Primary Sources                                                          

What is a primary source?

A primary source is first hand evidence. It was there at the time of an event. It is contemporary to the period being studied. Examples of primary sources are speeches, letters, songs, legislation, court decisions, journals/diaries, interviews, artifacts, autobiographies, and photographs.

More about primary sources:

• Why Study History Through Primary Sources? (Fordham) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.html
• How to Read a Primary Source (Bowdoin) http://academic.bowdoin.edu/WritingGuides/
• Library Research Using Primary Sources (Berkeley) http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html
• Primary Sources Research (Yale) http://www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htm
• Using Primary Sources on the Web http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA
• NARA 100 Milestone Documents http://www.ourdocuments.gov/content.php?page=milestone

Some sources for Primary Sources and Learning Strategies:

• American Memory Collection http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
• National Archives and Records Administration's Digital Classroom http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html
• Teaching with Documents http://www.edteck.com/dbq/
• Learning Page (Library of Congress) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/index.html
• Artifact and Analysis (Smithsonian) http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/idealabs/ap/index.htm
• For an overview list to help with DBQs check: Primary Source Documents: An Internet Hotlist
• Ready, 'Net, Go! (Archival indexes) http://www.tulane.edu/~lmiller/ArchivesResources.html
• Library and Archival Indexes on the Web http://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/Online-Exhibitions/

Databases

• Don't forget to check a selective list of our books containing primary sources!
• NEW!  Annals of American History Online (See Dr. V for a trial password!)
• Historic Documents (comprehensive coverage of 1972 to 2003)
• GaleNet Student Resource Center Gold is a rich collection of primary sources!
• elibrary Curriculum offers radio and television transcripts!
• ABC-CLIO databases are rich with primary sources
• Check the AP Photo Archive for news photography, current and historic.
• Check with your teacher regarding whether ProQuest Historical Newspapers will be accepted.  It offers contemporaneous reporting from the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal back through the 19th century

Supreme Court and Legal Documents

We have many circulating and reference books relating to Supreme Court cases in the 340s!

    For your reference: The Bill of Rights http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

    Another version of The Bill of Rights  http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display_printable.cfm?HHID=295

• ABC-CLIO American Government

• ABC-CLIO Court Cases by Title http://www.americangovernment.abc-clio.com/library/searches/sublist.aspx?fulltext=&categoryid=54&subtopicid=12&nav=adv
  
• *SIRS Government Almanac (Supreme Court) http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-table-display?id=SPL2870-0-7013&file=supreme.htm
• *Oyez Oyez: US Supreme Court Multimedia Database (cases by subject) http://www.oyez.org/oyez/portlet/directory/
• *Selected Historic Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court (search by topic) http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/historic.htm

• CQ Encyclopedia of US Government http://library.cqpress.com/index.php

• CQ Historic Documents http://library.cqpress.com/historicdocuments/
• Landmark Supreme Court Cases http://www.landmarkcases.org/

• *USSC +.com (subject index) http://www.usscplus.com/

• *FindLaw: Supreme Court Opinions http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

• LII Supreme Court Decisions http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html

• Avalon Project at the Yale Law School: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm

• Foreign Governments: Constitutions, Laws and Treaties http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/forcons.html

• 'lectric Law Library http://www.lectlaw.com/

• Lexis One Free Case Law http://www.lexisone.com/legalresearch/lrfreecaselaw.html

• Rominger Legal http://www.romingerlegal.com/supreme.htm

• Supreme Court of the United States http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

• FindLaw Public (local information for general public) http://public.findlaw.com/

• Justia: Supreme Court Cases http://supreme.justia.com/

World

• Repositories of Primary Sources http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

• Eurodocs http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/homepage.html

• In the First Person: Index to Letters, Diaries, Oral Histories, and Personal Narratives http://www.alexanderstreet7.com/firp/

• EyeWitness: History Through the Eyes of Those who Lived it http://www.ibiscom.com/eyindx.htm

• (Eyewitness accounts organized by date starting with Ancient Greece.)

