Primary sources are items created contemporaneously to the event or time period you are studying. First hand accounts created after the fact are also considered primary sources.
Examples include:
- Speeches
- Diaries
- Autobiographies/Memoirs
- Letters
- Interviews
- Images
- Audio or Video Recordings
- Newspaper Articles
- Magazine/Periodical Articles (written at the time studied)
- Archival Records/Logs/Data
- Political/Legal Documents
Try using our Saint Search and adding appropriate context terms to your search such as "interview" or "speech"
Note that some items that began their lives as secondary sources may be used as a primary source for your research. For example, a 1950's textbook discussing the Civil War and Reconstruction would not be a primary source about the Civil War. However, it could be a primary source regarding attitudes towards African Americans during the Civil Rights Era.
