Primary Sources: What Are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are the "materials on a topic upon which subsequent interpretations or studies are based, anything from firsthand documents such as poems, diaries, court records, and interviews to research generated by experiments, surveys, ethnographies, and so on."*

Primary sources are records of events as they are first described, usually by witness or people who were involved in the event. Many primary sources were created at the time of the event but can also include memoirs, oral interviews or accounts that were recorded in some way after the fact. 

Visual materials, such as photos, original artwork, posters and films are important primary sources, not only for the factual information they contain, but also for the insight they may provide into how people view their world.  

On a rare occasion (and most notably when doing a historiography) a secondary source can be a primary source for another topic. For example David McCullough's biography, John Adams, could be a secondary source if the topic of the research paper was John Adams but a primary source for a paper about how various historians have interpreted the life of John Adams.

Some examples:

Maps
Photographs
Government Documents
Music
Art
Media (including tv and radio)
Correspondences (letters, emails, postcards)
Ephemera (posters, flyers)

*From Hairston, Maxine and John J. Ruszkiewicz. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers. 4th ed. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996, pg. 547.

Primary source - a document or object that was created by an individual or group as part of their daily lives. Primary sources include birth certificates, photographs, diaries, letters, embroidered samplers, clothing, household implements, and newspapers.

First person testimony - the account of a person who actually participated in an event.   Examples are oral history interviews, diaries, letters, photographs and drawings of events, and court testimony of an eyewitness.

Secondary source - summaries, second-hand accounts, and analyses of events created by someone who did not witness the event, but may have read or heard about it.  Examples may include: books or articles written on a topic, artworks depicting an event, letters or diaries recounting a version of events told to the author by another source. 

Second person or hearsay testimony - an account repeated by someone who did not actually participate in the event.  Examples are newspaper accounts from interviews of observers, letters that repeat a story told to the writer, drawings based on other people’s observations, or a book written about a topic.

Mixed sources - A document that is a primary source may contain both first person testimony and second hand testimony.  An example would be a diary entry that records a person’s eyewitness observations of an event (first person testimony) but also contains additional stories told to the writer by a family member (second hand testimony).  Newspapers often contain a mixture of first and second hand accounts.

It may depend on the question you are asking – The same document can be a primary and secondary source, depending upon the question you ask.  For example, a Baltimore newspaper’s account of Lincoln’s death that includes unattributed accounts of what happened at Ford’s Theater contains second hand testimony, if your question is what exactly happened at Ford’s Theater that night.  But if your question is how people in Baltimore heard about Lincoln’s assassination and what did they hear, then the newspaper is a primary sources for answering that question.

(Taken from the What is a Primary Source? by the Smithsonian Institution Archives)

Searching Archival Holdings

Catalogs, Databases, and Discovery Tools:

Researchers looking for primary source materials should always consult archives’ websites in order to find resources to aid them in their investigation. Most archives will provide catalogs or databases--similar to most libraries-- to allow users the ability to search holdings by subject, date, keyword, title, author, etc. Many of these catalogs link to finding aids, which are discovery tools that outline the scope of a collection; how they were acquired; who created the records; the scope of a collection; whether restrictions have been placed on a collection; and how they are organized. Below are examples of finding aids an archival user might come across. Be aware that finding aids come in various formats including DOC, PDF, HTML/XML, or print. 

-The National Archives: Broadsides Advertising Special Railroad Excursions, 1889 - 1896;

-The Smithsonian Institution: The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters, 1831-1979;

-The Lawrenceville School Stephan Archives: Allan V. Heely Papers.

Digital Collections:

A number of archives and special collections digitize portions of their holdings to make them available to remote users. Most of these collections are searchable and fairly easy to access through a simple keyword search. While these digital surrogates are invaluable resources, researchers should be aware that digital collections usually only reflect a fraction of the total holdings of an archives. It may be necessary to contact the repository to determine whether the resources you need are only available on-site. Be aware that copyright still applies to digital content. Below are some examples of digital collections that are available for viewing online.

-The National Museum of the American Indian: Fredrick Johnson Photographs;

-The Hagley Museum and Library: Civil War Collections; 

-The Freer and Sackler Archives: Shin bijin awase jihitsu kagami, Vol. 1.

-Making Sense of Evidence (History Matters from CUNY and GMU)

Provides strategies for analyzing online primary materials, with interactive exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources.

-How to Read a Primary Source

Provides tips on how to read a primary source and questions to keep in mind when evaluating a source. Courtesy of Bowdoin College.