• German Propoganda Archive http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/

• Hanover Historical Texts Project http://history.hanover.edu/project.html

• Historical Atlas of the 20th Century http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm#General

• History of the United Kingdom Primary Documents http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/uk.html

• Internet Medieval Sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

• Middle East Peace Process Documents http://www.mideastweb.org/history.htm

• National Archives Learning Curve (British documents)  http://learningcurve.pro.gov.uk/

• Penn Library: Government Treaties http://www.library.upenn.edu/resources/subject/government/treaty.html

• United Nations Treaty Collection http://untreaty.un.org/English/treaty.asp

• University of Texas Historical Maps http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/hist_sites.html

• Victoria Research Web: 19th-Century Britain http://www.indiana.edu/~victoria/

• World History Archives http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/index.html

• World War I Document Archive http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/

• World War II Documents http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/

Speeches (and other voices!)

• American Rhetoric: Online Speech Bank  http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbank.htm

• All Things Considered Archive (radio transcripts including many interviews) http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/archives/

• BBC Interviews http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/

• Conversations with History (Interviews) http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/

• Douglass: Archive of American Public Address http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu/

• Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World http://gos.sbc.edu/

• Graduation Speeches http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Graduation/Speeches/

• Historical Voices http://www.historicalvoices.org

• History and Politics Out Loud http://www.hpol.org/

• History Channel: Speeches http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/index.html

• History Place: Great Speeches Collection http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/previous.htm

• "I Do Solemnly Swear . . .": Presidential Inaugurations http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pihome.html

• Lost and Found Sound (from NPR's All Things Considered) http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/

• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents (Washington to Bush) http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/inaugural/

• Martin Luther King Online: Speeches http://www.mlkonline.com/speeches.html

• Online Speech Bank http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speechbank.htm

• Oral History Online! Oral History Online http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/ROHO/ohonline/

• Social Activism: Sound Recording Project http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/pacifica.html

• Speech Archive (History Channel) http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/index.html

• Speech/Transcript Center http://www.freepint.com/gary/speech.htm

• Speeches and Transcripts (University of Albany) http://library.albany.edu/reference/speeches.html

• Speeches of Abraham Lincoln http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/speech.htm

• Speeches of United States' Presidents http://www.ocean.ic.net/rafiles/pres/thelist.html

• Speechbot http://speechbot.research.compaq.com/cgi-bin/query

• Speeches and Transcripts (U. Albany) http://library.albany.edu/reference/speeches.html

• Talking History http://www.talkinghistory.org

• Vincent Voice Library http://www.lib.msu.edu/vincent/

• White House.gov (for speeches of the President, Vice Presidents, First Ladies) http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Presidents

• Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/

• "I Do Solemnly Swear . . .": Presidential Inaugurations http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pihome.html

• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents (Washington to Bush) http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/inaugural/

• Nixon White House Tapes http://www.c-span.org/executive/presidential/nixon.asp

• Presidential Debates http://www.debates.org/

• Presidential Libraries http://www.ibiblio.org/lia/president/

• Speeches of Abraham Lincoln http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/speech.htm

• White House.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/

• LBJ White House Tapes

General Resources in American History

• NARA 100 Milestone Documents http://www.ourdocuments.gov/content.php?page=milestone

• AP US History: Docs http://www.historyteacher.net/APUSH-Course/Weblinks/Weblinks4.htm

• OurDocuments.gov http://www.ourdocuments.gov/

• Primary Sources: Chico High School (a major gateway!) http://dewey.chs.chico.k12.ca.us/primary.html

• Ad Access Database (advertisements) http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/browse.html

• AmDocs: Documents for the Study of American History http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/docs/amdocs_index.html

• American and British History Resources on the Internet http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rulib/socsci/hist/amhist.html

• American History and Government Hotlist http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/hotlists/government.html

• American Hypertexts http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/hypertex.html

• American Colonist's Library (primary sources) http://www.universitylake.org/primarysources.html

• American Memory Learning Page http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/

• American Memory Collection Finder http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/finder.html

• American Originals (NARA) American Originals: The Original Exhibit http://www.nara.gov/exhall/originals/original.html

• Avalon Project: American History A Documentary Record 1492--1988  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/chrono.htm

• Black History: Primary Source Links blackprimary.html

• Boondock's Net http://www.boondocksnet.com/

• Census Statistics http://www.census.gov

• Charters of Freedom http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/charters.html

• Chronology of US Historical Documents (U. Oklahoma) http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/

• CIA/EDRC: Popular Documents Collection http://www.foia.ucia.gov/frame2.htm

• Conversations with History (interviews with notables) http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/

