What's Free on Footnote
Try the FREE TRIAL All-Access Footnote Membership.
Access everything, including millions of documents not available anywhere else on the web.
Millions of Documents—all Free to search
All of our indexes are open and free to search. Find names of people, places and topics. Each search will return a list of documents and a small image of the document with your search term highlighted.
Viewing full images
Viewing the full image in our state-of-the-art image viewer is not free, but we have opened up a select number of titles where you can view every document, annotate, comment and print for free.
Free Titles
Documents that have shaped American history.View images of the originals and learn where each document is archived. This collection provides a first-hand look at some of the nation's high and low points.
Nearly 13,000 government UFO reports. From Alaska to Arizona, from Florida to Labrador, UFO sightings were reported from within North America and even around the world.
More than 100,000 pages from 1664–1880. If you're interested in Pennsylvania history and want information relating to historical events, facts about ancestors, or original documents to support a research paper, the Pennsylvania Archives is an important publication to explore.
Official records of the original colonies and the early United States. The First Continental Congress (1774) addressed "intolerable acts" by the British. The Second Continental Congress (1775-1781) created the Declaration of Independence and the first national government.
These are documents which were misplaced, overlooked, or found in private hands when the Papers of the Continental Congress were first arranged in 1834.
Convened in Philadelphia in May 1787, the Constitutional Convention created one of the most important documents of the new nation - the United States Constitution.
Explore events that preoccupied George Washington during his years as president through these letters. The correspondence includes items as simple as trip itineraries to more complex issues such as the conduct of the US in wars of other nations, and Thomas Jefferson's opinion of the constitutionality of the Residence Act in 1790.
Free Features on Footnote
There is much you can do with a Basic Membership. Create a Story page, spotlight an image, share and upload images.
Upload Unlimited Images
Keep your document and photos safe with us. You will also be able view them with the Footnote Viewer, which allows you to annotate, comment and spotlight.
You can even make Spotlights or Story Pages from the images you upload.
Spotlights
Spotlights are an easy way to highlight interesting images that you find or upload on Footnote and share them with other people. Moreover, when you spotlight an image or document on Footnote it becomes easier for you to share and for others to find it.
Examples- FoxNews - The first UFO sighting
- President James A Garfield's Civil War Pension
- Treaty between the US and the Ottawa and Chippewa tribes
Try making a Spotlight now. View this document from Project Blue Book and spotlight something you find interesting. Get Basic Footnote Membership now and spotlight history.
Story Pages
Share your ideas, opinions and discoveries with web pages that you can edit with a simple point-and-click.
Examples & how you can use Story Pages- Family History research notebook
- Notes from an Iowa Farmer
- Whittier Union High's "Cardinal & White" Annual 1927 yearbook
Basic Footnote Membership—it's Free
There is no fee or expiration and we don't ask for any credit card information when you choose Basic Footnote Membership. We also will keep any personal information private.
Consider an All-Access Membership.
Sign up for a free trial as an All-Access Footnote Member
Access everything including millions of documents not available anywhere else on the web.
Member Links
About Footnote
At Footnote.com you can view the most exciting original source documents available for the first time on the internet …more
Get the latest from The Footnote Blog
Feedback
Tell us what you think about Footnote or what you would like to see.
History for the People —Discover. Discuss. Connect. Share.