Containing Multitudes: A Documentary Reader of US History provides nearly two hundred primary documents that narrate aspects of US history from the period before European contact through the twenty-first century. Presented in two volumes, this curated selection—including letters, literature, journalism, and visual art—provides access to historical voices from a wide range of subject positions and belief systems.

Designed for US history survey courses, this reader provides both analysis and instructional support in the form of brief introductory essays and questions to promote student discussion and reflection. Containing Multitudes not only conveys a rich and complex portrait of the American past but also offers readers valuable insight into the many dimensions of the historian’s craft.

Wesley G. Phelps is associate professor of history and director of undergraduate studies at the University of North Texas. He teaches courses on twentieth-century US history, the American South, and LGBTQ history and is the author of A People’s War on Poverty: Urban Politics and Grassroots Activists in Houston and the forthcoming Before Lawrence v. Texas: The Making of a Queer Social Movement.

Jennifer Jensen Wallach is chair and professor of history at the University of North Texas, where she teaches courses on food history and African American history. She is the author or editor of nine books, including most recently Every Nation Has Its Dish: Black Bodies and Black Food in Twentieth-Century America, and the coeditor of the series Food and Foodways at the University of Arkansas Press.