WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT?  First person accounts recorded at the time of the event  The source can be any of the following:  Diaries  Family documents (wills)  Letters  Photographs and other images  Movie clips  Newspaper articles  Speeches  Poems  Interviews – on paper and audio recordings  And more…

DOES THE PRIMARY SOURCE HAVE TO BE THE ORIGINAL?  No. It can be presented in another format, but it cannot be edited or changed in any way. For example:  The Gettysburg Address can be found in many places, but it is still considered a primary source.  The speech President Ronald Reagan gave when the Challenger exploded is a primary source, but again it can be retyped as long as it is transcribed word for word.  A photograph of a painting and not the actual painting

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN LOOKING AT A PRIMARY SOURCE:  Who wrote this?  When was it written?  Why was it written?  Who was it written for? Who was the audience?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? ARE THESE PRIMARY SOURCES? 1. A newspaper article about the Civil War dated A box of letters written by a soldier from World War II 3. A story in the Orlando Sentinel about the Seminole Indians 4. My grandmother’s birth certificate 5. A story written by a classmate about George Washington 6. A poster that shows when Barack Obama came to campaign in Orlando 7. An original painting by Michelangelo 8. A recording of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech I Have a Dream 9. An essay about what was found in Abraham Lincoln’s pocket the night he died