LibGuides: History: Find Primary Sources

Outside Sources

No search for primary-source materials is complete without a visit to the Library of Congress's Digital Collections. This vast collection can be searched by keyword or browsed by topic, time period, or media type, which includes manuscripts, maps, motion pictures, photographs, video recordings, and more.

Explore a map and timeline of the Library of Congress's Chronicling America Newspapers collection.

NARA offers one of the richest repositories for U.S. history, but only a relatively small portion of the collection is available online.

The Archival Research Catalog

The Archival Facility for NARA's Mid-Atlantic Region is located in Center City, Philadelphia.

"The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science."

References

Crelin, J. (2024). Primary source. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Some Information in this guide is adapted from:

https://guides.library.harvard.edu/HistSciInfo/primary#s-lg-box-wrapper-7437024

https://guides.temple.edu/history

Primary sources

Primary sources provide first-hand information about an event or phenomenon. In contrast, secondary sources offer second-hand information and analysis, drawing from primary sources.

What is a Primary Source?

A historical document or artifact created during a particular period of time... primary sources provide researchers with information directly from the time period being studied.

Primary sources are characterized by their content, regardless of the format available. (Handwritten notes could be published; the published book might be digitized or put on microfilm, but those notes are still primary sources in any format).

Some types of primary sources:

Original documents (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, contemporary newspaper articles, autobiographies, official records, pamphlets, meeting notes, photographs, contemporary sketches
Creative works: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art
Relics or artifacts: Furniture, clothing, buildings

Find Print and Online Primary Sources in the Library

Many primary-source documents have been reproduced in books commonly held in research libraries. You can use Library Search to find this material.

Enter your search terms and then select the Books & Media box.
Try adding keywords such as:
- Correspondence,
- Diaries,
- Interviews,
- Personal Narratives,
- Source Book
You can also filter for "Primary Source Documents" under Format
When you find a title of interest, such as personal narratives from the First World War, select the hyperlinked subjects in the item record to find additional titles.
- For example, the heading: World War, 1914-1918--Personal Narratives.

Multiple Primary Sources Databases

The databases listed below provide access to numerous primary source collections. However, primary sources can be found in many places; feel free to explore A-Z Databases: Historical/Primary Sources.

AM Explorer Through AM Explorer, search millions of pages of primary sources spanning the 15th – 21st centuries. Includes resources spanning the social sciences and humanities, developed in collaboration with leading libraries and archives.
ATLA Historical Monographs, Series 1 (1300s to 1893) Series 1 contains over five million pages of content, and consists of titles from the 13th century through the 1893 World Parliament of Religions with the majority of titles from the 19th century. Since religion was such an integral part of the social, political and economic fabric of life during the time period of this collection, historians researching a wide range of areas, not just religion, will find invaluable material relevant to their work.
ATLA Historical Monographs, Series 2 (1894-1923) Series 2 consists of titles published from 1894 through 1923. This collection offers material on the significant shifts in the religious identification of Americans and the growing interest and experimentation with non-Western religions. It presents a comprehensive picture of American life at the time.
British History Online British History Online is a not-for-profit digital library based at the Institute of Historical Research. It brings together material for British history from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and academics. These primary and secondary sources, which range from medieval to twentieth century, are easily searchable and browsable online.
Gale Primary Sources This cross-search interface brings together the power of Gale's topic finder with millions of pages of content spanning many centuries and geographic regions. Explore a wide range of content including monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, maps, and more through Cairn's perpetual access to the following individual collections: American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, and Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
JSTOR Arts & Sciences I-XV JSTOR's archival journal collections include more than two thousand journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It ontains the entire runs, from the first volume up to the volumes published only a few years ago. Currently published titles have a "moving wall" of 3-5 years after which the current issues are added to JSTOR.