Primary sources enable researchers to get as close as possible to what actually happened during a historical event or time period. Primary sources are documents, images or artifacts that provide firsthand testimony concerning a historical topic under research investigation. Primary sources are original documents created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched.
Examples of Primary Sources:
- Personal journals and autobiographies
- Interviews
- Speeches
- Laws and statutes
- Photographs
- Novels
- Music
- Films and documentaries
- Newspaper articles