• Core Documents of U.S Democracy http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/coredocs/index.html

• Digital Classroom http://www.nara.gov/education/classrm.html

• Documents in Early American History http://history.missouristate.edu/FTMiller/Docs/DocsEarlyAmer.htm

• Emergence of Advertising in America http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/

• Eye Witness: History Through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It http://www.ibiscom.com

• Federal Resources for Educational Excellence http://www.ed.gov/free/

• Charters of Freedom http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/charters.html

• Conversations with History (Interviews) http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/

• Electronic Literature Foundation (ELF) http://elf.chaoscafe.com/

• EyeWitness: History through the Eyes http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/

• Eyewitness to Labor History http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/collections/exhibits/tam/reiss/opener.html

• From Revolution to Reconstruction http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/usa.htm

• Founders' Constitution http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/

• Great Documents http://civnet.org/resoures/greatdoc.htm

• History Central Source Documents http://www.historycentral.com/documents/index.html

• Historic Documents (Project Vote Smart) http://www.vote-smart.org/reference/histdocs/

• Historical List of Policy Documents http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/NSC/html/historical/

• Historical Photographs Online http://horus.ucr.edu/hist-art/photo.html

• Historical Text Archive http://historicaltextarchive.com/

• History Central: Primary Sources http://www.historycentral.com/documents/index.html

• History and Politics Out Loud (HPOL) http://www.hpol.org/

• Horus History Links http://www.ucr.edu/h-gig/search/horussearch.html

• Images of American Political History http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/

• HistoryNet http://www.thehistorynet.com

• Internet Archive of Texts and Documents http://history.hanover.edu/texts.htm

• Making of America Project (American social history in journals and books--antebellum through reconstruction)

• http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/MOA/moa-main_page.html

• National Archives Search http://www.archives.gov/search/index.html

• National Archives Digital Classroom http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html

• New Deal Network  http://newdeal.feri.org/

• New York Public Library Digital Library http://digital.nypl.org/

• Nineteenth Century Documents http://www.furman.edu/~benson/docs/

• Oral History Online! Oral History Online http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/ROHO/ohonline/

• Our Documents http://ourdocuments.gov

• Primary Sources Network http://primarysources.msu.edu/

• Primary Sources, Activities, and Training for Educators and Students http://www.nara.gov/education/

• Primary Sources (Northern Trails Area Education Agency) http://www.aea2.k12.ia.us/curriculum/primarysources.html

• Project Gutenberg: Listing by Author http://sailor.gutenberg.org/by-author.html

• Research Help http://www.dordt.edu/dept/history/research.htm

• Smithsonian Institution http://www.si.edu/newstart.htm

• Texts and Documents http://history.hanover.edu/texts.html

• Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/

• Uncle Sam - Migrating Government Publications http://www.lib.memphis.edu/gpo/mig.htm

• U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html

• U.S. Founding Documents http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/

• U.S. Historical Documents http://www.law.ou.edu/ushist.html

• Unforgettable Letters (US Postal Service) http://www.usps.gov/letters/welcome.htm

• WWW-VL History Index http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/

• Yale University Library Primary Sources Research http://www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htm

Event-Specific

• American Posters of World War I http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/amposter.htm

• American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html

• Avalon Project: World War II Documents http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/wwii.htm

• Black History: Primary Source Links blackprimary.html

• Civil War Women--Primary Sources http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/women/cwdocs.html

• Dr. Seuss Went to War (political cartoons) http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/

• Ellis Island Database Search http://home.pacbell.net/spmorse/ellis/ellis.html

• Gulf War: An Oral History http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/

• Historic Government Publications of World War II http://worldwar2.smu.edu/

• Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive http://jarda.cdlib.org/

• Kappler's Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/

• New Deal Network http://newdeal.feri.org/

• North American Slave Narratives http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/neh.html

• Powers of Persuasion: Poster  Art of World War II  http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_home.html

• Private Art (Letters to and from the homefront--WWII) http://www.private-art.com/

• Publications of the War http://www.hcu.ox.ac.uk/jtap/pubs/

• Rutgers Oral History Archive of World War II http://fas-history.rutgers.edu/oralhistory/orlhom.htm

• Salem Witchcraft Papers http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/

