Primary sources

Selected Websites for Primary Documents

Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States-NARA
From the National Archives and Records Administration. Provides descriptions of records related to Chinese immigration. In Texas, NARA has a regional office in Fort Worth.
Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University
This digital archive from Stanford University provides access to a selection of photographs, manuscripts, payroll records, digitized newspaper articles, and more, all related to the subject of Chinese Railroad Workers in the 1800s.
Densho Digital Repository
Collection of primary source material related to Japanese Americans, including immigration.
Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press
Historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s.are the focus of this site
Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930, is a web-based collection of historical materials from Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums that documents voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression.
Library of Congress-Digital Collections-American History
Making of America
A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
Digital archive of the South Asian American experience. Includes primary source material, including photos, letters, oral history, and more.

Search tips for Primary Documents

Examples of Subject Headings to search for books

Emigration and immigration
Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
Cold War
Depressions -- 1929 -- United States
Agricultural laborers -- United States --History
California --Emigration and immigration
Alien labor, Asian -- United States
World War, 1914-1918 -- Sources

Search terms for finding Primary Documents

correspondence
description and travel
diaries
documents
early works to 1800
interviews
journal
letters
memoir
narratives
oral history
papers
photographs OR pictorial works
sources
speeches

Databases for Primary Sources

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: 1866-1912 This link opens in a new window
A database of print material from 1866-1912 in the United States.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Black Thought and Culture is a collection of non-fiction writings, including letters, speeches and leaflets, by leading African Americans in many fields over 250 years.
Chicago Tribune Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Contains selected major stories from the Chicago Tribune. Coverage is from the 1920's through 1984. Includes front pages (image of entire front page as it appeared when published from the early 1900 through 1984) and Chicago Tribune Morgue clippings.
Harper's Weekly: 1857-1912 This link opens in a new window
Access Harper's Weekly, the definitive newspaper of record for the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth.
Women and social movements in the United States 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Resource on U.S. history and U.S. women's history from 1600 to 2000.

Newspapers as Primary sources

Newspaper articles can provide a useful source of information, serving as a primary source of information about historical and current events. Some of the benefits of using newspaper articles as primary sources include:

Seeing how people viewed an event when it happened;
Providing multiple points of view about an issue, including a comparison of the United States and international views;
Permitting researchers to trace the historical development of subjects over time;
Examining issues in the context of their time (by seeing how stories about an issue relate to other stories, or by examining the type of coverage provided);
Giving a snapshot of a time period detailing how people lived, and what they purchased which is helpful for writers, playwrights, historians, etc.

But remember, because newspapers also contain commentaries or retrospective articles about events, they can also serve as a secondary source, depending on the article.

Books with Primary Sources

Immigration & immigrant communities (1650-2016) by Salem Press Editors
Call Number: REF JV6450 .I5597 2017 and online
Publication Date: 2017
This text explores the full history of immigration issues in America, from those early immigrants making their way through Ellis Island, to immigration issues in modern society.
Chinese American Voices by Judy Yung (Editor)
Call Number: online
Publication Date: 2006
A diverse and illuminating collection of primary documents and stories by Chinese Americans, provides an intimate and textured history of the Chinese in America from their arrival during the California Gold Rush to the present.
Unbound Voices by Judy Yung
Call Number: online
ISBN: 9780520218604
Publication Date: 1999
Unbound Voices brings together the voices of Chinese American women in a fascinating, intimate collection of documents--letters, essays, poems, autobiographies, speeches, testimonials, and oral histories--detailing half a century of their lives in America.
Waiting on the Bounty by Pamela Riney-Kehrberg
Call Number: online
Publication Date: 1999
Mary Knackstedt Dyck was a farmer's wife in Kansas for over 30 years, during that time she kept a diary written in pencil on notebook paper. This volume contains her entries for the years 1936-1941, the years of the dustbowl, which drove many farmers from their farms.
Asian America by Cathy J. Schlund-Vials (Editor); K. Scott Wong (Editor); Jason Oliver Chang (Editor)
Call Number: E184 .A75 S35 2017
Publication Date: 2017-01-10
An essential collection that brings together the core primary texts of the Asian American experience in one volume.