Primary Sources
A primary source is a document or artifact created during the time period you are studying. It provides firsthand evidence, allowing you to analyze historical events, ideas, or experiences without outside interpretation.
Types of Primary Sources:
To get started with primary source research, visit our list of recommended databases.
Use Search@UW to Find Books for Your Primary Sources!
Note on Primary Sources
Finding primary sources for this time period can be a more a more difficult task than finding primary sources for more modern history where photography, diaries, and videos are available.
Keep in mind you may be able to utilize the primary sources found in some of your secondary sources. For example, you might find a map in a book from the time period you are studying or find an image of hieroglyphics you want to utilize. While the book would be a secondary source, those parts could count as primary sources.
If you have questions about this or need clarification, ask a librarian or your instructor.
Remember, if you are unable to find what you are looking for in the recommended resources below, click on the research help page to connect with a librarian.
Recommended Databases
- Artstor on JSTORLibrarian recommended!
A digital library of images designed to enhance teaching, learning, and scholarship. ARTstor currently contains approximately 400,000 images from a wide range of cultures and time periods. Images can be viewed in detail through features such as zooming and panning, saving groups of images online for personal or shared uses, and creating and delivering presentations both online and offline. - FedFlixFind films produced by the United States government. All films are in the public domain and are available for reuse without any restrictions.
Tip: For locating primary sources for earlier periods, using books written in the time period will be a great way to learn about life and conditions of the time. Use the database Project Gutenberg (located below) to find these works.
It will help if you have a book in mind that you want to find rather than browsing. For example, if you wanted a book written by Leonardo Da Vinci, I would look up the name of his books first in Google to search for the specific title or search by author to find them in the database. For browsing for relevant, titles, use Search@UW.
- Project Gutenberg This link opens in a new windowLibrarian recommended!
Project Gutenberg is an on-going project to produce and distribute free electronic editions of books in the public domain. Most are works of literature such as novels, poetry, and drama. - Early English Books Online This link opens in a new windowLibrarian recommended!
Subjects covered include literature, history, philosophy, humanities, and religious studies. Find digital copies of works printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. - European Views of the Americas: 1493-1750 This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history and humanities. Find primary sources, texts published before 1750.
- Digital Library of Classic Protestant TextsSubjects covered include history and humanities of the Reformation and post-Reformation eras. Find primary sources: theological writings, biblical commentaries, confessional documents, sermons, and letters.
- Digital Library of the Catholic ReformationSubjects covered include religion, philosophy, history, and humanities. Find primary sources: theological writings, biblical commentaries, confessional documents, social and political works, sermons, letters, and polemical treatises.
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include literature, history, philosophy, humanities, and religious studies. Find English-language and foreign-language books printed in the United Kingdom during the 18th century.
- Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include literature, poetry, and women's studies. Find works from 60 volumes of rare lyric poetry from over 50 Scottish women poets.
- British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history, women's & gender studies, literature & language, anthropology. Find writings of women from Great Britain and Northern Ireland, mainly primary source material.
- Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history, First Nations studies, cultural studies, and environmental studies. Find primary sources; both published and unpublished accounts, including narratives, diaries, journals, and letters.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries: Colonial to 1950 (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history and related fields. Find primary sources: letters and diaries that describe the immediate experiences of 107 women.
- North American Immigrants Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history and related fields. Find primary sources: North American immigrant letters, diaries, and oral histories from the United States and Canada.
- North American Indian Thought and CultureSubjects covered include First Nations Studies, history, biography, and cultural studies. Find autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files.
- Newspapers.com Library Edition - World CollectionHistorical newspapers archive from the 1700s - 2000s containing thousands of well-known regional, state, and small local newspapers in the United States and other countries.
- Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history, news, and a wide range of topics. Find primary sources: the full text and full image articles from the New York Times dating back to the 19th century.
- Times Digital Archive (Gale)
The Times (London, England) Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times, one of the most highly regarded resources for the 19th – 20th Century history detailing every complete page of every issue from 1785-2009.
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowA wide range of subjects covered. Find citations to primary sources: popular, general-interest periodicals published in the United States from 1890 to 1982.
- African American Newspapers (1827-1998) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies, news, and more. Find primary sources and news.
- African American Periodicals (1825-1995) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies, news and more. Find news, commentary, advertisements, literature, drawings and photographs, and primary source material.
- Early American Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include historic local, regional, & national news. Find news and primary sources.
- Lily (Accessible Archives)The Lily is the first newspaper for women and was issued from 1849 until 1853 under the editorship of Amelia Bloomer (1818-1894).
