Research Guides: History Resources: Finding Primary Sources Online

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are materials created at the time of the topic you are researching, or by an eyewitness to the topic. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. They are not commentary about your topic, but are the topic you are commenting about.

Primary sources may include:diaries, letters, interviews, oral histories, photographs, newspaper articles, government documents, poems, novels, plays and music. The collection and analysis of primary sources is central to historical research!

U.S. Government Documents

U.S. Constitution Annotated
The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (popularly known as the Constitution Annotated) contains legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution, based primarily on Supreme Court case law. This regularly updated resource is especially useful when researching the constitutional implications of a specific issue or topic. The Featured Topics and Cases page highlights recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that demonstrate pivotal interpretations of the Constitution's provisions.
Presidents
One of the most comprehensive websites about the Presidents of the United States and the US Presidency.
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Includes issues affecting us today: Security, Economy, Budget, Immigration, and Opioid Crisis.
National Archives
ALIC provides access to information on American history and government, archival administration, information management, and government documents to NARA staff, archives and records management professionals, and the general public.
Library of Congress
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public.

Primary Sources: U.S. History

American Memory from the Library of Congress
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.
Chronicling America
From the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress, search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963
Chronology of American History 1492 - Present
From the Avalon Project at Yale Law School: A Chronology of US Historical Documents from 1492 - Present on Law, History, and Diplomacy.
Digital History
This Web site was designed and developed to support the teaching of American History in K-12 schools and colleges.
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The materials on this Web site include a U.S. history textbook; over 400 annotated documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, supplemented by primary sources on slavery, Mexican American, Asian American, and Native American history, and U.S. political, social, and legal history; succinct essays on the history of film, ethnicity, private life, and technology; multmedia exhibitions; and reference resources that include a database of annotated links, classroom handouts, chronologies, glossaries, an audio archive including speeches and book talks by historians, and a visual archive with hundreds of historical maps and images.
Documenting the American South
Gives you access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
History Matters
Designed for high school and college teachers and students, History Matters serves as a gateway to web resources and offers other useful materials for teaching U.S. history.
Jews in America : Resources
The Portal to Jewish American History is a "one stop shop" for researchers, students, and interested members of the public to access archival and digital collections on American Jewish History.
LIFE Photo Collection: 1936-1999
This is a collection of over 4 million photos from the popular magazine LIFE, covering the years 1936-1999 and a wide range of events from World War II to celebrity appearances.
Making of America
This database consists of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology.
National Archives DocsTeach
This resource has thousands of primary source written documents, images, maps, charts, graphs, audio and video that spans the course of American history.
The National Museum of American History
contains several centuries of machines, photographs and other famous American objects. The museum offers some unique items from pop culture, such as Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard Of Oz. Many of their popular exhibitions are available online.
Primary Documents in American History
Sections and Topics Covered are:
◾1775-1815:
The American Revolution and the New Nation
◾1815-1860:
National Expansion and Reform
◾1860-1870:
Civil War and Reconstruction
US History
This website has many links to help educate the public about the Colonial and Revolutionary eras of our nation's history, and of Philadelphia generally.
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It also has free online text to:
US History
American Government
Ancient Civilizations
American Antiquarian Society
Founded in 1812 by Revolutionary War patriot and printer Isaiah Thomas, the American Antiquarian Society is both a learned society and a major independent research library. The AAS library today houses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States.
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It also holds manuscripts and a substantial collection of secondary texts, bibliographies, and digital resources and reference works related to all aspects of American history and culture before the twentieth century. AAS was presented with the 2013 National Humanities Medal by President Obama in a ceremony at the White House.

Primary Sources: World History

Avalon Project
The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. Coverage from ancient times through 21st century.
British Parliamentary Papers Online: Hansard 1803-2005
Digital access to the Commons and Lords Hansard, the Official Report of debates in Parliament.
Digital Public Library of America
The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums.
EuroDocs
Links connect to European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. There are also collections of video and audio files, maps, photographs or other imagery, databases, and other documentation.
European History Primary Sources
Portal that provides access to scholarly digital repositories and other portals dealing with all aspects of European history. Access to the major national digital libraries of Europe.
EyeWitness to History
Our ringside seat to history - from the Ancient World to the present. History through the eyes of those who lived it.
Fordham University Internet History Sourcebooks
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts for educational use.
Google Books
A comprehensive database of full-text books.
Google Cultural Institute
Access exhibits and collections from museums and archives all over the world.
HathiTrust Digital Library
Working with many research institution partners, HathiTrust digitally preserves collections from a variety of sources.
History Net
Explore World & US History, War & Military History, Civil War , also check out ‎Today in History - ‎Daily History Quiz - ‎Shocking Visualization of ... - ‎Ask Mr. History
OAIster
A part of WorldCat, search this database for digitized archival resources, such as books, articles, text, multimedia, datasets, and theses.
Papers of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom
Search for debates, statements, bills, and questions by the House of Lords from November 1995- present.
Project Gutenberg
Over 50,000 free ebooks covering a wide range of topics.
World Digital Library
The World Digital Library is a project of the U.S. Library of Congress. The WDL makes available, in multilingual format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures.

Streaming Media: Films on Demand

Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Films on Demand is a streaming video library offering access to over 12,000 titles covering a wide range of academic subjects. Content includes documentaries, lectures, instructional/curricular videos, and historical primary source videos.