Primary sources are actual records that have survived from the past, like letters, photographs, articles of clothing and music – tangible objects (see the photo to the left for examples.) They are different from secondary sources, which are accounts of events written sometime after they happened.
The Donora Historical Society has lent the Library of Congress portions of our extensive Bruce Dreisbach glass plate negative collection of American Steel and Wire in Donora and had some of them digitized to be used as primary sources with the Library of Congress.
Students are enthusiastic about learning directly from primary sources. Use of primary sources in instruction guides students toward higher-order thinking and better critical thinking and analysis skills. Primary sources make instruction come alive by providing an unfiltered record of artistic, social, scientific and political thought and achievement during the specific period under study.