- U.S. Newsstream
Subjects covered include news and current events. Find current and archival to 1980 U.S. news.
- Revolution and Protest OnlineFind videos, images, text, and primary sources on revolutions, protests, resistance and social movements.
- Border and Migration StudiesFind videos, images, and text on more than thirty key worldwide border areas.
- History Vault: Civil RightsSubjects covered include cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies, news, and more. Find primary sources, federal records, organization records, and more.
- Gerritsen Collection--Women's History Online, 1543-1945 (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include history, women's history, women& gender studies, and social sciences. Find primary sources: mainly documents from early feminists movements.
- Gilded Age (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include race, labor, immigration, commerce, western expansion, and women’s suffrage. Find photographs, songs, and other primary source materials as well as scholarly essays.
- Women and Social Movements US 1600-2000: Basic Edition (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include women and gender studies, social movements, social justice, sociology, politics, activism, history, and related fields. Find projects addressing aspects of women and social movements in the United States; each project contains primary documents and contextual materials collected to answer a specific question.
- Gale Primary Sources (Gale)Find primary sources on a range of topics. Includes newspapers, historical & archival documents, and other academic material.
- World History In ContextSubjects covered include world history including biographies, cultural trends, political movements, wars & conflicts, and religions. Find academic, popular, trade, and primary sources.
- Black Drama: 1850-present (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowSubjects covered include theatre & drama, multicultural & ethnic studies, literature, and history. Find plays written from the 1850's to the present, playbills, and photographs.
- North American Indian Thought and CultureSubjects covered include First Nations Studies, history, biography, and cultural studies. Find autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files.
Websites
- The Complete Works of William ShakespeareFree download of William Shakespeare's entire works.
- Granger Historical Picture Archive: PeasantryFind pictorial representations of peasantry in western civilization.
- Working Class Movement LibraryWelcome to one of the most unusual libraries in the world. Discover the stories of working people’s struggles to be heard. Explore the past, change the future... Find overviews and resources for primary sources.
- British Library: Victorian BritainExplore posters, newspapers, illustrations and much more, along with expert articles, that showcase Victorian Britain.
- Charles Booth's London: Poverty Maps & Police NotebooksCharles Booth's London enables you to search the catalogue of over 450 original notebooks from the Inquiry into Life and Labour in London (1886-1903), view 41 digitised notebooks and explore the London poverty maps.
- Brown University Library Digital Repository: Napoleonic SatiresThese satires made in Britain and continental Europe that depict Napoleon as a diminutive brat combat Napoleon's self-constructed imperial image as a powerful god-like ruler. Satires such as these participate in a broad conversation that spans genres to suggest that the official French images of Napoleon are no more authentic or permanent than the satiric image. To this day Napoleon's imperial image is popularly conflated with his satirical representation — namely his short stature, which is largely a satiric invention
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections: Napoleonic Period CollectionThis collection showcases 83 satirical prints, or caricatures, from the Napoleonic Period, all giving political commentary on events of the period. Fifty of the prints were created by French artists, and thirty-three by English artists. Nearly all of the French prints date from the last two years of Napoleon's reign, but the English prints represent a broader time period ranging from 1793 to 1815.
- Library of Congress: American Cartoon PrintsThis assemblage of more than 500 prints made in America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries encompasses several forms of political art. Most of the prints are from the division's PC/US series, which consists of individually cataloged political cartoons and caricatures.
- Charles Peirce Collection of Social and Political Caricatures and BalladsSatirical prints published in London during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were presented in various ways for a growing consumer audience.
- Contagion Historical Views of Diseases and EpidemicsThis online collection offers important historical perspectives on the science and public policy of epidemiology today and contributes to the understanding of the global, social–history, and public–policy implications of diseases.
- British Library Online CollectionsSearch for primary sources. Use search terms relevant to a specific war or revolution you are researching.
- Library of Congress: American Revolution Digital CollectionsFind links to primary sources related to the American Revolution including president's papers and government documents.
- Stanford Libraries: French Revolution ArchiveThe French Revolution Digital Archive (FRDA) is a multi-year collaboration of the Stanford University Libraries and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) to produce a digital version of the key research sources of the French Revolution and make them available to the international scholarly community. The archive is based around two main resources, the Archives parlementaires and a vast corpus of images first brought together in 1989 and known as the Images de la Revolution française.
- Library of Congress: World War I Digital CollectionsThe digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material related to World War I, including manuscripts, posters, newspapers, films, sheet music, and sound recordings.
