LibGuides: Library Resources for History: Finding Primary Sources

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred, or well after events occurred. Primary sources may include:

letters
manuscripts
diaries
journals
oral histories
newspapers
speeches
interviews
memoirs
government documents
photographs
audio recordings
video recordings

These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past. When they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.

Primary source databases available via IUS Library:

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Includes the full text of diaries, letters, and memoirs from the American Civil War, as well as biographies and a bibliography of the sources in the database.
Middle East Online: Arab-Israeli Relations, 1917-1970 This link opens in a new window
Provides primary source documents on topics in Arab-Israeli relations including the establishment of the State of Israel as a Jewish national home; the Border wars of the 1950s; the Cold War in the Middle East; and milestones in the Palestine-Zionist tension and their impact on British policy leading to the Partition of 1948.
Associated Press Collections Online This link opens in a new window
An archive of primarily 20th century news materials that provide original perspectives on historical events around the world from a distinguished news reporting organization.
Note: The ability to cross-search multiple primary source collections from the provider Gale is now available on the Gale Primary Sources platform.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
A collection of published letters and diaries from approximately 500 women, spanning from 1500 to 1900. Represented are all age groups and life stages, all ethnicities, and many geographical regions.
Conditions & Politics in Occupied Western Europe, 1940-1945 This link opens in a new window
A collection of searchable primary source materials covering political life in Western Europe during World War II. Information on both occupied states (including Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the Vatican), and neutral countries (including Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) is included. Source materials include intelligence reports and summaries, leaflets, newspaper articles, and film footage of Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents in France from the Imperial War Museum.
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment This link opens in a new window
Contains letters, diaries, memoirs, and accounts of the peoples, cultures, and environment of North America between 1400-1800.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
Includes personal narratives including letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories of immigrants who came to the United States and Canada between 1800 and 1950.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to the letters and diaries of over a thousand North American women, from the 17th century to the present. Also includes biographies and an annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
Post War Europe: Refugees, Exile and Resettlement, 1945-1950 This link opens in a new window
Contains primary source materials covering the difficulties faced by European peoples after World War II, with a particular focus on the administration, care, repatriation and emigration of refugees.

Veterans History Project
First-hand accounts of U.S. Veterans from the following wars:
* World War I (1914-1920)
* World War II (1939-1946)
* Korean War (1950-1955)
* Vietnam War (1961-1975)
* Persian Gulf War (1990-1995)
* Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts (2001-present)

World Newsreels Online, 1929-1966 This link opens in a new window
Provides access to streaming videos of national and international newsreels produced between 1929 and 1966. This collection includes the complete run of The March of Time series, Universal Studio's Universal Newsreel (1929-1946), U.S. Office of War Information's United Newsreel (1942-1946) as well as several French, Japanese, and Dutch newsreels, all available with English translations.

Primary source tools online

Cornell University: HEARTH
This Home Economics archive "is a core electronic collection of books and journals in Home Economics and related disciplines." Contains titles published between 1850 and 1950.
Duke University Digitized Collections
Archival collections of images, advertisements, sheet music, and primary sources.

Early Americas Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
A collection of electronic texts written in or about the Americas from 1492 to approximately 1820.

Harvard Open Collections Program
Digitized primary source collections on historical topics.

Making of America (Cornell University) This link opens in a new window
Primary sources related to American history from antebellum to reconstruction period.
Making of America (University of Michigan) This link opens in a new window
Additional collection of primary sources in American social history, primarily from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The resource is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections
Searches for manuscript collections held by museums, libraries, and historical societies.
OAIster
Union catalog of digital resources
Sophia Smith Collection
Primary sources related to women's history.
University of North Carolina: Documenting the American South
Primary sources for the study of Southern history, literature, and culture.