LibGuides: History Subject Guide: Primary Sources

What is a Primary Source?

They are the original source - the first time something is said, done, written, or discovered. They are the documents of something happening at the time that it happens. Secondary works like books and articles analyze and interpret primary sources.

Some types of primary documents are:

artifacts
diaries & letters
newspaper reports right after an event
speeches
photographs
interviews
recordings
works of art, literature, and music

Gateway Websites

Avalon Project
Thousands of primary-source documents in the areas of law, history and diplomacy, organized into thematic collections.
Europeana
A portal to the digital collections of several hundred libraries, archives, and museums throughout Europe.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Collections of digitized documents, photographs, sound, moving pictures and text. You can search the individual collections by keyword or browse by topic.
World Digital Library
Primary source materials from throughout the world, curated by the Library of Congress and UNESCO.

Online Primary Sources: World History

British History Online
This digital library spans the medieval and modern eras of Great Britain. Find journals from the House of Commons and House of Lords, county histories, and much more.

China: Trade, Politics and Culture 1793-1980 This link opens in a new window
Materials on Chinese history and culture, featuring unique archival manuscripts along with printed materials including missionary periodicals, atlases and books.

EuroDocs
Links to online collections of digitized primary source documents, organized by European country.
Internet Medieval History Sourcebook
Primary source texts arranged by country, period and topic for easy browsing.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
Primary source texts arranged by country, period and topic. Use the left-side menu to browse by subject.
The Cabinet Papers
Created by the National Archives in the U.K., this website houses digitized versions of memoranda and other documents produced by the British Cabinet.

Online Primary Sources: Southern U.S.

Documenting the American South
A collection of digitized primary sources on Southern history from UNC-Chapel Hill.
North Carolina Digital Collections
Photographs, state government publications, and manuscripts related to North Carolina history.
Samuel May Anti-Slavery Collection
Pamphlets relating to the anti-slavery struggle in the United States. Included are sermons, local newsletters, poetry anthologies, Freedmen's testimonies, and broadsides.
MosaicNC
Digital exhibits and publications from the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.

Primary Sources in Libraries

To find primary sources collected in books, do a Keyword search in WorldCat that combines the name of a person, group, or event with words such as: memoirs, diaries, correspondence, papers, personal narratives, or sources.

For example:

George Washington and correspondence
Civil War and letters
Indians and treaties
Crusades and sources
Franz Kafka and diaries

Online Primary Sources: U.S. History

American Journeys
A collection of eyewitness accounts of early American exploration and settlement, from sagas of Vikings in Canada to diaries of mountain men in the Rockies.
American Presidency Project
An impressive collection of presidential documents, including the text of press conferences, executive orders, state of the union addresses, and the Public Papers of the Presidents.
Founders Online
A digital collection of over 100,000 letters and other documents written by the US's founding fathers, including Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others.

HeinOnline Academic This link opens in a new window
This collection includes the Congressional Record, US Serials Set, Federal Register, US Reports back to 1754, and many other important historical US government documents.
HeritageQuest This link opens in a new window
A treasury of American genealogical sources: primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids.

Immigration to the United States, 1789–1930
This digital collection portrays the immigrant experience through a large number of online books, photographs, diaries, and journals.
Letters of the Delegates to Congress: 1774-1789
A 25-volume, searchable and browseable collection of letters from all the delegates to the first US Congress.
National Security Archive
The NSA's Briefing Books provide sets of declassified documents plus interpretative essays on various topics in US foreign policy.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
A collection of the immediate experiences of 1,325 women from the Colonial period to 1950, with over 150,000 pages of diaries and letters.

Social Welfare History Image Portal
Find digitized photos, pamphlets, documents, and other artifacts covering the history of social welfare and social reform in the US.

U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
An online archive of declassified U.S. Government documents from 1900-2008, including State Department political analyses and White House confidential file materials.

Wilson Center Digital Archive
Search or browse declassified documents relating to US foreign diplomacy and international relations, with emphases on the Cold War and nuclear weapons.

Women and Social Movements in the United States, Scholars' Edition This link opens in a new window
This collection brings together primary documents, books, and images documenting the multiplicity of women’s activism in public life.

Women Working, 1800-1930
A collection of manuscripts, books, pamphlets, and photographs that shed light on women's role in the workforce during this period of American history.