American National Biography
American National Biography (ANB) is the first place to look for detailed yet brief biographies of deceased Americans. In addition to the biography itself, the bibliography is useful for directing you to the best first-stop resources and will tell you if and where the person's personal papers and archives exist. You'll also be directed to any reliable online resouces. ANB may not be as useful for earlier periods of American history, especially women and minorities. Click on the box below to go to ANB.
"A Visit from the Old Mistress" by Winslow Homer, 1876
The original of this painting is at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.
Women's History in ANB
The box below is a link to a selected overview articles from The Oxford Companion to United States History as well biographies of key individuals in women's history from the American National Biography. A good place to start your research.
Biographies by Occupation or Subject
Since many biographies focus on an individual's influence within his or her profession, don't overlook scholarly encyclopedias such as Oxford Art Online or scholarly reference works on a specific field, like Scribner's Writers. The information in these sources will likely provide you with a good evaluation of influences on or by your person and will lead you to more specific sources in disciplines you might not be familiar with such as art, literature, science, etc.
- Gale Literature This link opens in a new windowYes, it's "literature" but it includes the useful biographical source "Contemporary Authors" and the biographical and literary source "Dictionary of Literary Biography."
- Oxford Art OnlineThe online version of the 30 volume "Dictionary of Art," this also includes brief to medium length biographies of artists. Bibliography of other works is included. Search last name first (Pollock, Jackson) or common name (Michelangelo).
- Oxford music online This link opens in a new windowProvides biographies of musicians, living and dead; classical and popular. Search last name first. Covers four print sources including Grove Music Online, Oxford Companion to Music, and Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Includes discography & bibliography.
- Scribner writers seriesIncludes 15-20 page signed essays on more than 2,000 authors and literary genres drawn from the acclaimed Scribner print series. Each signed article was written by a noted scholar and concludes with a bibliography of primary and secondary sources for further study.
- Twayne's authors seriesThe Twayne's series explores an author's life and work with biographical information and influences discussed in the first chapter of each book.
Authors from all time periods are included.
