Locating Primary Sources
The library has many databases that include primary sources. Here's a list of databases containing many primary source documents
The list below includes several databases useful for a wide variety of historical topics. If you don't see what you need, look at the link above or reach out to the library and/or your professor for some assistance.
- Black Freedom Struggle In the United States This link opens in a new window
Primary source material, including FBI records, court cases, and newspaper articles focused on six different phases of Black Freedom from 1790 to 2000s.
- Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Many popular newspapers, dating back as far as the 19th century. Access for each paper begins with the first issue published, end dates are varied and evolving.
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new window
Primary source material on the cultural change between 1950-1975. Rock and roll, counterculture, peace and protest, fashion, civil rights, Vietnam, student activism, and underground publications.
- Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
Documents three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights in America through the eyes and work of sociologists, activists, psychologists, teachers, ministers, students and housewives.1928-1976
- Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960-1974 This link opens in a new window
Covers themes such as civil rights, counter culture, left movements, right movements, sexual revolution, student activism, and the Vietnam War. 1960 to 1974.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Primary sources on slavery in four parts: Debates over Slavery and Abolition, Slave Trade in the Atlantic World, Institution of Slavery, and Age of Emancipation. 1490-1896.
What is a Primary Source?
Primary sources, for historical purposes, are most often defined as eye-witness accounts of events/historical periods. Those accounts written or created at the time, not with 20/20 hindsight.
These sources reflect the point of view of a participant or observer at a particular point of time. There are a wide range of source materials available for historical research. For example:
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- Magazines, newspapers, books, and pamphlets written and published during a particular time period
- Diaries, letters, or papers usually written for personal reasons. Some of these may have been published later, usually after the writer’s death.
- Reports and records such as census data or other government documents.
- Autobiographies and memoirs often written long after the events took place and therefore, may be somewhat less reliable.
- Photos, audio recordings, movies, buildings, and other physical objects may also reveal information about the time period and popular culture
Compilations of primary sources such as a book containing many short excerpts from primary sources may not always be as useful as the original sources themselves.
Source materials may have a bias or purpose which you should be aware of. For example, an article from a northern paper during the civil war will read much differently than an article from a southern paper. When reading primary sources, think about why the piece was written, when it was written, and what it tells us about the writer and the time period.