HST 511: Colonial North America (Dr. Wehrman): Primary Sources--Colonial America

URL: https://libguides.cmich.edu/HST511

What Are Primary Sources?

"Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons. These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research."--Reference and User Services Association, American Library Association.

CMU University Libraries Primary Sources Databases--Restricted Access

Links to Selected Online Primary Resources--Open Access

Examples of Primary Sources

 
  • Diaries
  • Oral Interviews
  • Letters
  • Speeches
  • Clothing
  • Photographs
  • Audio files
  • Video files
  • Eyewitness accounts
  • Manuscript census records
  • Artifacts 
  • Newspaper articles
  • Government documents

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