- National Archives: Commemorating the Great WarAs the largest repository of American World War I records, the National Archives invites you to browse the wealth of records and information documenting the U.S. experience in this conflict, including photographs, documents, audiovisual recordings, educational resources, articles, blog posts, lectures, and events.
- Illinois Digital Archives: WWII DocumentsThis collection contains United States and Illinois government documents on subjects relating to World War II, including: rationing and conservation, women's work, civil defense, the Japanese interment, the development of the United Nations, and more.
- Ball State University Digital Collections: WWII FIlmsThe World War II Films digital collection consists of short films and news clips, primarily in black and white, documenting Allied operations and activities during WWII. In addition to footage of campaigns in Europe and in the Pacific, the films document activities on the homefront, including the efforts of African American colleges and farmers, the relocation and internment of Japanese civilians, and the victory garden program sponsored by the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense.
- Wilson Center Digital Archive: Cold War HistorySince its establishment in August 1991, the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) has amassed a tremendous collection of archival documents on the Cold War era from the once secret archives of former communist countries. CWIHP has become internationally recognized as the world’s preeminent resource on the Cold War.
- The Getty Research Institute: Photographs of Turkey in 1880This album of 137 photographic prints is part of the Getty Research Institute's collection of more than 6,000 images collected by Pierre de Gigord that document the Ottoman Empire and its transformation into the Republic of Turkey from 1852 to 1950.
- Anemi: Digital Library of Modern Greek StudiesAnemi Digital Library aims to provide simple and quick access to a rich collection of digitized material related to Modern Greek Studies.
- The Digital Library of the Middle EastThe Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME) offers free and open access to the rich cultural legacy of the Middle East and North Africa by bringing together collections from a wide range of cultural heritage institutions.
- Granger Historical Picture Archive: Franco Prussian WarFind pictorial illustrations of the Franco-Prussian War.
Tip: For locating primary sources for earlier periods, using books written in the time period will be a great way to learn about life and conditions of the time. Use the database Project Gutenberg (located above under the "religious writings and literature" database list) to find these works.
It will help if you have a book in mind that you want to find rather than browsing. For example, if you wanted a book written by Leonardo Da Vinci, I would look up the name of his books first in Google to search for the specific title or search by author to find them in the database. For browsing relevant, titles, use Search@UW. Navigate to the research help page of this guide if you need assistance!
- Harvard Library: Medieval & Renaissance ManuscriptsHoughton Library's collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts represents a significant resource for the study of the literature, art, history, music, philosophy, and theology of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Western Europe.
- Morgan Library & Museum: Medieval & Renaissance ManuscriptsList of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and rolls in the Morgan Library and Museum's collection. Includes links to digitized images and bibliographic information.
- New York Public Library Digital Collections: Renaissance and Medieval Manuscripts CollectionThe works represent diverse genres, from Bibles and missals to romance literature and science texts. Dating from the turn of the 10th century until well into the period of the Renaissance, these works give vivid testimony to the creative impulses of the often nameless craftsmen who continually discovered new ways of animating the contents of hand-produced books through inventive and sometimes exuberant manipulations of all the elements of the book: form and format, layout, script, decoration, illustration, and binding.
- The Complete Works of William ShakespeareFrom Project Gutenberg.
- The Post-Reformation Digital LibraryThe Post-Reformation Digital Library (PRDL) is a select database of digital books relating to the development of theology and philosophy during the Reformation and Post-Reformation/Early Modern Era (late 15th-18th c.).
- e-Leo : Digital archive of history of technology and scienceThe Biblioteca Leonardiana of Vinci holds the complete collection of the editions of Leonardo’s works published since 1651.
- Library of Congress: World Digital LibraryThe WDL makes it possible to discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures and significant historical documents on one site, in a variety of ways. Content on the WDL includes books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, journals, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and films. Browse by place, time, topic, type of item, language, and contributing institution.
- Colonial AmericaColonial America makes available all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series from The National Archives, UK, covering the period 1606 to 1822. CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies, making it a uniquely rich resource for all historians of the period.
- Records of the American ColoniesFind published documents--legislation, court proceedings, records, correspondence, etc.--from the 13 original colonies and their predecessors.
- World Documents Library: PortugalFind primary sources on Portugal.
- Digital Library of the Caribbean from the University of Florida Digital CollectionsThe Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean. dLOC provides access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.
- Slavery Images: A Visual Record of the African Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Early African DiasporaImages have been selected from a wide range of sources, most of them dating from the period of slavery. Our growing collection currently has over 1,200 images.
