Guides: History: Primary Sources

Source Types

A primary source provides an original, first-hand account of a time period or event. Think of primary sources as historical evidence of the past that are usually written, created, or recorded during the time of the event/period it is describing or depicting. Newspaper articles, letters, statues, photographs, diaries, public records, and some books can all be examples of primary sources.

Here are some famous examples of primary sources:

Gettysburg Address
Rosetta Stone
Diary of Anne Frank
Statue of David
U.S. Constitution

For a deeper explanation and for more examples, click here.

Secondary sources collect and explain primary sources. For example, think of a textbook. The author of your textbook writes about events that have already happened in the past. What you may have not realized is that the author has interpreted various primary resources to be able to write about that event. Your textbook will often have pictures and documents from that era (primary sources) to supplement the text within your textbook. So while the textbook itself is a secondary source, you will find primary resources within it.

Here are some comparisons:

Primary Source	Secondary Source
A speech by Abraham Lincoln	A biography about Abraham Lincoln's life
U.S. census statistics	A book about population growth in the U.S.

Websites for Primary Documents

American Memory--Library of Congress
American Memory provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History
Online Sources for European History.
100 Milestone Documents
A list of 100 milestone documents, compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration, and drawn primarily from its nationwide holdings. The documents chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965.
Founders Online
Through this website, you will be able to read and search through thousands of records from George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison and see firsthand the growth of democracy and the birth of the Republic.
World Digital Library
WDL brings together on a single website rare and unique documents – books, journals, manuscripts, maps, prints and photographs, films, and sound recordings – that tell the story of the world’s cultures.