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Finding Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are sources that tell you what people said, thought and felt at different moments in history. Primary sources can include:

  • Works of literature, such as novels, short stories, poems, plays or essays
  • Personal writing, such as diaries and letters
  • News and current events, such as newspaper articles, magazine articles, and social media posts
  • Art and media, such as films, TV shows, music, photographs, or works of art
  • Government and political documents, such as government records, legislation, court documents, speeches, and political writing

You can find many primary sources online, often in big digital collections that include many different primary sources from many different eras. 

Primary Source Collections

News & Newspapers