Library Homepage: Dr. Rebecca Bates History 200 Fall 2023: Primary Sources

Primary Sources Collections

American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Firsthand descriptions of historical characters and events, glimpses of daily life in the army, anecdotes about key events and personages, accounts of sufferings at home, a rich battles database, and others
American Memory Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience

Appalachian Center Artifacts Collections
The Berea College Appalachian Center has a unique collection of Appalachian and Berea College artifacts available to support courses and research.
Berea College - Primary Sources
Selected primary sources for researching Berea College history.

Berea Digital Archives This link opens in a new window
Explore our digital collections documenting Berea College and the Southern Appalachian Region.
Digital Library of Appalachia This link opens in a new window
The Digital Library of Appalachia provides online access to archival and historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian region. The contents of the DLA are drawn from special collections of Appalachian College Association member libraries.
Early American Imprints, Series 1: Evans, 1639-1800 This link opens in a new window
Searchable monographs, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents and ephemera enable researchers to explore America's distant and not so distant past. Available here: Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800.
Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
This collection documents the relationships among peoples in North America from 1534 to 1850 focusing on personal accounts, and provides unique perspectives from traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials, both men and women. It also includes nearly 1,000 prints, drawings, paintings, maps, bibliographies, letters, photographs, and original facsimile pages. (from Alexander Street Press website)
European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 This link opens in a new window
This new bibliographic database is a valuable index for libraries, scholars and individuals interested in European works that relate to the Americas. EBSCO Publishing, in cooperation with the John Carter Brown Library, has created this resource from “European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed In Europe Relating to The Americas, 1493-1750,” the authoritative bibliography that is well-known and respected by scholars worldwide. The database contains more than 32,000 entries and is a comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750.
Kentucky Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The Kentuckiana Digital Library is your gateway to rare and unique digitized collections housed in Kentucky archives. These digital collections are built to enhance scholarship, research and lifelong learning. Search over 550,000 digital images including historic newspapers, photographs, rare Kentuckiana imprints, Sanborn maps, and historic issues of the Daily Racing Form.
Mountain People: Life & Culture of Appalachia (1700-1950) This link opens in a new window
This collection consists of the diaries, journals, and narratives of explorers, emigrants, military men, Native Americans, and travelers. In addition, there are accounts on the development of farming and mining communities, family histories, and folklore. Timeframe: 1700 - 1950 (website)
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Archive 1: British Politics and Society This link opens in a new window
"Including papers of British statesmen, Home Office records, ordnance surveys, working class autobiographies, and other unique collections, British Politics and Society is a remarkable resource for scholars looking to explore the political and social history of Britain. Source libraries are the British Library, Oxford University, and The National Archives, Kew. British Politics and Society enables researchers to explore such topics as British domestic and foreign policy, trade unions, Chartism, utopian socialism, public protest, radical movements, the cartographic record, political reform, education, family relationships, religion, leisure and many others. With this archive scholars have instant access to a range of never-before-available primary sources, including manuscripts, maps, drawings, newspapers, periodicals, government correspondence, letters, diaries, photographs, poster, pamphlets and more." (publisher's webiste)
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Archive 2: Asia & West: Diplomacy & Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
"Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange features primary source collections related to international relations between Asian countries and the West during the 19th century. These invaluable documents--many never before available--include government reports, diplomatic correspondences, periodicals, newspapers, treaties, trade agreements, NGO papers, and more. Documents are sourced from the National Archives, Kew; The National Archives, United States; and other collections. This unmatched resource allows scholars to explore in great detail the history of British and U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy; Asian political, economic, and social affairs; the Philippine Insurrection; the Opium Wars; the Boxer Rebellion; missionary activity in Asia; and many other topics. Asia and the West also includes personal letters and diaries, offering first-hand accounts and revealing the human side of international politics, as well as nautical charts, maps, shipping ledgers, company records, and expedition and survey reports for more than a century of world history." (publisher's website)
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Archive 3: British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture This link opens in a new window
"British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture features a wide range of primary sources related to the arts in the long nineteenth century, from playbills and scripts to operas and complete scores. These rare documents, many of them never before available, are sourced from the British Library and other institutions. Curation is by experts in British arts history. Covering more than a century, and encompassing both the Georgian and Victorian theatre, British Theatre, Music, and Literature is without equal as a resource. The collection provides a detailed look at the state of the British art world and includes manuscripts and musical compositions as well as documents such as personal letters, annotated programs, meeting minutes, and financial records. It offers scholars an unmatched glimpse into the inner workings of the world of the arts in Britain." (publisher's website)
Nineteenth Century Collections Online Archive 4: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection This link opens in a new window
"European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes the full-text of more than 9,500 English, French and German titles. The collection is sourced from the remarkable library of Victor Amadeus, whose Castle Corvey collection was one of the most spectacular discoveries of the late 1970s. The Corvey Collection comprises one of the most important archives of Romantic era writing in existence anywhere--including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry and more--with a focus on especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known, historically neglected writers. As a resource for Romantic literature and historical studies, the Corvey Collection is unmatched. It provides a wealth of fully searchable content with digital research tools that enable scholars to uncover new relationships among authors and works. The inclusion of texts from neglected writers further provides scholars with new topics for exploration. With the European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection, scholars can research a range of topics, including Romantic literary genres; the mutual influences of British, French and German Romanticism; literary culture; women writers; the canon; Romantic aesthetics; and many other subjects." (publisher's website)
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Drawn from more than 1,000 sources, this collection of writings contains 1,500 American and Canadian women’s diaries and correspondence. Spanning more than 300 years , the 150,000 pages of materials provide a detailed record of what women wore, what they ate, what they read, the conditions under which they worked, and how they amused themselves. We can explore their relationships with lovers and with family and friends. from Alexander Street Press website)
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
This resource is designed as an important portal for slavery and abolition studies, bringing together documents and collections covering an extensive time period 1490-2007, from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. Close attention is being given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today. (publisher's website)

