For information on using primary sources on the web, visit http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/primarysources
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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.
Source: ALA.
Browse by primary source, topic and by time period—from eight historical periods relevant specifically to African-American history. Slave narratives, maps, audio and video are some of the types of resources found here.
Primary source collection content from 1820-1922 are all filmed in full-resolution color, include books, pamphlets, graphic materials, and ephemera; among them are a large number of invaluable Southern imprints.
The documents included in this collection are firsthand accounts, battlefront perspectives, personal artifacts, insightful correspondence and notable papers.
This primary source collection contains virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in America over a 160-year period.
During the 19th Century, New York City was the focal point in North America for industry, trade, commerce and immigration. Gateway to North America is a unique collection of historical directories, member lists and other name-rich sources from the New-York Historical Society and features materials that track individuals and organizations over time and place.
Includes all of the images, and extensive indexing, from the 1790 - 1930 U.S. federal censuses. It offers more than 20,000 book titles, including nearly 8,000 family histories and over 12,000 local histories. Additionally, there are more than 250 primary-source documents such as tax lists, city directories, probate records, and more. Genealogy related resources are found here.
The content in Orderly Books provides detailed accounts of troops’ daily lives, documenting everything from court martial cases to the price of necessities charged by locals. Given the dearth of soldiers’ diaries, Orderly Books provides historically valuable information about soldiers’ lives.
