Where to find Primary Sources

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What is a primary source ?

A source created by people who actually saw or participated in an event and recorded that event or their reactions to it immediately after the event.  Examples:  Original manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, oral histories, documentaries, historic sites, and artifacts are among the numerous and varied "eyewitness accounts" that can provide students with a richer and more descriptive explanation of the past than those found in traditional textbooks.

Where to start
Library Databases - start in Library Resources

• Opposing Viewpoints - documents, and opinions  - includes the 'Pro or Con' of an issue
• Proquest Historical Newspapers - 5 newspapers with articles dating back to 1851
• Readers' Guide Retrospective - very old magazine articles back to 1890
• History in Context - World History and U.S. History - journals, newspapers and e-books

Library Books - (These are examples of what is available - there are many, many more)

• Annals of America
• Great Events of the 20th Century
• Major Presidential Decisions
• Speeches of the American Presidents
• Imperialism: A History in Documents
• World War I: A History in Documents
• English Historical Documents
• Primary Sources: World War I
• Dictionary of Historical Documents
• Primary Sources: Vietnam War
• Books of Quotations
• War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence

Presidential Libraries

• Truman http://www.trumanlibrary.org/
• Eisenhower http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/
• Nixon http://nixon.archives.gov/
• Reagan http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/
• Roosevelt http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/
• Kennedy http://www.jfklibrary.org/
• Carter http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/
• Ford http://www.ford.utexas.edu/
• Bush http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/
• Clinton http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/

Documents of Social Justice
SoJust.net provides a document history of social justice, civil rights, equity, peace, and activism. Uncover the history of anti-racism, suffrage, the gay rights movement, labor activism, and other movements through historic speeches, song lyrics, poetry, essays, and other documentary artifacts related to social justice  http://www.sojust.net
 

Constitutions of the World
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/index.html

U.S History

• American Memory Collection - Maps: 1500-2002, photographs, documents, letters, diaries, music, and poetry collections housed at the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
• NARA - National Archives and Record Administration - Historical documents, images, posters, illustrations http://www.archives.gov/
• POTUS (Presidents of the United States) - Historical documents, audio and video files, election results...and more http://www.potus.com/
• Access GPO (U.S. Government Printing Office) - Core documents of U.S. Democracy http://www.access.gpo.gov
• From Revolution to Reconstruction and What Happened Afterwards - Begins with the Magna Carta and ends with George W. Bush's Inaugural Address in 2001. http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/index.htm#2001
• Amdocs: Documents for the Study of American History http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/
• Source Documents in American History http://www.multied.com/documents/index.html
• 100 Milestone Documents - Documents of American history presented by the National Archives and Records Administration http://www.ourdocuments.gov/index.php?flash=true&
• Archiving Early America - Historic documents from 18th century America. http://www.earlyamerica.com/
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Civil War 

• Civil War Women - Diaries, letters, photographs, prints http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/bingham/guides/cwdocs.html
• American Civil War Resources - diaries, letters, papers http://spec.lib.vt.edu/civwar/

World War I

• World War I Document Archive - Conventions, treaties, memorials, official papers http://www.gwpda.org/
• World War I Memoirs and Remembrances http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Diaries,_Memorials,_Personal_Reminiscences

African-American 

• African-American sources - history and culture - Smithsonian Institute ttp://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/afroam.htm
• Excerpts from Slave Narratives http://vi.uh.edu/pages/mintz/primary.htm
• African-American Women's History http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/bingham/guides/retrieve/index.html
• Images of African-Americans From the 19th Century - A Selection of Visual Resources http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/images_aa19/

World War II

• Navy Department Communiques and Pertinent Press Releases: December 10, 1941 to May 24, 1945 http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/comms/index.html
• Chronology of Major International Events from 1931 through 1943 with Ostensible Reasons Advanced for the Occurence Thereof (421 page chronology with citations to original source documents. Published by the U.S. Government http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/events/index.html
• Powers of Persuasion - Poster Art from World War II http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_home.html

Holocaust

• Teachers' Guide to the Holocaust - Documents http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/document.htm
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org/uia-cgi/uia_form/db_group/collections

European History

• AP European History Web Links Page http://www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/APEuro_Main_Weblinks_Page.htm
• EuroDocs - Primary historical documents from Western Europe antiquity to present. History of United Kingdom 1816-1918, Industrial Revolution, Factories, etc. http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page
• Online Gallery - Turning the Pages - Documents from the British Museum http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html

Medieval Times

• Internet Medieval Sourcebook (The Internet Medieval Sourcebook is located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

Political Cartoons

• Dr. Seuss Goes to War http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/
• Herblock's History - Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/
• World War I Political Cartoons http://rutlandhs.k12.vt.us/jpeterso/uboatcar.htm

updated: 12-2010