Introduction to Primary Sources

Definitions and Examples

Secondary Sources Accounts written after

the fact by scholars. Interpretations of history based on an analysis of primary sources.

Formats: Books Journal articles Dissertations Conference reports

Primary Sources: Definitions “is material -- a document or other

evidence -- that was created during the period or the event”

“historical raw materials” “the leavings, the shards, the remnants of

people who once lived and don't live anymore”

Historians & Primary Sources Primary sources are the evidence used by

historians in their analysis/interpretation of the past.

Good history books and scholarly journal articles (secondary sources) carefully cite the evidence in footnotes.

Primary sources help us make personal connections with the past.

Written primary sources

Public/published Newspapers Magazines Books

Written during time Written later by

participants (memoirs)

Government reports

Written primary sources

Private Letters Diaries

Can later be published in book, microfilm, web formats

Unpublished material found in manuscript archives

Unwritten primary sources Graphics

photographs posters art maps

Artifacts buildings furniture Coins clothing tombstones

Analysis of primary sources

Time and Place Rule The closer in time and place a source and its

creator are to an event, the better the source Direct traces contemporary accounts by

firsthand observers/participants accounts of the events created later by first hand observers/participants

Congressional debate newspaper accounts of the debate/diary entries by participants/letters of observers memoirs of participants published years later

Analysis of primary sources Bias Rule

Every source is biased in some way Evidence must be read or viewed skeptically and

critically Creator’s point of view and motives must be

considered Each piece of evidence must be compared with other

evidence

Primary Sources in the UW Libraries

Books, magazines and microfilm

Formats in the UW Libraries Books

Published primary sources Books published during the time

Magazines, Journals and Newspapers Microfilm

Copies of published books Runs of old newspapers and magazines Collections of unpublished material

(manuscripts)

Finding Books Search for books written by key people Search for books published during the time period Keyword search for books that include the special

subject headings: sources, personal narratives, diaries, correspondence,

registers, interviews Women and employment and interviews african americans and personal narratives immigrants and (diaries or correspondence) and

united

Finding Articles Use fulltext databases (if available)

American Periodical Series Online Historical New York Times

Use indexes (if available) 19th Century Masterfile Reader’s Guide Retrospective

Follow footnotes in secondary sources If looking for primary sources on an event,

browse newspapers for that time period

Microfilm Sets Collections of published materials

History of Women Early English Books

Collections of manuscript material Records of the National Association of Colored Women's

Clubs, 1895-1992 D.W. Griffith Papers, 1897-1954 The Will Hays Papers, 1879-1954 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

pt. 1. Asian immigration and exclusion, 1906-1913

Language Over Time Important to realize changes in words over time

when using historical indexes. Negro – Afro-Americans – Blacks – African Americans Moving Pictures – Motion Pictures – Film Belgian Congo – Zaire – Democratic Republic of the

Congo European War – World War – World War I