Primary Sources: U.S. Presidents

"The information and sample article links below provide access to a sampling of articles from historic newspapers that can be found in the Chronicling America: American Historic Newspapers digital collection (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). Use the Suggested Search Terms and Dates to explore this topic further in Chronicling America."

"These pages provide information about the Era and Presidency of William McKinley. "

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1897

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"The twenty-eight films of this collection are actuality motion pictures from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress. They include footage of President William McKinley at his second inauguration; of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York; of President McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition; and of President McKinley's funeral. The films were produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company from March to November 1901. The company, founded by inventor Thomas Alva Edison, operated from 1893 to 1917. "
Provided by the Library of Congress

"The papers of army officer, U.S. representative, and governor of Ohio William McKinley (1843-1901), who became the twenty-fifth president of the United States, consist of 131,000 items (121,435 images) most of which were digitized from 98 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years circa 1847 to 1935, with the bulk dating from 1897 to 1901, the collection contains correspondence, speeches, messages, scrapbooks, printed matter, and other papers pertaining primarily to McKinley’s presidential administration. Subjects include Ohio state politics, presidential elections of 1896 and 1900, the gold standard, the McKinley tariff, progressivism, the Spanish-American War (1898), the Philippine-American War (1899-1902), territorial expansion, and McKinley’s assassination. The collection also includes copies of outgoing letters signed by presidential secretaries John Addison Porter and George B. Cortelyou."

Search and view some items from the McKinley Birthplace Home & Research Center.

Copy of McKinley's speech from May 18, 1888 found in the papers of Frederick Douglass at the Library of Congress.

Cleveland Gazette 17, no. 21 (12/30/1899)

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1901

Transcript of a speech by Emma Goldman, a copy of which was found in the pocket of Leon Czolgosz who assassinated President McKinley.

by Aaron T. Bliss, Governor on the death of President William McKinley. September 14, 1901 [Lansing 1901]

December 6, 1897, December 5, 1898, December 5, 1899, and December 3, 1900

"This clip was filmed on March 4, 1897 and follows the Procession down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. This clip, which is in the public domain, is from the Motion Picture Division of the U.S. National Archives."
Provided by the Internet Archive

Message to Congress about the Spanish American War