LibGuides: National History Day 2021: Communication in History: Primary Sources

Suggested Websites for Primary Sources - World History Topics

Avalon Project
The Avalon Project, created by Yale University, "mounts digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government."
EuroDocs
Primary and secondary sources from every European Country dating back to to A.D.
EuroDocs: Intalian Renaissance
Section of EuroDocs containing resources from the Italian Renaissance.
Europeana Newspapers
Free access to historic newspapers from all over Europe from 1618 - 2016.
European Navigator
Digital collections of documents, oral histories, posters, scientific contributions, and much more. Content is in French, so use Google to translate pages.
Exploring the French Revolution
Browse or search images, maps, documents, and essays from the French Revolution.
Fordham International Sourcebook
Collection of resources and historical texts. Wide array of subjects from around the world. Searchable and browseable.
German History in Documents and Images
Comprehensive collection documenting German political, social, and cultural history from 1500 to present.
German Propaganda Archive
Nazi and East German materials from advertisements to speeches.
Global Gateway: World Culture and Resources
Includes a link to collaborative digital libraries as well as a link to individual digital collections of international interest. The Library of Congress developed this site.
The Labyrinth
Resources for Medieval Studies.
Perseus Collection
Greek, Roman, Arabic, and Renaissance primary sources.
Wilson Center Digital Archive: International History Declassified
From the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D. C. Access once-secret documents from governments and organizations all over the world.
WSU Propaganda Posters
Digital collection of posters from 1914 - 1996, with the bulk of the collection from WWI and WWII. Contains posters from around the world.

Primary sources are materials that contain firsthand evidence of events, usually recorded by someone who participated in, witnessed, or lived through the event.

The following are commonly considered primary sources:

Diaries, letters, personal papers, autobiographies
Photographs or original video tapes or television advertisements
Interviews and transcripts
Newspaper accounts
Government records
Historical records
Statutes, regulations, by-laws, case law and administrative rulings
Statistical data
Artistic or creative works (poems, paintings, sculpture, etc.)

Secondary sources are works that are not original primary sources, but documents which offer an analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of information gathered from primary sources. For example, books critiquing Shakespeare's plays or a product review are secondary sources.

The following are commonly considered secondary sources:

Biographies
Criticisms
Dissertations
Editorials and reviews
Journal/Magazine articles providing analysis, interpretation, or evaluation
Newspaper accounts that report various sources of information

Suggested Websites for Primary Sources - U.S. History Topics

American Journeys
American Journeys contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration. Students can view, search, print, or download more than 150 rare books, original manuscripts, and classic travel narratives from the library and archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
American Memory
The Library of Congress provides digitized access to primary sources focused on American history. American Memory includes free access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
Archives of Maryland Online
Provides access to over 471,000 historical documents that form the constitutional, legal, legislative, judicial, and administrative basis of Maryland's government.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
The Library of Congress provides access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages. The project is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
Colonial North American Project
Harvard University provides access to digitized images of all known archival and manuscript materials in the Harvard Library that relate to 17th and 18th century North America.
Digital Public Library of America
The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world.
Docs Teach
This website from the National Archives provides thousands of documents and images that are primary sources.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Collections on American History, including over 60,000 primary sources.
Immigration to the United States
Harvard University provides access to a web-based collection of historical materials from Harvard's libraries, archives, and museums that documents voluntary immigration to the United States from the signing of the Constitution to the onset of the Great Depression (1789 - 1930).
Maryland Historical Society
Browse through both Museum Department collections and the Special Collections Department of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library by subject or by medium. Here you will see paintings, photographs, manuscripts, decorative arts pieces, lithographs, and more.
National Museum of American History Collections
"The diverse collections of the National Museum of American History reflect a wide variety of subjects relating to the history of the United States as well as the history of science, medicine, and technology."
National Register of Historic Places
The National Registrar of Historic Places is part of the National Park Service. Its website provides authoritative information about many historical sites in the U.S.Explore the featured sites or search their database for information on a specific site.
NHD Youtube Channel
NHD has a Youtube channel with streaming videos about how to find and use historical sources for NHD projects.
NYPL Map Warper
Over 20,000 maps from around the world that can be browsed, searched, and downloaded.
Office of the Historian - Department of State
This website, developed by the U.S. State Department's Office of the Historian, contains key issues in the history of U.S. foreign policy.
Our Documents Initiative
Access one hundred milestone documents in American history that have been digitized by NARA. These documents chronicle the history of the U.S. from 1776 to 1965.
Smithsonian Source
The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies and teachers around the country put together collections of primary sources to help learn about different American topics.
State Digital Resources
The Library of Congress provides access to digitized sources, often primary, from state history initiatives.
[**TOP CHOICE**] Library of Congress Digital Collections
Library of Congress, in addition to American Memory, has digitized collections focused on American history.
[**TOP CHOICE**] National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Get access to many primary resources online, or work with an archivist to access american government documents.