Research Guides: History: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

In History Research, Primary Sources are used to provide evidence on how people lived and thought in the time period that we are studying.

Features of Primary Sources are:

They can be any format.
- Most commonly people use personal papers like letters, diaries, or speeches, because they are text-heavy and provide a lot of evidence, but other formats like news, images, datasets, films and music, maps, clothing, etc. can also be very helpful!
They are original and have not been changed or modified.
- Any interpretation of an item is generally considered a Secondary Source.
They are in close proximity to your topic, both in location and time frame.
- For example, a letter from the year and city of the event you are studying is much more helpful than a letter from a neighboring country or from five years after the event.

Don't forget Primary Sources also have to be cited! Use the Citation Guidelines if you have questions, and you can always email Annie with questions!

Historical Newspapers and Periodicals

17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers This link opens in a new window
17th and 18th century collection of English news media including newspapers, newsbooks, proclamations, and pamphlets.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collections This link opens in a new window
A collection of periodicals published in American magazines and journals from 1691 to 1877.
Early American Newspapers, Series I (1690-1876) This link opens in a new window
Historical newspapers from early America.
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926 This link opens in a new window
A collection of pamphlets, memoirs, correspondence, biographies, and other genres based upon a bibliographic work organized by Joseph Sabin with the collaboration of numerous colleges, universities, and historical societies covering all aspects of American life (1500-1926).
American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900 This link opens in a new window
American magazines and journals prior to 1900.
Washington Post - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Archival access to the Washington Post, 1877 - current (minus the last 17 years). One more year of content is added annually.
New York Times - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Archival access to the New York Times from 1851 - current (minus the last 4 years). One more year of content is added annually.
The Times Digital Archive, 1785-current (5-year embargo) This link opens in a new window
Published in London, The Times is one of the most highly regarded resources for eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century news coverage.
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive range of national, regional, and local newspapers in Victorian Britain, in partnership with the British Library.

Statistics and Data

United States Census Bureau This link opens in a new window
Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS)
The IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) provides free online access to summary statistics and GIS files for U.S. censuses and other nationwide surveys from 1790 through the present.

Manuscripts & Other Collections

Early American Imprints, Series I This link opens in a new window
Books, pamphlets, and broadsides from 17th-18th-century America, digitized from the bibliography created by Charles Evans.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Books, pamphlets, essays, and broadsides published during the 18th century (1701-1800).
British Literary Manuscripts Online This link opens in a new window
Facsimile images of literary manuscripts, including letters and diaries, drafts of poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, and similar materials. Two collections: Medieval & Renaissance, and 1660-1900.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices, and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by scholarly essays, maps, and an interactive chronology.
Women Writers Online/Women Writers Project This link opens in a new window
Texts by pre-Victorian women writing in English.
Manuscript Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Contains the personal writings of women of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
Letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives from North American immigrants from 1800 to 1950.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Writings of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters, from Colonial times to 1950.

Tribal Treaties Database
Agreements between tribal nations and the United States (1778-1886) published in the 1904 work “Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties” (Volume II), compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. A project from the Oklahoma State University Library.