Primary+Source+Websites

Primary sources are __original materials__. They are from the time period involved and have not been filtered through interpretation. Primary sources are firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. The same document, or other piece of evidence, may be a primary source for one research topic and secondary in another. Primary Sources may be in their original format or may be reproduced at a later date in a different format such as a book, DVD, or the Internet.
 * WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE? **

**Original Documents:** works of literature, poetry, maps, speeches, oral history, letters, photographs, e-mail, diaries, interviews, government documents, newspapers **Artifacts:** Furniture, pottery, DNA, buildings, jewelry, textiles **Creative Works:** music, art, films, sound recordings, plays

Finding Primary Sources on the Web The primary sources that are listed on this website contain links to thousands of reputable primary documents.

Yale University This website tells you what primary sources are and gives links to websites with primary source documents.

American Memory Collection American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

The National Archives The National Archives is the U.S. Government’s collection of documents that records important events in American history. People can go to gather firsthand facts, data, and evidence from letters, reports, notes, memos, photographs, and other primary sources.

Digital Media Repository The Digital Media Repository provides online access to a variety of primary source materials, including photographs, oral history interviews, artwork, video and film footage, cartographic resources, architectural drawings, publications, and 3-dimensional objects.

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum complex and research organization. Many primary source documents are found here.

Eyewitness to History History through the eyes of those who lived it.

Repositories of Primary Sources A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar. Avalon Project Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. Many are primary sources.

Making of America Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

Our Documents Contains over 100 milestone documents and photographs of American history.

Eurodocs Western European Historical Primary Documents from antiquity to present.



FedFlix Features the best movies of the United States Government, from training films to history, from our national parks to the U.S. Fire Academy and the Postal Inspectors, all of these fine flix are available for reuse without any restrictions whatsoever. EDSITEment Offers high-quality material on the Internet in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and history and social studies. All websites linked to EDSITEment have been reviewed for content, design, and educational impact in the classroom by National Endowment for the Humanities and Verizon.

Documenting the American South Contains primary sources for the study of Southern literature, history, and culture.

The New Deal Network This site contains thousand of primary source documents pertaining to the Depression and the New Deal.

American Historical Documents Hosted by Bartlby, American Historical documents (Harvard Classics, Volume 43) contains speeches, treaties, etc. from the beginning of america through the early 20th century.