Skip to Main Content

Primary Sources for Historical Research

This page contains resources curated to aid the many applications of primary sources to historical research.

We March with Selma!

A large group of protesters, most of whom are African American, fill the city streets holding signs calling for Civil Rights. In the front, two men, one white and one black, hold sticks supporting a large banner stating "We March with Selma"

Before you begin

Before you start your search, make a list of the terms, places, people, and specific events about which you want to find primary resources. Remember to keep in mind the language used during the time period you are researching, as those words will allow you to find materials that you might not otherwise locate using modern terms. For example, during the Civil Rights era, some newspapers might have used the term "Negro," rather than "African American" as we use today. Keep this list handy and add to it as you learn more about the topic.

What are primary sources? Why are they useful?

Primary sources refer to documents or other items that provide first-hand, eyewitness accounts of events. For example, if you are studying the civil rights movement, a newspaper article published the day after the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march and a memoir written by someone who participated in the march would both be considered primary sources.

Historians use primary sources as the raw evidence to analyze and interpret the past. They publish secondary sources - often scholarly articles or books - that explain their interpretation. When you write a historical research paper, you are creating a secondary source based on your own analysis of primary source material. 

Examples of primary sources include diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, photographs, videos, public opinion polls, and government records, among many other things.

Historical Newspapers and Magazines

Primary sources refer to documents or other items that provide first-hand, eyewitness accounts of events. For example, if you are studying the civil rights movement, a newspaper article published the day after the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march and a memoir written by someone who participated in the march would both be considered primary sources.

Historians use primary sources as the raw evidence to analyze and interpret the past. They publish secondary sources - often scholarly articles or books - that explain their interpretation. When you write a historical research paper, you are creating a secondary source based on your own analysis of primary source material. 

Examples of primary sources include diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, photographs, videos, public opinion polls, and government records, among many other things.