LibGuides: Primary Sources: History

Primary vs. Secondary Sources (History Videos)

Using Primary Sources for History Assignments

Here are some examples of primary source types that work particularly well with history classes. Remember that all of these would be *from the time period being studied*:

Diaries and journals
Letters and memos
Oral History
Film
Speeches and interviews
Government documents such as laws, court cases, legislative proceedings, etc.
Newspapers, pamphlets, advertisements
Autobiography and memoir
Photographs
Art and literary works
Maps
Songs & Music

Recommended Web Sites for Finding and Using Historical Primary Sources

History Matters: Making Sense of Evidence
George Mason University
This section helps students and teachers make effective use of primary sources. “Making Sense of Documents” provide strategies for analyzing online primary materials, with interactive exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources.

Eurodocs
Brigham Young University
Online Sources for European History
Selected Transcriptions, Facsimiles and Translations
Internet History Sourcebooks Project (Home)
Fordham University
Welcome to The Internet History Sourcebooks Project, a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use. Primary sources are available here primarily for use in high-school and university/college courses.
World History Sources
George Mason University
World History Sources reflects three approaches central to current world history scholarship: an emphasis on comparative issues rather than civilizations in isolation; a focus on contacts among different societies and the economic, social, and cultural consequences of those contacts; and an attentiveness to “global” forces that transcend individual societies
Hanover Historical Texts Project
Hanover College
The Hanover Historical Texts Collection makes available digital versions of historical texts for use in history and humanities courses. Search by keyword, or browse the listings.
Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
Yale University
he Avalon Project will mount digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government.

American Memory - Mission and History
Information relating to the American experience - documents, photographs, sound recordings, prints, maps, sheet music, etc. from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Library of Congress

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window
Collection of legal materials on slavery in the United States and England, including statutes and case law from the colonial, state and federal level.

Founders Online
National Archives
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Over 185,000 searchable documents, fully annotated, from the authoritative Founding Fathers Papers projects.

African American Odyssey (Library of Congress)
Rare and unique primary sources from the Library of Congress vast African-American collections.
American Indian Boarding Schools (Digital Public Library of America)
This collection of photos and documents shows what life was like for the many children enrolled in American Indian boarding schools.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States (Free Proquest Resource)
Featuring select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.
Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Hunter College)
This site provides access to photographs, documents, artifacts, art, maps, oral histories, moving image and audio clips, and other material pertaining to the Puerto Rican diaspora.
Digital History (Asian Voices)
Most linked documents relate to Asians' role in the making of America, and Asian Americans during World War II.
Digital Library of the Caribbean
dLOC is a cooperative of Partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that provides users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections.
Digital Public Library of America (Hispanics)
Makes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
Digital Public Library of America (Native Americans)
Makes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
Hispanic Digital Collections (Library of Congress)
The Hispanic Reading Room is the primary access point for research related to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive
The Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (JARDA) contains thousands of primary sources documenting Japanese American internment, including: Personal diaries, letters, photographs, and drawings; US War Relocation Authority materials, including camp newsletters, final reports, photographs, and other documents relating to the day-to-day administration of the camps; And personal histories documenting the lives of the people who lived in the camps, as well as of the administrators who created and worked there.
Milestone Documents in African American History (Gale eBooks)
This title covers iconic primary documents from the 1600s to the present. Each entry offers the full text of the document as well as an in-depth, analytical essay that places the document in its historical context.

Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law This link opens in a new window
Collection of legal materials on slavery in the United States and England, including statutes and case law from the colonial, state and federal level.

South Asian American Digital Archives
SAADA creates a more inclusive society by giving voice to South Asian Americans through documenting, preserving, and sharing stories that represent their unique and diverse experiences.

Questions to Ask Yourself About Primary Sources

When and where was it created?
Who created it, and for what purpose?
Who was the intended audience?
What was happening during the time period in which it was created?
What biases do you see?
What insight does it give you on the time period or historical event being studied? How does it reflect the time in which it was produced?

Recommended Databases

America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Complete editions from hundreds of US newspapers providing primary source content covering eras such as the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, World War II, Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, Information Age and more.
Black Life in America This link opens in a new window
The experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media.

Book Collections of Primary Sources

Milestone Documents in African American History

This set covers 125 iconic primary documents from the 1600s to the present.

Milestone Documents in World History

Combining full-text primary sources with in-depth expert analysis, the 125 entries in the 4-volume set cover important and influential primary source documents from the third millennium BCE to the twenty-first century.

Milestone Documents of American Leaders, Revised Edition

Here, the lives of notable Americans are illuminated through an in-depth study of primary source texts that made them exceptional. .

American Decades: Primary Sources

Each "Primary Sources volume covers a decade in American history ,amplifying and illuminating the decade with first-hand accounts and other primary source documentation.

American Speeches

A historian and former presidential speechwriter presents an unprecedented two-volume collection of the greatest speeches in American history.

Tips for Finding More Books

When searching our catalog for books and media, combine a relevant search term with a "primary source" term, such as diaries, correspondence, personal narratives, or speeches:

Examples:

To find Diaries: civil war diaries
To find Letters: african americans correspondence
To find Memoirs: Vietnam War personal narratives
To find Speeches: Jimmy Carter speeches