Up to Snuff #87: Primary and Secondary Sources
Compiled by Afua Serwah Osei-Bonsu (Extracted from Applied History Course 200, SNHU)
Letters, speeches, diaries, newspaper articles, photographs, paintings, oral histories
“Primary sources are created by someone who was a participant in, or witness to, the historical event you are studying. Firsthand accounts.
Manuscripts, documents
Primary source sets (https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/)
Library of Congress
100 Milestone Documents (http://www.ourdocuments.gov/content.php?flash+true&page+milestone)
National archives, American History 1776-1965 original and transcribed copies
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs online catalog (PPOC)
(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/)
Photographs, drawings, prints
Smithsonian Source
(http://www.smithsoniansource.org/)
Memoirs, oral histories
Congress
Office of the President
Audio recordings
Moving Pictures
Video Recordings
Research data
Objects
Artifacts, works of art
Ancient roads, buidlings, tools or weapons
African American Biographical Database (AABD)-Proquest
1790-1950
American Antiquarian Society (AAS)
Historical Periodical Collection
1684-1912
Biography in Context-Gale
Magazine, journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, images
Black Studies Center-Proquest
(includes Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, international Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP)
The Chicago Defender, The Black Literature Index, The HistoryMakers oral history video resource and Black Abolitionist Papers
Congressional Legislative and Executive Publications-Proquest
Documents, hearings, CRS reports, committee reports, committee prints
Early English Books Online (EEBO)-Proquest
American Memory
At LOC
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Digital Public Library of America
Resources from US libraries, archives, museums, including photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents
Documenting the American South (DAS)
Maintained by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Digitized Southern Perspectives on American History and Culture
Edward E. Ayer Digital Collection
Primary documents on American Indians, Native American archaeology, ethnology, art and language
History of contact between Europeans and native peoples, voyages, travles, accounts of early America, the development of cartography of the Western Hemisphere and the history of aboriginal peoples under the jurisdiction of the U.S. in the Philippine Islands and Hawaii
Harvard University Digital Collections
Library of Anglo-American Culture
Library of Congress Picture Collection
1.25 million digitized photographs searchable database
Cartoons, baseball cards, Depression Era photos documenting struggle migrant workers
The Making of America (MoA)
Digital library of primary sources in American social history from antebellum period through reconstruction
Ancient History Sourcebook
Mesopotamia to origins of Christianity
Avalon Project
Yale Law School’s Avalon Projet contains digital documents relevant to the fileds of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy, Government, Ancient History to Modern Day.
Digital Scriptorium
Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
Teaching and scholarly research
Euro Docs
Primary Docs by European Country of Origin
European History Primary Sources for the British Library
Search primary sources from British Library by country, language, period, subject, or type or source
Hanover Historical Texts Collection
Digital versions historical texts for use in history and humanities courses. Material touches on the Crusaders, Italian Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, French Revolution
Internet History Source Books Project
From Fordham University, find primary sources for Ancient, Medieval and Modern periods, the site offers several subdivisions (African, women)
The Labyrinth
Georgetown University, Medieval studies scholarly resources compiled and organized from around the world. Contains texts in all European languages, including Latin and Greek.
Library of Congress Global Gateway
Digitized intl. resources including cuneiform tablets, photographs and manuscripts
Perseus Digital Library
Tufts University, ancient world, archaeology, atlas, texts, translations, text tools