• Suffragists Oral History Project http://library.berkeley.edu/BANC/ROHO/ohonline/suffragists.html

• They Drew Fire: Combat Artists of World War II http://www.pbs.org/theydrewfire/

• Veterans' History Project http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/

• War Stories http://www.newseum.org/warstories/

• World War I Document Archive http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/

• War Poster Collection http://content.lib.washington.edu/warposters/

• War Relocation Authority: Photographs of Japanese-American Relocation and Resettlement http://www.oac.cdlib.org/dynaweb/ead/calher/jvac/@Generic__BookView

• World War I Images http://pease1.sr.unh.edu/1/Images/

• World War I Trenches on the Web http://www.worldwar1.com/

• World War II Oral HistoryWeb Site http://www.tankbooks.com

Maps and Images

• *AP Photo Archive http://ap.accuweather.com/apphoto/index.htm

• *American Memory Collection (Library of Congress) http://rs6.loc.gov/amhome.html

• *American Photography: A Century of Images http://www.pbs.org/ktca/americanphotography/

• * NARA: Picturing the Century http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/picturing_the_century/galleries/galleries.html

• * NARA ARC Basic Search (select Photographs) http://arcweb.archives.gov/arc/basic_search.jsp

• Politicalcartoons.com http://www.politicalcartoons.com/

• Cartoonstock http://www.cartoonstock.com/

• NYPL Digital Gallery http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm

• WWW Virtual Library History and Images Index http://vlib.iue.it/hist-images/index.html

• Metropolitan Museum Timeline of Art History http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm

• Is Seeing Believing? http://www.med.sc.edu:1081/isb.htm

• About.com Historic Maps http://geography.miningco.com/cs/historicmaps/

• American Memory Maps Collection 1500--1999 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html

• American Posters of World War I http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/amposter.htm

• By Popular Demand (Presidential portraits) http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/odmdhtml/preshome.html

• Collection Finder American Memory (click on Maps or Photos and Prints) http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/finder.html

• George Eastman House Museum http://www.geh.org

• Helios: National Museum of American Art: Photography http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/exhibits/helios/index.html

• Historical Graphics Collection http://www.boondocksnet.com/gallery/

• Historical Atlas of the 20th Century http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm#General

• History of Photography http://www.kbnet.co.uk/rleggat/photo/index.html

• History of Photography: From its Beginnings to the 1920s http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/

• HyperHistory Online (click on "maps") http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html

• International Center of Photography http://www.icp.org/

• Masters of Photography http://masters-of-photography.com/

• National Museum of Photography, Film and Television http://www.nmsi.ac.uk/nmpft/

• New York Public Library Picture Collection Online http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/

• Perry Casteneda Library Map Collection http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html

• Picture Collection Online (New York Public Library) http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/index.cfm

• Posters American Style http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/exhibits/posters/mainmenu.html

• Powers of Persuasion (WW II posters) http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_home.html

• Smithsonian Photographs Online http://photo2.si.edu/index.html

• Time-Life Photo Sight Home Page http://www.pathfinder.com/photo/index.html

• Time/Life Picture Collection http://www.timepix.com/

• Time Photo Essays http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/

• World War II in Color http://www.ww2incolor.com/

• World War II Military Situation Maps (Library of Congress)  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/maps/wwii/

Editorial Cartoons and images

Historical

• Baldy Editorial Cartoon Database: 1946-82, 1997 http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/baldy.html

• America in Caricature 1765-1865 http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/cartoon/cartoons.html

• They Drew Fire: Combat Artists of World War II http://www.pbs.org/theydrewfire/

Modern

• Political Cartoons http://www.boondocksnet.com/gallery/political_cartoons.html

• Political Cartoonist's Index (contemporary) http://cagle.slate.msn.com/politicalcartoons

• Nytimesimages.com http://www.nytimages.com/cartoons.html

• Time.com: Cartoons of the Week http://www.time.com/time/cartoons/
• USA Today: Editorial Cartoons http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/cartoons.htm
• World Political Cartoons http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/worldcartoons/
• Yahoo! News: Editorial Cartoons http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index2&cid=1078
  (Click on the first cartoon for more)

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Students: Help us grow our pathfinders.  Please suggest new pathfinders and links for the existing pathfinders.  Email Mrs. V!

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