History : Primary Source Types

Books that serve as primary sources include autobiographies, published speeches and letters, and books published at the time of an event or era of study. Many secondary source books will also include the primary sources that they analyze.

For example, the book Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches by Josh Gottheimer contains original speeches by leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Harvey Milk. These speeches are considered primary sources.

Each speech is prefaced by an introduction from the author that provides context for the speech. This part of the book would be considered a secondary source.

Journals are a serial publication that are published in regular intervals. If the articles are peer reviewed, an intensive review and revision process between experts and the author, the journal is considered scholarly or academic. Journal articles serve as primary sources when they offer insight into a particular time or event.

For example, the article Toward a Theory of Budgeting by Verne B. Lewis, published in 1952 in the Public Administration Review, could be a primary source for understanding how writers viewed economic theory in the 1950s.

Newspapers, like journals, are serial publication that are published in regular intervals. Newspaper articles are great primary sources for understanding writers or public opinion of events as they were happening.

For example, the article German Envoys Must Deal with Marshal Foch by A. P. Night Wire, published on November 6th, 1918, in the Los Angeles Times offers valuable insight as a primary source document looking at how the terms of armistice were presented to the public, only days before the armistice was signed.

Government documents that serve as primary sources can include hearings, debates, court cases, laws and regulations, treaties, records, reports, and statistical data (i.e. economic, demographic, and scientific data). These documents provide first-hand evidence of government activities, functions, and policies, which makes them excellent primary sources.

For example, the Constitution of the United States could serve as a primary source when researching the the three branches of government.

Audio and Visual materials that serve as primary sources can include films, videos, digital recordings, radio broadcasts, music, maps, photographs, prints, graphic arts, and paintings. They can provide insights into how people viewed the world in which they existed or how people, events, or objects were viewed at a particular time in history.

For example, the Horse in Motion, a series of images of a man galloping on a horse by Eadweard Muybridge, and here depicted in a modern animation, serve as primary sources for examining early film.

Archival materials take many forms and may be constructed from various media. In basic terms, archival materials are objects that inform us about the past.

Archival materials that serve as primary sources can include diaries, photographs, pottery, clothing, drawings, oral histories, and video tapes. They may be physical objects that may be digitized or they may be native to a digital environment.

For example, a dress worn by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962 could be used as a primary source to give insight into how clothing can be used to communicate certain values, agendas, or emotions.

Apricot Dress copyright (C) John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Inc.

In addition to being able to find the above types of sources (or digitized copies of the originals) online, websites offer an abundance of primary source material. For example, social media posts, including tweets from Twitter, could be used as primary sources.

Finding primary sources on the Internet, however, can be problematic and should be approached with caution. Anyone can create and curate a website, including Wikipedia. Therefore, it is important to be critical and evaluate any source you find before including it in your research. Visit the Evaluating Sources page for criteria to consider when selecting sources for your research.