Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

• Contemporary Accounts of an event written by the person who witnessed or experienced it. FIRST HAND!

• Original Documents, Unpublished – not about another document or account

• Published works - as long as they are written soon after the fact and not as historical accounts

Primary Sources

• Diaries• Letters• Memoirs• Journals• Speeches• Manuscripts• Statistical

Data

• Interviews• Photographs• Audio or video

recordings• Research reports

(natural or social sciences)

• Original literary or theatrical works

Include:

WRITE DOWN A FEW EXAMPLES!

Secondary Sources

• Interpret primary sources - at least one step removed from the event or phenomenon under review

• Examination of studies that other researchers have made of a subject

• Second Hand - conveys the experiences and opinions of others

Secondary Sources

• Usually in the form of published works

• Journal articles• Books• Radio and TV documentaries

How do you know?

• Ask yourself some questions:

• How does the author know these details?

• Was the author present at the event or soon on the scene?

Where does this information come from—personal experience, eyewitness accounts, or reports written by others?

Are the author's conclusions based on a single piece of evidence, or have many sources been taken into account?

THE PROGRESSIVE ERA 1890-1920 Chapter 17

Moving to the City 1st time in US

history more than 50

percent of Americans

living in cities What types of problems might

this create??

VIDEO

What second industrial revolution invention allows us to live in the sky?

DO NOW: Page 550-551 (infographic, thinking critically question)

Jacob Riis Clip 3/9 7:15 Answer the following

1) What was Riis’ life like when he immigrated to America?

2) What new invention led to Riis being able to document “how the other half lived”?

3) What did Riis’ book do, in terms of the wealthy and middle class?

4) Who left Riis the message “I have read your book, and I have come to help”

Muckrakers Reveal the Need for Reform

ACTIVITY

ANALYZE Riis’ photos (FOR EACH PHOTO) List people, objects, and activities in

photo Based on your observation infer

(educated guess) why you think Riis took the photo

NAME Riis’ photos Based on your inference what do you

think Riis might have named each photo

Discussion

1. Why would Riis’ work have to be

both illustrated and

written?2.Why did Riis

title his book “How the Other Half Lives”?

T.R. Called Riis “The most useful citizen of New York”

Thanks to Riis…

Many tenements are torn down

All public schools have to have playgrounds

Landlords have to install toilets inside instead of outside

Activity “Cleaning Up the City”

Imagine that it is the early 1900s and you are an architect interested in redesigning NYC in order to make it more accessible and pleasant. Sketch out your designs Create a color key to identify buildings Write a paragraph describing how these changes will

improve the quality of life in NYC. Answer questions from the reading “City Life in the

Early 1900s”

CITY LIFE EARLY 20th CenturyOvercrowded

Diseases such as typhoid (caused by polluted water) and tuberculosis

commonFires were frequent

Streets unpaved and littered with trash and feces