Finding Primary Sources
Primary sources connect the historian to the past. They are 'items that are directly associated with their producer or user and the time period in which they were created. Examples include diaries, newspaper articles, government documents, clothing, photographs, oral interviews, and news broadcasts.' (Presnell 93)
Use Library of Congress subject headings in K-Search--identify the subject heading for a person, event, or topic, and then add one of the following subheadings:
- correspondence
- diaries
- early works to 1800
- interviews
- pamphlets
- personal narratives
- sources
Limit your search by year of publication, e.g., between 1932 and 1945.
Search for your topic across archival catalogs and special collections from all over the world using WorldCat or the open source platform ArchiveGrid. Many results link to digitized resources that are free to use. Don't forget to cite!
Refer to the Libguide listed below for an excellent overview of primary sources available through Kenyon.
Primary Source Collections
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Archives Unbound This link opens in a new windowFrom the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Particular strengths include U.S. foreign policy; U.S. civil rights; global affairs and colonial studies; and modern history
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JSTOR This link opens in a new windowIncludes PRIMARY Source Material from ARTSTOR, as well. High resolution images from museum collections spanning human history and civilizations.
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American Revolution Archives This link opens in a new windowIncludes such Revolutionary War era primary records as pensions, prize cases, rolls, service records as well as papers and foreign letters of the Continental Congress, Constitutional Convention records, and correspondences of George Washington.
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American Slavery : A Composite Autobiography This link opens in a new windowFull-text database of slave narratives compiled by the Library of Congress from transcripts of 2,000 interviews of former slaves from seventeen states. The interviews were conducted between 1936 and 1938 by field workers hired by the WPA Federal Writer's Project.
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America's Historical Imprints This link opens in a new window72,000 books printed between 1639 and 1819 and 30,000 broadsides and ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900.
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Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century (ProQuest History Vault) This link opens in a new window
Primary sources from the African-American struggle for freedom and equality from 1790 to the contemporary period. The collection consists of Federal Government records, organizational records, and personal papers.
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Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new windowContains about 127,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement. The collection consists of digital facsimile page images.
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Empire Online This link opens in a new windowManuscript, printed and visual primary source materials spanning the last five centuries and some secondary essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
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Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive database of digital editions of English-language titles and editions published between 1701 and 1800. A collection of every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with important works from the Americas.
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French Revolution Digital ArchiveThis database is a digital version of the key research sources of the French Revolution. It includes Parliamentary archives and images from the period.
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MIT's Visualizing Cultures"Image-driven scholarship." Depending on your particular topic, these images may be of great interest. Most of the collections are tied to Asia in some way.
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Native American Archives This link opens in a new windowOriginal records totaling over 1.5 million images and including the following collections: Indian Census Rolls, Dawes Packets, Dawes Enrollment Cards, Eastern Cherokee Applications, Guion Miller Roll, Native American Photos, Cherokee Indian Agency TN, and Ratified Indian Treaties.
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Sabin Americana This link opens in a new window29,000 works about the Americas published from 1500 to 1926 including books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and more.
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World War I Document ArchiveFrom Brigham Young University Library.
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World War II Archives This link opens in a new windowIncludes over 8.8 million "hero pages" with photos, timelines, facts, maps, and stories of soldiers along with the interactive capability to contribute to the database.
Historical Newspapers & Periodicals
Newspapers and periodicals can be valuable primary sources. Use newspapers to trace public debate on a political issue, or to look at trends in advertising and culture. Once you identify the person, event, or trend you want to examine, ask yourself about the time period and geographical location. Some newspapers and periodicals are also available online. Search for journals by title in K-Search, and use the Newspapers search to find newspapers.
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African American Newspapers This link opens in a new window270 newspapers covering the African American experience from 1827-1998.
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Historical African American Newspapers ONLINECollection of Historical African American Newspapers freely available online. (Will include and exclude some that are in the Proquest African American Newspapers Database above.)
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African American Periodicals This link opens in a new window170 periodicals by and about African Americans from 1825-1995.
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American Periodicals This link opens in a new windowDigitized reproductions of more than 1,100 eighteenth and nineteenth century newspapers and periodicals in the original microfilm reproduction series, American periodical series, I, II, and III.
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America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window1,650 U.S. historical newspapers published between 1690 and 1922, including titles from all 50 states.
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British Periodicals This link opens in a new window460 periodicals published from the 1680s to the 1930s.
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Chronicling AmericaCollection of selected full-text historic American newspapers (1860-1922) and a comprehensive newspaper index from the Library of Congress.
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Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new windowIncludes more than 4,700 books, pamphlets and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights. Materials, dating from 1543-1945, were published in continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand in 15 languages.
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Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines This link opens in a new window40 Civil War era newspapers and magazines.
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Illustrated London News Historical Archive (1842-2003) This link opens in a new windowCoverage from 1842-2003.
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Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new windowIndexes 375 popular general-interest periodicals, 1890-1982.
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World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
Large collection of historical newspapers (1800-1922) from the U.S. and around the world in English and other languages.