- DigitalNZDigitalNZ brings together over 30 million digital items from over 200 different organisations all around Aotearoa. We aggregate New Zealand-related material so that it can be easily searched on one website. Our content partners include libraries, museums, galleries, government departments, media organizations, community groups, and many others. On DigitalNZ you'll find videos, newspapers, maps, photographs, audio recordings, artworks, news reports, and many other kinds of digital content.
- Harvard Library: Images of ColonialismThis visual record of early European contacts with Africa and Asia is a primary visual resource for historical and socio-cultural studies. Made up largely of late-19th and early-20th century trade cards and illustrated European newspapers, this collection offers insight into European perspectives on varying aspects of colonial experience by documenting how popular perceptions of Asia and Africa were created and disseminated. The collection can also be used to draw contrasts between colonial attitudes among the French, British, German, and Dutch colonizers and the realities in the colonies.
- HispanaGatherer content databases of digital collections. These include institutional repositories of Spanish universities and the digital libraries of the autonomous communities and the contents of the Red Digital Collections of Museums of Spain.
- Hispanic Digital Library of SpainFree portal and digitized documents from the Spanish National Library.
- Pares: Spanish Archives PortalThe Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport project for webcasting Spanish Historical Heritage Documentary preserved in its network of centers. It offers free access to documents with digitized images of the Spanish Archives. Open in Google Chrome to translate to English.
- Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British EmpireThis website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online. You can search or browse for films by country, date, topic, or keyword.
- Slave Biographies: The Atlantic Database NetworkSlave Biographies: The Atlantic Database Network is an open access data repository of information on the identities of enslaved people in the Atlantic World. It includes the names, ethnicities, skills, occupations, and illnesses of individual slaves.
- Library of Congress: Born in SlaveryBorn in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration (WPA).
- National Archives: Africa Through a LensExplore incredible photographs spanning over 100 years of African history, from the 1860s onwards, taken from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office photographic collection (CO 1069). The full collection can be seen on Flickr, where you can add comments and tags.
- National Library of Australia Digital CollectionsThe Library holds the greatest collection in the world of material relating to Australia and the Australian people. It ranges from the earliest European works about the Great Southern Land to the most current publications. When searching, limit to "NLA Digital Materials."
- Black Cultural ArchivesFrom Google Arts & Culture, find primary sources telling the story of the Black British experience.
- Middle Eastern and North African NewspapersThe Middle Eastern & North African Newspapers collection includes publications from across this dynamic region, providing unique insights into the history of individual countries, as well as broad viewpoints on key historic events from the late nineteenth century through the present.
- The Digital Library of the Middle EastThe Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME) offers free and open access to the rich cultural legacy of the Middle East and North Africa by bringing together collections from a wide range of cultural heritage institutions.
- Abdul Hamid II CollectionThis collection contains 1,819 photographs in 51 large-format albums date from about 1880 to 1893. They portray the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II and highlight the modernization of numerous aspects of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the places depicted are within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, but buildings and sites in Iraq, Lebanon, Greece and other countries are also included.
- Medicine in the Americas: 1610-1920The NLM History of Medicine Division (HMD) collects, preserves, makes available, and interprets for diverse audiences one of the world’s richest collections of historical material related to health and disease. Spanning ten centuries, encompassing a variety of digital and physical formats, and originating from nearly every part of the globe.
- Contagion Historical Views of Diseases and EpidemicsThis online collection offers important historical perspectives on the science and public policy of epidemiology today and contributes to the understanding of the global, social–history, and public–policy implications of diseases.
- Museo Galileo Historical ArchiveCollections and documents related to the history of science, stored in other libraries and archives, are also searchable and in most cases offered in digital format. Noteworthy is the Galileian collection of the National central library of Florence and the Galileian documents housed at the State archive of Florence.
- e-Leo : Digital archive of history of technology and scienceThe Biblioteca Leonardiana of Vinci holds the complete collection of the editions of Leonardo’s works published since 1651.
- DPLA: Electrifying AmericaOn November 4, 1879, Thomas Edison filed for a patent for an electric lamp using carbon filaments. Edison’s patent, which became the first commercially successful, long-lasting light bulb, changed the way people across the world live and work—with the flip of a switch. Find an overview and primary sources.
- Henry Ford Archive of American Innovation Digital CollectionsBegin to explore the artifacts at the core of The Henry Ford Archive of American Innovation™ through our continually expanding digital collections. This broad array of artifacts will lead you to extraordinary stories.
- British Online Archives: The Industrial Revolution in Britain and the World, 1635-1970This series unites collections that cover different aspects of the industrial revolution.
- Library of Congress: The Industrial Revolution in the United StatesFind primary source sets.