Any document, image, or artifact created at the time of the topic being researched is a primary source. Examples include: eyewitness accounts, autobiographies and memoirs, diaries, letters, speeches, reports, newspapers, household and day-to-day objects, clothing, works of art, architecture, and photographs.
Please note: primary source documents are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.
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Public Opinion, 1935-1946 / edited by Hadley Cantril. eBook on the website, Internet Archive.
This is Who We Were Decades series. REF HC105 - HC106.
The Black Past: Remembered & Reclaimed The "Google" of African American history includes an online encyclopedia, primary sources, and much more.
Digital History An extensive documents collection is part of this award-winning American history website from the College of Education at the University of Houston.
Digital Public Library of America: Primary Source Sets A vast collection of free content from American libraries, archives, and museums.
Discovering American Women's History Online Digital collections of primary source materials browseable by subject, place, time period, and source type.
Finding Primary Sources is the launch page to the vast collection of American history primary source content available online at the Library of Congress.
LIFE Magazine Archive Published from late Nov 1936 to 1972, LIFE was "the photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th century."
The New York Times TimesMachine Over 150 years of New York Times journalism, as it originally appeared. From Volume 1, Number 1 (1851) to 2002. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit of digital subscribers so be sure to sign up here to access the library's digital NYT account.
Presidential Libraries and Museums offer digital document archives and museums full of important Presidential artifacts from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama.
Social History for Every Classroom a database of primary documents, classroom activities, and other teaching materials in U.S. history. Keyword search or browse by theme (Civil Rights and Citizenship, Immigration and Migration, Labor activism, etc) or by historical era.
Teaching American History: Core Document Collections by Era (A project of the Ashbrook Center, Ashland University, dedicated to supporting students and teachers of U.S. history)
To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:
Website = a document found on the Websites page of the course guide, found through a web directory like SweetSearch, or a search engine such as Google.
Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source.
Next, determine what kind of primary source you are citing: