Often containing account books, diaries, planting information, and records of the births, deaths, and sale of enslaved workers, plantation records are a valuable resource for business historians. Although it is possible to access a selection of these materials via ProQuest's Plantation Records database, access requires a subscription. Libraries and other institutions are making progress in digitizing relevant holdings and making them freely available. The following provides a sampling of such projects:
Grenada Plantation Records, New York Public Library
Newton Plantation Collection, Barbados Museum and Historical Society
Henry Laurens Account Book, 1766-1773, College of Charleston Libraries
Journal of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney's Plantations, 1818-1819, College of Charleston Libraries
Drayton Papers, Drayton Hall
Thomas Middleton Plantation Account Book, 1734-1813, University of North Carolina Libraries
Manigault Plantation Journal, University of North Carolina Libraries
Hall Family Papers and Sugar Plantation Records, University of California San Diego Library
Greenwood Plantation Accounts, Portal to Texas History
Marx E. Cohen Plantation Journals, University of South Carolina Libraries
Thomas Thistlewood Papers, Beinecke Library, Yale University
Mason Family Account Book, George Mason University