What is a Primary Source?

• Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence
  created by participants or observers of a historical event or time period.

• Often, these materials are created at the time when the events or conditions occured.
  However, primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs and oral histories that are written or recorded later.

• Primary sources are characterized by their content, not their format.  Therefore, primary sources can be found:
  -  in their original form (the actual paper copy of the Declaration of Independence)
  -  published books (the Declaration of Independence reprinted in a book)
  -  in some type of digital form (the Declaration of Independence on a website).

• Note: In the Humanities field, "primary sources" often mean the original text of the literature that is being scrutinized.
  In the Science field, "primary sources" often mean the original scholarly journal article in which a particular scientific study was published.

The following types of materials are generally considered primary sources:

• Diaries or journals
• Letters or other manuscripts
• Speeches, interviews and oral histories
• Memoirs and autobiographies
• Photographs
• Sound recordings
• Video or motion picture recordings
• Published materials from that time period (books, magazine and/or newspaper articles)
• Government documents (census records, laws, court decisions)
• Political cartoons
• Original documents produced in association with the event (pamphlets, menus...etc.)
• Objects and artifacts (bumper stickers, buttons from political elections...etc.)

What is a Secondary Source?

• Secondary sources are publications about the event and are written or produced by groups or individuals not involved directly with the event.
• They can be articles, books, or biographies connected with the event.
• They are usually written by outside experts who have researched the event and its aftermath and who are reexamining, interpreting and forming their own conclusions.

The following types of materials are generally considered primary sources:

• Encylcopedia articles
• Books or articles about historical event that are written after the event occurs
• Biographies

Search the Library Catalog for Primary Source Books (see tips below)

The databases US History in Context and World History in Context
offer electronic books that contain primary sources.

1. Click on Primary Sources above the search box.

2. Click on Both US & World below the search box.

3. Search on a subject (keep your subject broad): Examples: Korean War, Japanese American Internment...etc.

4. a)Pay attention to the document type listed in the right-hand column, such as
    government document, speech, editorial, excerpt, interview...etc. that indicate that what you are looking at is a primary document. 
   
    b) For example, sometimes a result might be encyclopedia article (which is a secondary source), but that article might contain an
        excerpt from a speech (which is a primary source).

AMERICAN DECADES:
PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary source documents from different eras in American history

Vol. 1: 1900-1909 / Vol. 2: 1910-1919
Vol. 3: 1920-1929 / Vol. 4: 1930-1939
Vol. 5: 1940-1949 / Vol. 6: 1950-1959
Vol. 7: 1960-1969 / Vol. 8: 1970-1979
Vol. 9: 1980-1989/Vol. 10: 1990-1999

The guidebook provides suggestions for primary sources for different events in African American history.

Chronicling America: America's Historical Newspapers

• This site allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1860-1922 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
• tip: Click on "Search Pages". Type your search in the box that reads "...with all of the words"
  Example: spanish influenza

Historic Newspapers from Washington State

• This site allows you to search newspapers from Washington state from various dates between the 1850s to 1890s or to browse topics.
• Example: Reform Movements - Temperence and Prohibition
  

Historic Newspapers - International

• (note: some of these may charge a fee - look for links without the $ symbol)