Guide to Primary Sources

What Are Primary Sources?

"Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience."

- Library of Congress

Websites with Primary Sources

Websites Local Interest

Cambridge Historical Society

• "The Cambridge Historical Society is the holder of many eclectic collections from Cambridge’s past and present. Specializing in social history, our collections tell the story of how people lived during the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the cultural revolution of the mid-20th century."

Digital Commonwealth

• Explore historical collections from libraries, museums, and archives across Massachusetts

Museum of African American History, Boston and Nantucket

"The Museum of African American History is New England’s largest museum dedicated to preserving, conserving and interpreting the contributions of African Americans."

Massachusetts State Archives

• "The Massachusetts Archives holds the official records created by Massachusetts state government. Holdings are organized by agency and date from 1629 to the present." Includes foundation documents, legislative records, state secretary records, and executive records, colonial documents, genealogy records, black history, statistics, military records, and judicial documents.

Massachusetts Historical Society

• Contains "personal papers from three presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, and many famous documents including Paul Revere's own account of his famous ride and Abigail Adams’s famous "Remember the Ladies” letter to John Adams, where she advocates for the rights of women to be included in the founding of the United States. The MHS holds several imprints of the Declaration of Independence, and Thomas Jefferson's architectural drawings, among many other treasures."

Websites General Interest

Avalon Project

• Primary source documents in the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government.

Eurodocs

• A collection of online primary sources for studying European history.

Gilderman Lehrman Institute of American History:

• Provides and overview of American history by era with corresponding primary sources and essays by leading scholars.

Hanover Historical Texts Project

• The Hanover Historical Texts Collection makes available digital versions of historical texts from around the world.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook:

• A collection of primary and secondary sources from modern European history and American history, as well as in modern Western Civilization and World Cultures.

Library of Congress, American Memory Project:

• A huge collection of "written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience."

Library of Congress, Primary Documents in American History:

• Browse documents from the following eras: The American Revolution and the New Nation 1763-1815, National Expansion and Reform 1815-1860, and Civil War and Reconstruction 1860-1877.

Library of Congress, Chronicling America:

• A searchable collection of newspapers from around the United States (1836-1922).

LIFE Photo Archive:

• A searchable collection of LIFE Magazine's photographs from the 1860s to the 1970s.

National Archives DOCS Teach: Primary Sources:

• Primary sources from the American Revolution to contemporary United States.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

• The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. The online collections include historical artifacts, documents, photography and media.

Oral History Online:

• Contains links to several oral history websites.

Our Documents:

• 100 milestone documents in American history. View the original documents, read the transcripts, and download the PDF.

Smithsonian:

• Look up background information on your topic in the Smithsonian Encyclopedia, browse the Smithsonian's online collections of artifacts and primary source documents, and explore the online exhibitions.

Websites: Early America Primary Sources

Colonial and Early America (LOC):

• Primary sources pertain to the Jamestown settlement and the early celebrations of Thanksgiving.

Archiving Early America:

• Contains links to America's founding documents, information on famous early Americans, rare images, maps, etc.

Websites: U.S. Civil War Primary Sources

Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library:

• Contains two collections at the Library of Congress that illuminate the life of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865

American Slave Narratives

• "From 1936 to 1938, over 2,300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration." This collection contains those "first-hand accounts of their experiences on plantations, in cities, and on small farms."

Documenting the American South:

• "Primary sources for the study of southern history, literature, and culture." Contains primary source narratives of enslaved people in the South.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis:

• This site contains many of Jefferson Davis's letters and speeches, as well as extensive information on Davis and his family.

Websites: The Great Depression & New Deal Primary Sources

Miller Center: U.S. Depression, FDR, and the New Deal:

• A collection of primary resources ranging from FDR's Fireside Chats, to newspaper ads (1911-1955), and images of the Dust bowl.

Websites: Speeches

American Rhetoric:

• "Database of and index to 5000+ full text, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events, and a declaration or two."

Robert G. Vincent Voice Library:

• A collection of over 40,000 hours of spoken word recordings, dating back to 1888. Includes the voices of over 100,000 persons from all walks of life. Political and cultural leaders and minor players in the human drama are captured and cataloged to serve the research needs of a local, national and international user base.