Locating primary resources in the Kenyon Library may be done through our online catalog, CONSORT (remember to narrow your search in CONSORT to just the Kenyon Library).  You should note that many primary resources are not written with the thought of future publication of the written materials, rather, they may be correspondence, diaries or private papers saved by the creator or a family member for sentimental reasons and published many years later.  The publication date is not as important in this case , rather, the researcher would focus on the date of creation.  

How then does a researcher access diaries, letters, etc. in CONSORT?  Start by constructing a keyword search.  For example, if I was interested in reading letters written during Civil War I would start my search with these the keywords:

united states civil war letters = the results list of 168 items can be overwhelming, so to narrow (or focus) my search I might add another term

united states civil war letters nurse = the resulting entries (2) allow me to focus my research on a more manageable reading list

Additionally,  you may access Kenyon's research guide on Primary Sources. Some primary source collections relevant to women in American History include:

These are just a few of the many resources we have available online.  More are listed in the Databases A-Z list located on the main Kenyon Library web page and on the 'Newspaper' page of this guide.