SOURCES

What is a primary source?

Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to the truth of what actually happened during a historical event or time period. Primary sources are the evidence left behind by participants or observers. The following are generally considered primary sources:

• Diaries, journals, speeches, interviews, letters, memos, manuscripts, and other papers in which individuals describe events in which they were participants or observers.
• Memoirs and autobiographies
• Records of organization and agencies of government.
• Published materials (books, magazine, and newspaper articles) written at the time of a particular event. The important thing is to distinguish between material written at the time of an event as a kind of report and material written much later as historical analysis.
• Photographs, audio recordings, and moving pictures or video recordings, documenting what happened.
• Artifacts of all kinds: physical objects, buildings, furniture, tools, appliances, and household items, clothing, toys.
• Public opinion polls. This is evidence documenting the mentality or psychology of a time, or of a group.

What is a secondary source?

A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes a historical event. A secondary source is at least one step removed from the event. Secondary sources rely upon primary sources for information. After gathering evidence form primary sources, the historian creates a secondary source by writing about the findings, analyzing them, or putting them together into a story about the past. Textbooks and encyclopedias are examples of secondary sources.