A primary source is a firsthand account of an historical event created by someone who witnessed or participated in the event when it occurred.

A secondary source is a work of research that interprets or analyzes an historical event based upon other sources. Usually contains a bibliography.

To find primary sources such as published memoirs, collections of letters, autobiographies, oral histories, consult The Bridge and WorldCat.

When searching for primary sources, use the following subheadings: correspondence, diaries, personal narratives, interviews, case studies.

Other useful keywords to apply to your search: document*, memoir*, autobiograph*, diary,
letter*, speech*, account*.

American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900
New York Times, 1851-2003
Civil War Era Newspapers (Pennsylvania), 1847-1874
Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, 1860-1865
Early American Newspapers Digital, 1690-1900
HarpWeek, The Civil War Era, 1857-1865
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature [R.R. AI3.R48], 1890-Present

Primary Sources on the Web

American Memory: Library of Congress
American Radicalism Collection
EuroDocs:Online Sources for European History
Historical Text Archive
History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web
Internet Sacred Text Archive
Making of America
National Archive: Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
Documenting the American South
Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
The Whole World Was Watching: An Oral History of 1968
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Voices of Civil Rights
"With an Even Hand": Brown v. Board at Fifty

Regional Archives

Northfield Historical Society
Rice County Historical Society
Minnesota Historical Society
Immigration History Research Center
Social Welfare History Archives

Citation Sources

KnightCite
Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper