Primary sources are materials directly from the historic event or time. They provide first-hand accounts of history. This includes materials written or produced in the time period you are studying, eyewitness accounts, documents related to specific events, and later recollections by participants in historic events. Examples include:
Secondary sources are books, articles, websites, and other published materials where an author presents an interpretation of an event based on primary sources. The writer is not an eyewitness to, or a participant in, the historic event. Examples include:
Secondary Sources are useful for gaining a general understanding of an event, person, etc. and can lead you to primary sources.
Information from: Hoogland, Tim and Kurt Kortenhof, Introducing National History Day, St. Paul Minnesota Historical Society, 2002. Introducing National History Day Accessed February 3, 2003.
Library Services provides access to many primary sources for World history topics. In addition to the resources below, please check MavScholar for books and archival material available within Memorial Library.
Historical newspaper archive that covers all major international historical events from 1785 and onward.
This collection contains full runs of 48 newspapers that best represent nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain.
Provides citations, abstracts, and full text to newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press.
Provides full-text newspaper articles from many states and countries, transcripts from mostly major American news sources, and provides citations and selected full-text to legal materials.
This list includes newspapers or collections that include titles that originate outside of the United States. Many US newspapers will cover international events. Visit the United States History or Newspapers Research Guide for additional newspaper and magazine resources.
Digitized images from the American Antiquarian Society of the pages of American magazines and journals. Series 1 presents titles dating from 1693 through 1820.
Digitized images from the American Antiquarian Society of the pages of American magazines and journals. Series 2 presents over 1000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837.
Digitized images from the American Antiquarian Society of the pages of American magazines and journals. Series 3 presents over 1,700 titles dating from 1838 through 1852.
Digitized images from the American Antiquarian Society of the pages of American magazines and journals. Series 4 presents over 1,100 titles dating from 1853 through 1865.
Digitized images from the American Antiquarian Society of the pages of American magazines and journals. Series 5 presents over 2,500 titles dating from 1866 through 1877.
A thematic archive, covering key trade and consumer magazines in film and television from first issue to 2000.
A searchable archive of leading women's interest magazines that serves multiple research areas from gender studies, social history, the arts, education, politics, and marketing/media history.
British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices spanning the period 1948 to 1966.
Presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents, covering a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.
This resource consists of declassified government documents covering U.S. policy toward critical world events - including their military, intelligence, diplomatic and human rights dimensions - from 1945 to the present.
From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this collection contains more than 125,000 titles in many subject areas: including English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science.
Covers the history of European exploration as well as portrayals of Native American peoples in a wide range of subject areas; from natural disasters to disease outbreaks and slavery.
Gale Primary Sources allows unified searching of Gale primary source collections for a comprehensive research experience.
From 1941 to 1961, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the State Department had classified reports written to help shape U.S. foreign policy and therefore make this an excellent resource for studying significant areas of the world.
Describes the political situation in European countries on the outbreak of the war and covers the financial position of the warring countries as well as anti-war sentiments.
A collection of U.S. Government publications compiled under the directive of Congress includes Congressional reports & documents, executive agency & departmental reports ordered to be printed by Congress, the American State Papers, as well as maps, illustrations, photos, and lithographs
Includes primary source documents about Latin America and the Caribbean; academic journals and news feeds covering the region; reference articles and commentary; maps and statistics; audio and video; and more.
Provides full text reports that comprise in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy.
Provides full text ethnographic information on all aspects of cultural and social life (e.g., religious beliefs, raising children, causes and cures of diseases, economics, politics) for numerous cultures.
Materials from various archives throughout the world were brought together that document colonial rule, dispersion of exiles, international intervention, and the worldwide networks that supported successive generations of resistance within the region.
Links visual, contextual, and spatial documentation of African heritage sites and serves researchers in African studies, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art history, Diaspora studies, folklore & literature, geography, and history.
Explore pamphlets that give insight into 19th Century Britain from the following collections: Bristol Selected Pamphlets, Cowen Tracts, Earl Grey Pamphlets Collection, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Collection, Hume Tracts, Knowsley Pamphlet Collection, LSE Selected Pamphlets, Selections from University of Manchester British Political Pamphlets Collection, and the Wilson Anti-Slavery Collection.
Comprises information on thousands of slave expeditions between 1514 and 1866 with information about the enslaved peoples, vessels, trading routes, slave traders, and slave owners.