What Are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are documents,

images or artifacts that provide
firsthand testimony or direct
evidence concerning an historical
topic under research
investigation.

Autobiography of Josephine Baker and her years as an

African-American dancer in France
[from: Baker, Josephine. Une vie de Toutes les
Couleurs. Grenoble: B. Arthaud, 1935.]
Primary Sources
Primary sources are original
documents created or experienced
contemporaneously (at the time)
with the event being researched.
Primary sources enable researchers
to get as close as possible to what
actually happened during an
historical event or time period.
 Examples of Primary Source Formats/Genres
Laws and Treaties
Photographs – Wedding portrait of
Clodomiro Sepulveda and Peregrina Rosa Yorba,
1885

Artifacts:
tools
pottery,
records
like
drawings
Hammurabi’s Code and maps
– Painting titled
“Rejection Letter” by
Trinh Do, 1989
 Examples of Primary Sources
• Diaries • Interviews
• Letters • Newspapers
• Photographs • Magazines
• Art • Eyewitness accounts
• Maps
• Original video/film
• Sound recordings
What Are Secondary Sources?
• Secondary sources are works that
analyze,
assess
or interpret

an historical event, era, or phenomenon,

VUS10.c
generally using primary sources to do so.
HARDSHIPS OF

• Secondary sources often offer a review or

a critique.
Secondary sources can include books, journal articles,
speeches, reviews, research reports, and more.

Generally speaking, secondary sources are written well

after the events that are being researched.

However, if an individual writes about events that he or

she experienced first hand many years after that event
occurred, it is still considered a primary source.
 Examples of Secondary Sources
• History textbooks
• Biographies
• Movies/videos about a historical event
• Encyclopedia article
• Journal/magazine articles
Primary v. Secondary Example
• A car accident occurs.
• A witness’ description of the accident tothe
police is an example of a primary source.
– They saw the event as it happened.

• A reporter’s story in the newspaper the nextday

is an example of a secondary source.
– Remember, they were not at the scene to witness it. They
are relying on people who witnessed the accident.
 In Review…
• Primary Source
– Created at the time of an
event or very soon afterwards
– Created by someone who
saw or heard an event
themselves (firsthand
witness)
– Often one-of-a-kind
• or rare.
• Secondary Source
– Created after event
– Often uses primary sources
as examples.
– Expresses an opinion or
argument about a past
event.
– Much more common
The same document, or other piece of evidence,
may be a primary source in one investigation and
secondary in another.

The search for primary sources does not,

therefore, automatically include or exclude any
format of research materials or type of records,
documents, or publications.
Please take out your map and map directions.