Primary Sources

What are they?

• Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence of a historical topic. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, but primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later.

http://www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html

Printed or Published Texts

• Printed or Published TextsBooks & Pamphlets

Newspaper, Magazines and Perodicals

Not all news articles are primary sources. An article in this weeks Time Magazine retelling the story of the 1988 presidential election is not a primary source it is a secondary source. An article in this weeks Time Magazine discussing events in this weeks presidential campaign is a primary source.

• Primary Source • Secondary Source

• A way to remember what is a primary source and what is NOT a primary source is:

• If someone is telling the story for the first time it is a primary source

• If someone is telling the story for the second time it is a secondary source

Maps

US map 1784

ArtifactsOnce functional objects used by people• Cards and board games• Jewelry, clothing, and textiles• Leather goods• Tools

Visual Materials The term “visual material” refers to any

primary source in which images, are used to convey meaning.

• Original art, including but not limited to paintings, drawings, sculpture, architectural drawings and plans, and monoprints.

• Graphic arts, including materials such as posters, trade cards, and computer generated graphics

• Photographs• Film and video

• Photos from history

• Political Cartoons

Music

• Manuscript music scores

• Musical instruments

• Sheet music

• Historical and contemporary sound

recordings

Sound Recordings

• Sound recordings include not only music but also the spoken word - poetry, plays, speeches, etc.

Oral History

• Spoken stories, interviews, and first hand accounts

Secondary Sources

secondary source-is a document or recording that discusses information originally presented elsewhere

• An essay written about a topic in history

• A TV show, movie or documentary about a topic in history

• Textbooks

• Lecture on a topic from history