1. Primary and Secondary Sources
Notes and Examples

2. Primary Sources
primary source- a document or object which was written or created during the time a particular event occurred
provides an inside or firsthand view of a particular event or time period
typically only includes one point-of-view
often rare, one-of-a-kind

3. What are primary sources?
Original records from the past recorded by people who were:
Involved in the event
Witnessed the event, OR
Knew the persons involved in the event
They can also be objects (artifacts) or visual evidence.
They give you an idea about what people alive at the time saw or thought about the event.

4. Examples of Primary Sources
Diaries / Letters / Journals
Speeches / Interviews
Audio and Video Recordings
Photographs
Original literary or theatrical works
Original advertisements
Magazine and Newspaper Articles (as long as they are written soon after the fact)
Personal Records/
Gov’t records
Visual Images
Paintings, drawings, sculpture
photographs, film, maps

5. What are primary sources?
Keep in mind that a primary source reflects only one point of view and may contain a person’s bias (prejudice) toward an event.
This poster was produced by the U.S. Farm Security Administration

6. Examples of primary sources
Oral Histories:
Memoirs, myths, legends passed down by word of mouth
Songs and Poems
Artifacts:
Tools, ornaments, objects
Autobiography
Furniture
Clothing

7. Secondary Sources
secondary source- source that was created after an event or time period and interprets or analyzes primary sources
can (but not always) provide a more fair account of the event because it can include more than one point of view, or may include information that was unavailable at the time of the event
usually has many copies

8. What are secondary sources?
Although they can be useful and reliable, they cannot reflect what people who lived at the time thought or felt about the event.
They can represent a more fair account of the event because they can include more than one point of view, or may include information that was unavailable at the time of the event.

9. Examples of secondary sources:
Textbooks
Biographies
Charts
Histories
Newspaper report by someone who was not present
Encyclopedias

10. Determining the Type of Source
look for dates, materials used, and other clues to help determine whether the source is primary or secondary
some sources, such as magazine articles, paintings, poems, etc., can be either primary or secondary sources depending on when they were created
primary source- a magazine article that reports the details of a recent event
secondary source- a magazine article written long after an event that uses a variety of sources to analyze/interpret the event

11. Primary or Secondary?
You decide!

12. Washington Crossing the Delaware
Artist- Emanuel Leutze, 1851

14. The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

15. Mount Rushmore, 1941

16. Australopithecus Skeleton “Lucy”
discovered in 1974
estimated age- 3.2 million years

18. Plane Wreckage from 9/11/01 Attacks
Found wedged between two buildings in April 2013