Primary Sources
Primary sources tell us a great deal about history through actual documents from that time period. Below are some really valuable and interesting places to start looking.
Websites
The Authentic History Center endeavors to tell the story of the United States primarily through popular culture. It was created to teach that the everyday objects in society have authentic historical value and reflect the social consciousness of the era that produced them.
The Avalon Project mounts digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government from Ancient Civilizations to the 21st Century.
Check out more than 100 sets of primary sources grouped by topic as well as dozens of exhibitions, but be aware that some primary source sets contain both primary and secondary sources.
Contains 100 milestone documents from US History.
This Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
A collection of thousands of primary source documents from the billions preserved at the National Archives that bring the past to life. Search for written documents, images, maps, charts, graphs, audio, and video in their ever-expanding collection that spans the course of American history.
Explore almost 20,000 artifacts from almost 200 countries. Search or browse by time period, place, or topic, or type of item.