LibGuides: History: What is a Primary Source?

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Subjects: American Indian Studies, California Studies, Gender and Women's Studies, History, Jewish Studies, Queer Studies

What is a Primary Source?

Finding Primary Source Content from Historical Newspapers, Documents, Correspondence, Etc.

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of more than 270 historically significant African American newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries.
America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of more than 1,000 U.S. historical newspapers. Includes: Early American Newspapers, Series 1-3, 1690-1922; African American Newspapers, 1827-1998; California's Historical Newspapers, 1850-1922; and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.
American History, 1493-1945 This link opens in a new window
Drawing on holdings of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, this collection includes manuscript material, posters, broadsides, pamphlets and other materials related to American history from the start of the colonies through the end of the second world war.
American Periodicals Series Online This link opens in a new window
Collection contains searchable, digitized images of the pages of over 1,100 American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century, chronicling the development of America across 150 years.
American Political and Social Movements, 1815-1884 This link opens in a new window
Publications from a variety of political and social movements of 19th century America, including anarchists, communists, nativists, and advocates of workers' rights, immigration, women's rights, and language reform.
California's Historical Newspapers, 1850-1922 This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of American historical newspapers from California, selected from America's Historical Newspapers.
Chicago Defender This link opens in a new window
Full-text digital archive of the influential black newspaper Chicago Defender.
China: Trade, Politics & Culture 1793-1980 This link opens in a new window
Collection of English-language sources relating to China and the West, 1793-1980. Provides a wide variety of original source material detailing China's interaction with the West from Macartney's first Embassy to China in 1793, through to the Nixon/Heath visits to China in 1972-74.
Los Angeles Sentinel (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Full-page and article images from the Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2010), the oldest and largest black newspaper in the western United States and the largest African-American owned newspaper in the U.S., covering issues concerning the African-American community and its readers.
Los Angeles Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Full-page and article images from the Los Angeles Daily Times (1881-1886) and the Los Angeles Times (1886-2014).
New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for the New York Times from 1851-2012.
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Complete digital edition of The Times (London, England).
U.S. Congressional Serial Set This link opens in a new window
The United States Congressional Serial Set contains reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from the 15th Congress (1817) through the 103rd Congress (1994). Provides access to full text primary source material on U.S. political, social, cultural, military and ethnic history, as well as international relations, explorations, genealogy, commerce, and industrial development.

Examples of Primary Sources

Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event or time in history that has yet to be interpreted by another person.

Examples of primary sources include:

diaries, journals, letters, interviews, speeches, memos, manuscripts and other first-person accounts
memoirs and autobiographies
official records such as government publications, census data, court reports, police records
minutes, reports, correspondence of an organization or agency
newspaper and magazine articles written during the time of the event
photographs, paintings, film and television programs, audio recordings which document an event
research such as opinion polls which document attitudes and thought during the time of an event
artifacts such as objects, tools, clothing, etc. of the time period or eve+

Examples of Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are scholarly monographs or articles that are based on primary source data and analyze, critique, report, summarize, interpret, or restructure that data. They can also be based on a reading of other secondary sources or a combination of primary source data and secondary sources.

Examples of secondary sources include:

reference books such as encyclopedias, bibliographies, handbooks, etc.
reviews
textbooks
most scholarly books
most journal and magazine articles

Online Archive of California

The Online Archive of California (OAC) is a searchable database that includes finding aids for archival and primary source collections at more than 200 libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums in California, including Special Collections & Archives in the Oviatt at CSUN.

After searching, you can limit your search results by holding institution, so you can see everything on your topic at other repositories in Los Angeles (UCLA, Occidental, Loyola Marymount, etc.) that have contributed finding aids to the OAC.