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HIST 1302:U.S. History from 1865 Research Guide

Locating Primary Sources

Be advised that primary source research is different from other forms of research. It can often be more time consuming due to several factors: 

  • There is no single repository of primary sources

  • There is often limited metadata describing primary sources which means you will have to utilize terminology from the time period to locate relevant sources. This means you must determine the terminology from the time period before or during the search process. 

  • Locally held primary source collections at A&M -San Antonio University Library (that have not been digitized) are located offsite downtown in the Bexar County Archives Building. If you would like to use these materials, you will need to make an appointment and view the documents downtown (see the Research Centers tab above for more info). At your appointment you may then have to sift through numerous boxes/folders until you find the ones relevant to your topic/information need. Several other archives in town have collections as well. Check out the Research Center tab above for more info.

Steps in Tracking Down Primary Sources

Identify your subject. Read basic background information. Examples include encyclopedia articles, introductory books, museum Web sites.

Try to answer the following questions:

  • Who: names of significant people, movements, or organizations

  • When: beginning and ending dates for individuals or events

  • Where: watch for place name changes in the past

  • What: Significance of subject can affect how many records from the past still exist

  • More info: watch for further references or citations to find additional information

For example, if the topic is "experience of Union soldiers in the US Civil War" you might have the following answers:

  • Who: President Lincoln, General Grant, General Sherman, Grand Army of the Republic (veterans' organization)

  • When: 1861-1865 are the dates of the war itself. Soldiers might have served more or less time.

  • Where: United States; Battle of Gettysburg; Sherman's March to the Sea; prisoner of war camp

  • What: the Civil War soldiers suffered a huge mortality and injury rate, and witnessed terrible carnage 

  • More info: Trudeau, Noah Andre. 1998. Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865. Edison, NJ: Castle Books. 

Notice that by the end of the list of examples, the topic is narrowed to the experiences of African American soldiers. Background information can guide you to a more focused topic

Search for background information using the resources below:

Think about the types of records or documents that would have been created at the time period surrounding events and issues related to your topic. These are the sort of things you'll have to look for.

Here are some guiding questions (primary sources appear in parentheses): 

  • What was life/society like at the time?  (magazines, chronicles, newspapers, artworks)
  • What were the experience, beliefs, or priorities of relevant individuals / groups / organizations at the time? (autobiographies, interviews, diaries, letters, advertisements, manifestos)
  • What was the government attitude? What was the government of the day saying? (proclamations, monuments, records of debates, legislation, law codes)
  • How many people were involved in or affected by this issue / event? (statistics, official records, estimates based on material culture or remains)
  • What were people being told, what did they communicate? (newspapers, artworks, photographs, letters, secret communications)
  • What did things look like? (artwork, photographs, guide books for tourists, illustrations, postcards)

Make yourself a list of keywords you can use to search for primary sources. When searching for historical newspaper articles, make sure you are searching with words that were apart of the common language at the time  i.e.The Great War instead of World War One.   Also, try variations on spelling.

In addition to describing your topic, your keywords should include special names for primary source materials.

Keywords that name and help find primary sources include: sources, documentary history, personal narratives, autobiographies, memoirs, eyewitness, correspondence, letters, diaries, advertising, newspapers, maps, artifacts, archives

Here's an example of how you can use the keywords together to search the University library catalog:

This image shows the Advanced Keyword Search box of the library catalog.  Three groups of keywords are entered. They are diaries or personal narratives or memoirs, civil war, united states. The special operator word AND joins the three groups of keywords.

 

You can find primary sources in archives and special collections, but you can also find digitized materials freely available online.

The Primary Source tab contains links to several collections that contain digitized primary sources on a variety of topics related to U.S. History.

These tabs just provide a sample of the primary sources that are available to you. You can find additional digital collections on a variety of subjects online by conducting a Google search. If you do use a collection that doesn't live on this guide, just make sure its coming from a credible source.

Keep in mind a lot of items have not been digitized in archives and special collections. If you are trying to track down primary source items that pertain to local or state history, check out the Research Centers and Archives tab above. Listed are various archives in the areas with their collection strengths. You will have to physically visit these archives in order to view the document if the item you are looking for has not been digitized. You will need to make an appointment to do so.

 

Attribution

This page contains content adapted from Loyola Marymount University William H. Hannon Library's Primary Source research guide.