1. Primary and Secondary Sources Adapted from the work of Carol Warren
Interpreting Primary Sources using a Geographic Lens Workshop 2017

2. Primary Sources What is a primary source?
First-hand or eye-witness accounts or materials created at the time of an event (e.g., autobiographies, diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, sketches, maps, newspaper stories, census records, research data, artifacts)
How often are these used in classrooms?

3. Secondary Sources What is a secondary source?
A source that contains information others have gathered and interpreted: indirect or second-hand information (e.g., encyclopedia articles, websites, documentaries, biographies, textbooks, journal articles)
How often are these used in classrooms?

4. Primary Sources in the SS Standard K-3
Use primary sources (e.g., photos, artifacts) to study people and events. (K)
Use primary sources (e.g., photos, artifacts, maps) to study people and events. (1st)
Use primary sources (e.g., photos, artifacts, interviews, documents, maps) and secondary sources (e.g., encyclopedias, biographies) to study people and events. (2nd -3rd)

5. Primary Sources in the SS Standard 4-6
Describe the difference between primary and secondary sources.(4th -6th)
Locate information using both primary and secondary sources.(4th -6th)
Determine the credibility and bias of primary and secondary sources. (6th)

6. Primary Sources in the SS Standard 7-8
Describe the relationship between a primary and secondary source document. (7th)
Describe the difference between a primary and secondary source and the relationship between them. (8th)
Determine the credibility and bias of primary and secondary sources. (7th-8th)

7. Primary Sources in the SS Standard High School
Evaluate primary and secondary sources for:
authors’ main points
purpose and perspective
facts vs. opinions
different points of view on the same historical event (e.g., Geography Concept 6 – geographical perspective can be different from economic perspective)
credibility and validity

8. Examples of Primary Sources
Diary
Dawes Act

9. Rock Art Archaic or Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi)– Grand Canyon
Fremont Culture-
Great Basin

10. Artifacts
Roman coin
Mississippian pottery – 1000 years old

11. Historical Maps John Smith’s map of Chesapeake Bay - 1607
Father Kino’s map of New Mexico

12. Historical Photos

13. Native American Resources
Oral traditions
Historical maps
Government documents
Historical photos
Tribal records

14. Tribal Records Winter counts of the Great Plains tribes
Pictographs painted on hide, cloth, paper
Tribes of the Great Plains used winter counts: pictographs painted on hide, cloth, or paper, to record their history. Tribal leaders would chose the most memorable event of a year to add to the hide and thereby a history of the tribe would be recounted. A winter count keeper would use the pictograph to remember and retell the events marked in each year.
18. The Smithsonian National Anthropological Archives has produced an on-line exhibition of nearly a thousand Lakota winter counts pictographs dating from the 1700s. This site offers extensive historical information; some are based on winter count pictographs about the Lakota’s homelands and culture. They also have lessons for grades K-8.

15. Where to find primary sources
Library of Congress website
The National Archives
Smithsonian Museum Education website
National Museum of Natural History, National Anthropological Archives
National Parks and Monuments websites
Local, state, national, international museums websites
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas
University of Georgia Hargrett Rare Book And Manuscript Library Rare Map Collection