Research Guides: Telling OUR Stories: An Oral History and Design Thinking Project: Primary Sources

Primary Sources in the Library

A primary source is a document or other sort of evidence written or created during the time under study, or by one of the persons or organizations directly involved in the event. Primary sources offer an inside view of a particular event. Some types are:

Original Documents (excerpts or translations acceptable)

Diaries
Speeches
Letters
Interviews
News film footage
Autobiographies

Creative Works

Drama
Novels
Music
Art
Films

Relics or Artifacts

Jewelry
Pottery
Furniture
Clothing

This excellent video succinctly explains the difference between primary and secondary sources. Complete with examples and tips on how to locate primary resources in the library.

Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window • "We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death:" Freedom Riders in the South, 1961• African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress, 1933-1947• Black Economic Empowerment: The National Negro Business League• Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle• Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)• Bush Presidency and Development and Debate Over Civil Rights Policy and Legislation• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930• Chinese Maritime Customs Service: The Customs’ Gazette, 1869-1913• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies to League of Nations Mandates in Africa 1910-1929• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Political and Economic Consolidation of Portuguese Colonies in Africa, 1910-1929• FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC• Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activitist, Political Activist, and Woman• Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984• Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress• Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945• Grassroots Civil Rights & Social Activism: FBI Files on Benjamin J. Davis, Jr• Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party• Integration of Alabama Schools and the U.S. Military, 1963• James Meredith, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Integration of the University of Mississippi• Liberation Movement in Africa and African America• Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1864-1918• Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1918-1935• The Minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1854-1943• Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement• Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945• Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union, 1965-1979• Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement• Rastafari Ephemeral Publications from the Written Rastafari Archives Project• Shanghai Municipal Council: The Municipal Gazette, 1908-1940• Republic of New Afrika• SUR, 1931-1992• Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party: Papers of James and Esther Cooper Jackson
History Vault This link opens in a new window Digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and other primary source materials.• American Indians and the American West• American Politics and Society • Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle• International Relations and Military Conflicts• Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War• Women's Studies • Workers and Labor Unions
ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window
Publications created by the United States Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws.
Quick Start Guide: http://proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/login?url=http://proquest.libguides.com/quick_start_legislative_insight
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Historical access to the following newspapers: Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Daily World, The Baltimore Afro-American, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Defender, The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland Call & Post, The Commercial Appeal, Detroit Free Press, The Globe and Mail, Hartford Courant, The Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Advocate, The Jewish Exponent, Korea Times, Knoxville News Sentinel, Leftist Newspapers, Los Angeles Sentinel, Los Angeles Times, Louisville Courier Journal, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, The New York Times, New York Tribune, Norfolk Journal & Guide, The Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier, San Francisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Tennessean, The Times of India, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.