LibGuides: History: Primary Sources

Primary, Secondary & Tertiary

Learn the differences between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.

What are primary sources?

Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence of an event or time period. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when events or conditions are occurring. Primary sources can include:

autobiographies and memoirs
oral histories & interviews
artifacts
historic sites
speeches & addresses
photographs
letters & newspapers from time of event

What are secondary sources?

Secondary sources use primary sources to analyze and interpret history. Instead of first-hand testimony, secondary sources are removed from witnessing the actual event or time period. Secondary sources can include:

biographies
books & book reviews
essays & anthologies
critical studies
analysis articles
documentary films

Primary Source Examples

U.S. History

Example: Primary Source

Example: Secondary Source

"Signing of the Declaration of Independence".

Women's History

Example: Primary Source

Example: Secondary Source

"Women Cast Their First Vote".

Western Civilization

Example: Primary Source

Example: Secondary Source

Suffering From The Plague. Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division.

Analyzing Primary Sources

The resources below can help with analyzing primary sources in history:

National Archives: Document Analysis Worksheets
Document analysis is the first step in working with primary sources. Learn to think through primary source documents for contextual understanding and to extract information to make informed judgments.
History Matters
"A project of the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning of the City University of New York and the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, this site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence." (site)

Primary Sources in History

Learn the characteristics of a primary source and the importance of using these resources in history research.

"What's the difference between Primary and Secondary Sources in History?" The Medieval Historian

Finding Primary Sources - Library Databases

Many of the Library databases include primary sources and have a filter to limit search results. The Library has a nice collection of both print and online anthologies of primary sources. Popular collections include:

Britannica Original Sources This link opens in a new window
Primary Sources. Access primary sources, documents and personal accounts covering many subject areas.
African-American History This link opens in a new window
Explore in-depth information on the people, events, and topics important to African-American history.
American History Online This link opens in a new window
Search comprehensive coverage of 500 years of American political, military, social, and cultural history.
Ancient & Medieval History Online This link opens in a new window
Explore comprehensive coverage of the pre-modern world with in-depth focus on Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Search Encyclopedia Britannica, the world's most comprehensive reference product.

Credo Reference - Anthologies of Primary Sources
This collection of anthologies from Credo includes original source book covering periods of American history.

Modern World History Online This link opens in a new window
Explore In-depth information on the people, events, and topics of history from mid-15th century to present.
U.S. History In Context This link opens in a new window
Discover contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History.
World History In Context This link opens in a new window
Explore comprehensive contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in World History.
World Religions This link opens in a new window
Discover comprehensive coverage of 15 living religions with links to core overview essays, key primary sources, complete sacred texts and more.

Finding Primary Sources - Online

Primary sources can be found in libraries, archives, museums, agencies, and many other institutions. Popular collections include:

Library of Congress Digital Collections
A gateway to primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. Primary sources include images, moving images, sound recordings, music, and text. There are more than 9 million items to be found in 100 collections.
Historic Pittsburgh
Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Library System, this extremely informative site includes links to local historical societies, maps, images, videos, a chronology of the history of Pittsburgh, and more. After clicking the Chronology link, it will take you to a page with a timeline at the top. Just click the timeline to further explore.
Perseus Digital Library
An evolving digital library sponsored by Tufts University, Department of Classics. Provides a broad range of text materials and images. Collections include sources or the study of Greek, Latin, Islamic, and American cultures, the English Renaissance, the history of London, and the history of Science.
Internet History Sourcebook Project
Hosted on the Web by Fordham University, this project which contains "collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts," is great for finding primary historical resources. The three primary historical sourcebooks cover Ancient, Medieval, and Modern History. Additional historical sourcebooks are organized by theme. In addition to full-text historical documents, one can find links to secondary articles, reviews, discussions, and more.

Searching Online

For better online results, use your topic, time period, and add a type of primary source:

suffrage movement and speech and "primary source"

roman empire and documents and "primary source"

world war i and diaries and "primary source"

industrial revolution and diary