History: Primary Sources for Student Projects

No matter what topic you're researching, there are places that you can go to get started with primary sources. Primary sources are required for research in History and many other disciplines. But what is a primary source? 

Primary sources are items that are directly related to a person, event or topic. Many times, these sources are created at or directly around the time of the event, but can also be detailed later in items like letters or diaries. 

Some types of primary sources:

• Original documents: Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, newspaper articles, autobiographies, official records, pamphlets, meeting notes, photographs
• Creative works: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art
• Relics or artifacts: Furniture, clothing, buildings, weapons
• Law: constitutions, statutes, cases, and regulations 

Please note, while the format is important, primary sources are often transcribed, digitized, or translated. Despite the change in format, the content is what makes something a primary source. 

Primary sources can include various item types, and as such are often kept in museums, libraries and archives. If you do not know the location of a collection, you can start with an internet search and some of the tips below.

• Combine proper names or keywords with words like diaries, letters, personal papers, collection, correspondence, archives

• Use Google shortcut, site:, to limit to .gov, .edu websites. For example, the search site:.edu MLK AND personal papers will only yield websites that end in a .edu and contain those keywords. 

• Use secondary sources to locate and compile primary resources you might want to review

Remember that research is a process and you will likely need to do many searches to gather the items you need.