Primary source research requires a slightly different approach to searching. Here are a few tips/strategies:
Start by doing some background reading or "pre-research": The more you know about key events, people, laws, and especially common terminology used during the time period you are researching the more successful your research will be. See the "Getting to Know Your Topic" page in this guide for help.
Limit to specific time periods: When searching for primary sources online always remember to use date ranges (usually on the advanced search page) to focus your search.
Use primary source keywords to find primary sources: Use search terms that reflect the types of primary sources you’re looking for, such as: diaries, pamphlets, correspondence, speeches, manuscripts, personal narratives, interviews, firsthand, eyewitness, sources, etc.
For example: slave AND diary | suffrage AND pamphlets | united states and race relations AND sources
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
Primary sources are items that are directly associated with their producer or user and the period in which they are created. They reflect the authority and perspective of someone who directly experiences what they are detailing.
Primary sources can be found in:
The Library of Congress has a great tool for helping you evaluate potential primary sources:
The full text of hundreds of U.S. newspapers from more than 35 states published by African Americans, dating from 1827 to 1998.
Coverage: 1827-1898
The full text of 52 books and pamphlets published by 19th-century black women writers.
The Accessible Archives collection within History Commons includes text primary sources from 18th and 19th century America, mainly newspapers, including the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Virginia Gazette, Godey's Lady's Book, Frederick Douglass Paper, a collection of South Carolina Newspapers, and a collection of African American newspapers
The full text of hundreds of American magazines, journals, and newspapers published between 1741 and 1900.
Coverage: 1741-1900
This database presents an archive of publications focused on U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture from colonial times until 1960. Series 2 focuses on Hispanic American civil rights, religion and women’s rights from the 18th through the 20th century. Content is written, indexed and searchable in Spanish and English.
Search and view the full text of hundreds of digitized historical newspapers from 42 states, with titles dating from 1789-1963, provided free by the Library of Congress.
Index to publications about women, sexuality, and gender from approximately 450 to 1600, covering Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as well as areas in which Europeans travelled. Subject coverage for gender and sexuality means that articles on masculinity and male homosexuality are included.
The electronic version of of the popular magazine Harper's Weekly from the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, 1857-1871.
A digital archive for the collections of major American research libraries. Includes records for millions of items, many of which can be searched full text.
The entire contents of the New York Times from 1851 to three years ago.
Official United Nations documentation from 1993 to the present, as well as the texts of resolutions from 1946 to the present.
A database containing a wide range of primary materials on the subject of slavery worldwide, including judicial cases, slavery statutes, UNC Press titles, periodicals, and scholarly articles. It includes every statute passed by every U.S. colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.
Coverage: 15th-19th centuries
A complete, searchable archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month. Includes every article, cover, photo shoot, illustration and advertisement, with rich indexing enabling users to find images by designer and brand names.
Coverage: 1892 to present
An archival research resource comprising the full backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines.