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The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

US History: Progressive Era Group Project: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

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 and images are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.

 

FIND PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL IN 

HISTORICAL NEWS DATABASES

  • Always limit your search to the date range relevant to your topic.
  • Try searching terms, phrases, etc. that were commonly used at the time in relation to your topic. For example: Great War instead of World War I.
  • Look for document-type limiters that may improve your results, such as article, commentary, editorial, front page / cover story, letter to the editor, etc
Resource Allows NoodleTools Export  Citations can be exported from this source to NoodleTools.

 

HISTORICAL NEWS DATABASES BY DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP
THESE HISTORY DATABASES ALSO CONTAIN PRIMARY SOURCES
 

FIND PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL IN 

BOOKS / eBOOKS and REFERENCE BOOKS / eBOOKS

USING RHINOCAT

 

Find PRIMARY SOURCES by or about a person relevant to your topic in RhinoCat.
  • Do an Author search using the name of a person relevant to your topic to find books, letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies written by that person.
  • Do a Keyword search using the name of a person to identify writings, interviews, and speeches in anthologies and collections.
 
Find PRIMARY SOURCES on your topic in RhinoCat using Advanced Search.
  • Click here to open the Advanced Search page.
  • In the first Keyword search line, substitute your search term for xxxxx.
  • In the next Keyword search line, change Keyword to Subject and paste in (sources OR diaries OR narratives)
  • You may add additional Keyword search lines, but the Subject search line should be the last line of your search.

 

If you have any questions, see
Mr. Previti, Mrs. Lovallo,
or Mr. Padgett
OR email us at 
rpreviti@taftschool.org
  blovallo@taftschool.org
spadgett@taftschool.org  
We're here to help!

Find Primary Sources on the Internet

Digital History (comprehensive U.S. history website from the Univ. of Houston's College of Education; see Documents button above the overview article.)

Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets (Primary source collections exploring topics in history, literature, and culture developed by educators)

The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era: A Digital Primary Source Guide (A topical guide to primary source material from U.S. History Scene, a multimedia history education website composed of historians and educators at over fifty universities dedicated to providing students and teachers with easy access to premier digital resources.)

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Documents Library (the archive also includes documents preceding the IWW founding in 1905)

Library of Congress 

Library of Congress U.S. History Primary Source Timeline

Middle Tennessee State University "Teaching with Primary Sources" Resources

Teaching American History Core Document Collections by Era (TAHorg, a project of the Ashbrook Center, Ashland University, is dedicated to supporting students and teachers of U.S. history)

TO SEARCH GOOGLE: Combine your topic search term(s) with the phrase documents OR "primary sources" 

Google Web Search

Tips for Citing Primary Sources in NoodleTools

PLEASE NOTE: Do not copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = You can export citations from many of our databases. If you find a document in a Taft Subscription Database that doesn't have the export feature, you will need to create an original citation.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
  • 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. NOTE: You may be able to cite this source with the ISBN number.

Next, determine what kind of primary source you are citing:

  • Look at the list of options in NoodleTools. Is it a newspaper article, a speech, a letter, or another item listed? If so, choose that item type.
  • If you are not sure, you can use "Anthology / Collection" which enables you to cite a source found within another source.
You can also see (or email) Mr. Padgett, Ms. Taylor, or Mr. Previti and we'll help you figure it out.