LibGuides: JOUR 4650: American Journalism History: Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event or time in history that has yet to be interpreted by another person.

Examples of primary sources include:

diaries, journals, letters, interviews, speeches, memos, manuscripts and other first-person accounts
memoirs and autobiographies
official records such as government publications, census data, court reports, police records
minutes, reports, correspondence of an organization or agency
newspaper and magazine articles written during the time of the event
photographs, paintings, film and television programs, audio recordings which document an event
research such as opinion polls which document attitudes and thought during the time of an event
artifacts such as objects, tools, clothing, etc. of the time period or event

Use these databases to find other online primary sources apart from newspapers, such as photographs, pamphlets, and other memorabilia.

1980s Culture and Society
1980s Culture and Society complies archival collections housed across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The database includes zines, newspapers, ephemera, oral histories, films, photographs, and government records. Capturing diverse perspectives, materials produced by grassroots organizations and under-represented groups are presented alongside government records and mainstream media to showcase the key social, cultural, and political concerns of the decade.

American Archive of Public Broadcasting
40,000 hours of programs selected by more than 100 public broadcasting stations throughout the nation from 1940s to the 21st century
Digital Public Library of America
This database includes over 50 million images, text documents, video, and audio sources from libraries across the United States.
Digital Transgender Archive
The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.
Freedom Archives
This collection is comprised of position papers, monographs, newspapers and other publications from or about the Black Liberation Movement. Includes The Student Voice, The Movement Newspaper, Crossroads, Soulbook and a sub-collection filled with assorted writings.

Internet Archive's TV News Archive
Internet Archive's TV News Archive provides free access to more than a million closed captioned clips from TV news shows dating back to 2009, with options to filter by network, show, or date range.
JSTOR
Over a thousand full-text scholarly journals and books covering all subjects in the humanities, sciences and social sciences. History, economics, art, literature, and mathematics are particularly strong. All journal titles are archived back to the first issue, many dating from the early 1800s. JSTOR now also hosts the complete ArtSTOR collection.

Library of Congress Digital Collections
Browse through all of the digital collections from the Library of Congress that are freely accessible online.

Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook
Combined catalog to the collections of hundreds of Ohio museums, historical societies, libraries, and archives, bringing together thousands of primary source materials including historical periodicals, cultural objects, documents, photographs, and archival records.
Student Activism
Primary sources documenting the history of student organizing in the United States, including hundreds of items contributed by BGSU, in formats such as leaflets, fliers, newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings, periodicals, bulletins, letters, press releases, as well as meeting, demonstration, conference, and event documentation.

Topics include: Anti-apartheid divestiture, student involvement in the civil rights movement, Indians of All Tribes’ occupation of Alcatraz, Take-Back-the-Night anti-sexual assault activism, Vietnam War opposition and demilitarization activism, Women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and more.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975
A database of photographs, images, manuscripts, rare printed material documenting the music, politics, fashion and youth culture in America and Great Britain from 1950-1975.
Access for BGSU Main Campus users only; not available for Firelands users.