LibGuides: History 14F: What's Your History: Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary Sources Defined

When you are researching history, you will make extensive use of primary sources. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, it refers to original material. In general it comprises those materials that provide first-hand accounts of the events, practices, or conditions you are researching. They have been created by witnesses to events as they occurred. They include items such as:

diaries
letters,
birth certificates
census data
marriage certificates
military records
passenger lists
photographs
creative works,
financial records
memos
newspaper articles
(to name just a few types).

You will be using both primary and secondary sources in your research.

Primary Sources --- Websites

Chronicling America - Historic American Newspapers
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1925 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Historical Research in Europe
This project is intended to assist researchers who are planning to use European libraries and archives. The focus is on materials found in western European repositories from the Atlantic area eastward. Included are all kinds of archival and library resources available in western Europe;
History of Italy - Primary Documents
Comprehensive list of historical documents beginning with pre-history and the Roman Empire
International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON)
This page highlights and links to past, present, and prospective digitization projects of historic newspapers.
Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA)
Provides free access to unique and historically important artifacts for research, teaching, and curious exploration. Discover over 750,000 photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings, and more.
Korean-American Digital Archive
The Korean American Digital Archive brings more than 13,000 pages of documents, over 1,900 photographs, and about 180 sound files together in one searchable collection that documents the Korean American community during the period of resistance to Japanese rule in Korea and reveal the organizational and private experience of Koreans in America between 1903 and 1965.
National Archives of Ireland
The mission of the Library is to collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellectual record of the life of Ireland and to contribute to the provision of access to the larger universe of recorded knowledge.
Yale African History Primary Source Guide: All Sources
A range of primary source material for the study of African history. Includes extensive manuscript collections, digital databases, microform, thematic categories, and newspapers and periodicals.

Secondary Sources Defined

Secondary sources of information are derived from primary sources. They are written after the fact by a party who was not witness to the original event. A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event. Secondary sources may contain pictures, quotes or graphics of primary sources. They may include:

•Reference books such as encyclopedias,dictionaries, handbooks, etc
•Articles that review other sources
Textbooks
Biographies

Primary Source Articles - Search Our Databases

Brooklyn Eagle This link opens in a new window
Digitized version of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which was originally published from 1841 to 1955, then revived for a short time from 1960 to 1963.
New York Times Historical This link opens in a new window
Coverage of the New York Times from 1851 through 4 years prior to the current year.
Times (London) Digitial Archive This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of the London Times, from 1785 to 1985.
Women and Social Movements International This link opens in a new window
A collection of primary sources that traces the global history of women’s international agendas and their influence on the course of events and shifts in attitudes that have come to define modern life.
Women and Social Movements in the United States Scholar`s Edition This link opens in a new window
Organized around the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000, this collection includes 105 document projects and archives and more than 53,000 pages of additional full-text documents, written altogether by about 2,200 primary authors. It also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.