Home > Law and Research Library > Collections > Federal Publications > Pre-1976

Identifying and Accessing Pre-1976 Federal Publications

• Charters of Freedom (Declaration of Independence/Constitution)
• Core Documents of U.S. Democracy
• Our Documents (key documents of U.S. history from 1776 - 1965)

 

• Presidents of the United States
• Executive Orders/Proclamations
  NOTE: Paper indexes can be used to identify earlier Executive Orders in the collection either in paper or in microfiche.
• Codification (April 13, 1945 - January 20, 1989)
• Disposition Tables
• Presidential Libraries
• U.S. Congress
• Biographical Directory (1774 - current)
• Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation (1774 - 1873)
• Session Dates of Congress
  U.S. House of Representatives' Office of the Clerk

Paper Indexes and Other Finding Aids
To identify pre-1976 federal publications, the following indexes are available for use in Room 300 of the Law and Research Library:

Years Covered	Listing, Catalog or Index
1774-1881	Poore, Benjamin Perley. A Descriptive Catalogue of Government Publications of the United States, September 5, 1774-March 4, 1881. 48th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Misc. Document 67. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1885. (Call No.:  015.73 L75)
1789-1909	Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909. 3rd edition. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1911. (SuDocs No.:  GP 3.2:C 41/2)
1789-1909	CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909: Guide to Documents Listed in the Checklist of U.S. Public Documents, 1789-1909, Not Printed in the U.S. Serial Set. Washington, DC: Congressional Information Service, 1990-1993. (Call No.: 015.73 C579e)
1789-1969	U.S. Serial Set Index, 1789-1969. Washington, DC: Congressional Information Service, 1976-1979. (Call No.: 348.73 C74)
1789-1976	Lester, Daniel W. et al. Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents, 1789-1976. Arlington, VA: United States Historical Documents Institute, 1979-1982. (Call No.: 015.73 L75)
1881-1893	Ames, John G. Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1905. (SuDocs No.: I 15.2:In 2/2)
1893-1940	Catalogue of the Public Documents of the [53rd to 76th] Congress and of all Departments of the United States. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1896-1945. (SuDocs No.: GP 3.6:v no.)
1895-present	Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1895-present. (SuDocs No.: GP 3.8/1:yr.)
1900-1971	Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1900-1971. Washington, DC: Carrollton Press, Inc, 1973-1975. (Call No.: 015.73 U585)

U.S. Congressional information can also be located by searching Congressional Record indexes and the Congressional Information Service's Congressional MasterFile on CD-ROM in Suite 300 of the Law and Research Library:

• U.S. Serial Set 1789-1969
• U.S. Senate Executive Documents and Reports 1817-1969
• U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings 1833-1969
• Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings 1823-1968
• Unpublished U.S. House Committee Hearings 1833-1954
• U.S. Congressional Committee Prints 1830-1969

Additional resources can be identified with additional indexes from the Congressional Information Service, and with other free or fee-for-service indexes on the third floor, Room 300 of the Law and Research Library. It is helpful to have the date, number and session of the Congressional material being researched.

 

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Updated:  03/13/2009