Primary Source Examples

Diaries or journals (published or unpublished)
Letters, correspondence or other personal communications
Public documents such as deeds, marriages license or certificates
Newspapers and weekly newsmagazines (offering contemporaneous reporting of events)
Radio and television transcripts and wire reports
Speeches in print or audio formats
Court cases
Legislative reports, bills and laws
Census data
Government Documents
Maps
Art works such as paintings, prints or photographs
Artifacts or specimens
Interviews or oral histories
Works of literature such as fiction, poetry or drama
Statistics including opinion polls
Sacred Scriptures

Using the Catalog to Find Primary Sources

Primary source materials are part of the Hutchins Library collection of books, journals, magazines and databases. However, primary sources are seldom labeled as primary sources – this type of material must be combed out of the collection at large. This task is not always easy and can be time-consuming.

The Hutchins Libary catalog can facilitate the discovery of certain kinds of primary source material. Simply incorporate terms like as “papers,” “documents,” “sources,” “letters” or “personal narratives” into the catalog keyword and subject searches. An author search can sometimes produce primary sources as well (i.e. books written by the historical figure in question.) However, using the library catalog to effectively locate primary source materials may require a librarian’s assistance and expertise.

Possible KEYWORD searches

Slavery personal narratives
Vietnam interviews
Jefferson letters

Possible SUBJECT HEADING searches

Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975--Personal narratives
Coal miners--Virginia, Southwest--Interviews.
Speeches, addresses, etc., American

Possible AUTHOR searches

King, Martin Luther
Fee, John G.
Carter, Jimmy

Primary Document Websites

American Memory Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience

Smithsonian Institute
According to the Smithsonian,this site allows the user to "search over 7.4 million records with 568,100 images, video and sound files, electronic journals and other resources from the Smithsonian's museums, archives & libraries."
Harvard Open Collections Program
Harvard sponsors this open source of primary documents collections
Islamic Heritage Project,
Expeditions and Discoveries,
Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics,
Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930
Women Working, 1800–1930
John Rylands University Image Collections
This is a large collection of image from the University of Manchester’s special collections. Spanning five millennia, the manuscript collections include literary, historical, antiquarian, genealogical, biblical, devotional, ritualistic, medical, scientific, legal and administrative texts in numerous languages.

Internet History Sourcebooks Project This link opens in a new window
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.