History: Primary Sources

A Primary Source is a document, image or object that provides a first-hand account or was created during a historical event.  Examples of primary sources may include:

• Documents: Diaries, legal documents, land deeds, newspaper reports, interviews, etc.
• Images: Photographs, maps, drawings
• AV material: oral histories, video recordings of interviews, historical events, etc.

When you are using primary sources in your research, keep the following points in mind:

• Whether the resource is considered a primary or a secondary source may depend on the context in which the researcher is using it.
• Primary sources may contain bias.  That does not necessarily mean you can't use them ; instead you must think critically about the resource and how it will fit into your research.
• Primary sources originating from different people may give different accounts of the same historical event.

Find print & e-book sources:

Use the library catalog to access primary sources that are held in the Lee College print collection.

Search terms for primary sources:

Try using some of the following searches in the catalog:

[Your subject] + Interviews --> Example: Clinton, Bill Interviews

[Your subject] + Maps --> Texas Maps

[Your subject] + Sources --> Reconstruction Sources

[Your subject] + Personal narratives --> Example:  World War, 1914-1918 Personal narratives

[Your subject] + Diaries --> Example: Journalists Diaries

[Your subject] + Speeches --> Example: Martin Luther King Speeches

[Your subject] + Pictorial works --> Example: United States Civil War Pictorial works

The library also owns books that contain a set of primary sources relating to a particular topic.

Sometimes a good way to find primary sources in your research is to check the citations of secondary sources that you are using. 

Ideally, you will be doing this anyway to gauge how thoroughly the author has researched his/her topic!

Oral histories are recorded interviews of people who have first-hand of experience of significant historical events by an informed interviewer.  

Oral history collections: