Finding Primary Sources

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are original materials created at the time of an event.  They can be in a variety of formats: written documents, artwork, photographs, or artifacts.

Here are some examples: 

• Letters written by a Civil War soldier.
• A government report about the assassination of President Kenney.
• A photograph taken at the inauguration ceremony for the U.S. President.
• A newspaper article written at the time an event occurred.
• A recording of a speech.
• A video of an event.

What makes it a primary source?

• It is original.
• It is contemporary with the event/period under scrutiny It has an immediate connection to the event/period.
• It serves as evidence.

What is a secondary source?

• It is at least one step removed from the event or period under scrutiny.
• It is not contemporary with the event or period.
• It provides analysis or commentary of an event or period, often using primary source material to do so.

A television program about the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York on September 11 is a secondary source.  So is a book about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

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