressional.

For more information on government documents at the University of Arkansas, see the Government Documents webpage, linked below. 

Selected Federal Documents Sources

Selected Arkansas Documents

Unpublished (Manuscript) Census Schedules

Published census materials included the Decennial Census of Population, as well as periodic censuses of agriculture and manufacturing 

Unpublished, or "manuscript" census schedules are the record of individuals and households recorded by the census taker. They are released 70 years after the census date. These schedules are familiar to genealogical researchers trying to track families by place and time. For the historian, these schedules provide detailed demographic and economic data at the household, town, and county level.

The University Libraries have the census schedules for the state of Arkansas for 1830 - 1880 and 1900-1930, on microfilm in Multimedia Services on level two under the following call numbers:

for 1830-1910, 1930: Multimedia Microfilm F410 .C458 1830 -- F 410 .C458 1910 and Multimedia Microfilm F 410 .C458 1930
for 1920: Multimedia Microfilm F410 .C45 1920a

See more about the manuscript census on this handout.