History and Humanities

What is a Primary Source?

A primary source is a first hand testimony, document, speech or other evidence that gives insight into a particular person or an event.

They are often created during the time period which is being studied but can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants.

Primary sources are available in their original format in libraries, museums, archives, and are also reproduced online in library databases, books, and on university, government, and museum websites.

Common examples of primary sources: 

• Original Documents: Autobiographies, memoirs, oral histories, diaries, interviews, correspondence (letters, emails, tweets, etc.), meeting minutes, film footage, official records, photographs, raw research data, speeches, newspapers, and government documents (laws, policies, court testimonies, etc.).

• Creative Original Works: Art (paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc.), drama (plays, scripts, etc.), music, and non-fiction works like films, novels, and poetry.

• Relics or Artifacts: Buildings, clothing, DNA, furniture, jewelry, pottery.

Image Attributions (in order of appearance)

"Film" (Links to an external site.) by John is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"Newspapers (Links to an external site.)" by Lindsey Turner is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"Diary (Links to an external site.)" by Barnaby Dorfman is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"Italian painting still life with flowers from the early 20th century (Links to an external site.)" by Umberto Avico is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"Movie Night (Links to an external site.)" by sgrace is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"Music (Links to an external site.)" by Jesse Kruger is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"building (Links to an external site.)" by George Lezenby is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"DNA (Links to an external site.)" by AJC1 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (Links to an external site.)

"hopi_tewa_bowl_signed_6D3937 (Links to an external site.)" by Steve Miller is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

What is a Secondary Source

Secondary sources interpret historical events by examining primary sources and sometimes other secondary sources, such as books and journal articles.

Common examples of secondary sources include:

• Non-fiction books
• Magazine articles
• Scholarly articles that interpret original data (the raw data would be a primary source)
• Blog or website posts describing or interpreting an event or person

For example, read this post about women's fashion at Vassar College called "Vassar Fashion. (Links to an external site.)" The article is a secondary source, while the photograph below is a primary source.

Attributions

Image: "Vassar women’s 1890s hiking attire." Retrieved from "Vassar Fashion (Links to an external site.)" by Peter Bronski in Vassar: The Alumnae/i Quarterly, Winter 2011 edition. 

In-person

Museums & Archives

Did you know that when you visit museums you are almost always looking at primary sources in-person?! For example, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, houses art and artifacts which you can visit in-person (Links to an external site.) at the museum, or see reproduced online (Links to an external site.).

Archives are similar to museums in that they collect primary source materials, but they are often specific to a government institution (like a city or state archive) or university. Many archives reproduce their collections digitally and post them online. For example, the Internet Archive (Links to an external site.) is an online archive of websites, movies, books, and more that can be accessed online.

Libraries

Primary sources can also be reproduced in sources like books and DVDs, which can be found at public and college libraries. To find primary sources at the LACC Library, first access our the LACC catalogLinks to an external site. on the library web page and use search terms like:

• Autobiography
• Letters
• Diary
• Speech

For example, the book The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank is a primary source. This first-hand account of a young Jewish girl's experience during the Holocaust. 

Library Databases with Primary Sources

• US History (Gale in Context):Links to an external site. This database covers a wide array of U.S. history topics. When searching, look for sources and documents that fall under the "Primary Sources" category.
  • An example might be the text for a "Speech for Suffrage" given by women's suffrage leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1868 (a primary source) in U.S. History in Context.
• World History (Gale in Context):Links to an external site. This database covers a wide array of world history topics. When searching, look for sources and documents that fall under the "Primary Sources" category.
• Films on DemandLinks to an external site. . Database.
  • For example, footage of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech which is a primary source that can be found on Films on Demand..
• Los Angeles Times (From 1985 to Date)Links to an external site.
• Los Angeles Times Historical (1818 to 2015)Links to an external site.
• Primary Search EBSCO Links to an external site.
• Opposing Viewpoints: look for the Primary Source filter
• JSTOR ART CollectionsLinks to an external site.

Open Web Sources

• Digital Public Library of America (Links to an external site.): Many libraries and museums house primary sources. This website will search digital repositories of open-access content!
• Primary Source Sets (DPLA) (Links to an external site.): Primary source collections exploring topics in history, literature, and culture developed by educators — complete with teaching guides for class use.
• Calisphere (Links to an external site.): Historical image, text, and sound collections available online from libraries, museums, and archives across California.
• California Digital Newspaper Collection (Links to an external site.): The California Digital Newspaper Collection contains over 1,500,000 pages of significant historical California newspapers published from 1846-present.
• Internet Archive (Links to an external site.): A non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
• Online Archive of California (Links to an external site.): Free public access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections maintained by more than 200 contributing institutions including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California and collections maintained by the 10 University of California (UC) campuses.
• Many museums and archives host their collections digitally at their websites. For example, if you can't make it to the Getty in-person, you can view their collections virtually (Links to an external site.).

You can always start with OneSearch: It searches all 120 databases that LACC has:

OneSearch:

Here is a simple search in OneSearch using Los Angeles AND Local History. Then just use the filters and Limiters on the left hand side to narrow or expand your results. I used the Scholarly Articles filter in the example below.

OneSearch: Los Angeles AND Local History

More Databases for Secondary Sources:

• Academic Search Complete

• Opposing Viewpoints

• Jstor