A GUIDE FOR ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCE

DOCUMENTS

What are they?

Primary sources are original documents and objects that provide first-hand accounts of events that happened in the past. These sources, accounts or interpretations of events are usually by someone that has direct personal knowledge of the event.

From the Our Documents Initiative:http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=9

Why use primary sources?

• They provide the opportunity to look into the past and gain an understanding about what took place according to the people who lived it.

• They provide the opportunity for students to develop higher-order thinking, better critical thinking and analysis skills.

• They provide the opportunity for students to make connections between their knowledge and experiences.

Where do I find primary source documents?

Click on the links below to begin your search.

• Library of Congress American Memory Project• American Treasures of the Library of Congress• United States Historical Documents ( Univ. of Oklahoma)• Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library• Documenting the American South• Learn NC

Remember: A primary source could also be your diary, journal, or a photograph of you!

What are they?

Secondary sources are not original sources or documents. They were created later by someone who did not experience an account first-hand. The information has been reported, analyzed, or interpreted by some one else.Look for sources that were most recently published .

PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES

Diaries Encyclopedias

Autobiographies Biographies

Maps Textbooks

Photographs Public television documentary

Artwork Editorials

Audio Clips Magazine articles

Journals Journal (which reviews/interprets previous findings)

Newspapers

Oral histories

Letters

ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS

Taking a Closer Look at Primary Source Documents

1.Identify the source.

•Is it a newspaper, a letter, a diary, a photograph, etc.?•Who created the source? •When and where was the source created?

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2. Contextualize the source.

• What was going on during the place and time this source was created?

• How does the person who created the document fit into the historical context?

• Who is the intended audience?

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3. Explore the source.

• Is the factual information correct?• Does the source contain one person’s opinion? • What inferences do you need to make about meanings that

are not “spelled out”?• What do you find interesting or surprising about the source?• What parts are unclear to me?

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4. Analyze the source.

• What is the author’s tone? Did he/she use humor, sarcasm, guilt, logical arguments, etc.?

• Does the content agree with what you know or have learned about the source or issue?

• Are the ideas and perspectives portrayed by this source accepted by others or would others disagree with this account?

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5. Evaluate the source.

• Are there other sources you have read like this one or is the account in this source dramatically different?

• Consider the reasons why this source may be different from other sources.

• How does this source compare to what your textbook says or what other historians have written?

• Based on the evidence you have looked at from thissource, what do you believe to be credible or true?

• What am I still wondering about concerning this source?

• Are there any gaps in my understanding of the source?

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TYPES OF PRIMARY SOURCES

PUBLISHED DOCUMENTS:

Some primary sources are published documents that were created for large audiences and were widely distributed. These include books, magazines, newspapers, government documents, non-government reports, literature of all kinds, advertisements, maps, pamphlets, posters, laws, and court decisions.

Advertising Ephemera Collection – Database #A0294Emergence of Advertising in America On-line projectJohn W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing HistoryDuke University Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collection Library, 2000. Part of American memory at the Library of Congress.http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/ephemera/A02/A0294/A0294-72dpi.html

UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS

Unpublished documents that have been saved can be used as primary sources. These include personal letters, diaries, journals, wills, deeds, documents containing family histories, school report cards and other sources. Unpublished documents can sometimes be difficult to find because only one or a few copies may exist. Remember: unpublished documents most of the time were not intended to be read or seen by the public; that is why they can provide a very interesting glimpse into the past.

Selected Civil War Photographs , 1861-1865 – Database #cwp 4a40920Library of Congress Manuscripts Division Washington, D.C. 20540, March 2, 1865

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwar:@field(NUMBER%2B@band(cwp%2B4a40920)):displayType=1:m856sd=cwp:m856sf=4a40920

Letter from Matthew Brady to President Abraham Lincoln, asking Lincoln to sit for a photograph.

ORAL HISTORIES:

Oral histories provide information about the past from people with first-hand knowledge of historical events.Before people learned to write, information was passed down from generations through the spoken word. Examples of oral histories can be found in interviews and recordings.

For additional information on oral histories, visit the website below: http://www.ncwiseowl.org/ss/oralhistory

Click on the link below to hear an excerpt of an oral history interview on February 19, 1999.A White Teacher, William Culp at West Charlotte High School recalls a harmonious racial atmosphere at West Charlotte High School during his short time there in the 1970s.

Interviewee: William Culp    Interviewer: Pamela Grundy

http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/K-0277/excerpts/excerpt_576.html#citing

Oral History Interview with William Culp, February 19, 1999. Interview K-0277. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

VISUAL DOCUMENTS and ARTIFACTS:

Visual documents are those that include photographs, films, paintings, illustrations and other types of artwork. Visual documents capture “moments in time” and can provide evidence of changes over time. A visual document has a creator with a point of view that must be considered as it is examined.

Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection – Database #ppmsca-05618Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540Photographer: Dorothea Lange, July 1939http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@1(ppmsca+05618))

REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING WHEN ANALYZING

PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENTS

• Just because something was published does not make it truthful, accurate or reliable.

• Every document has a creator and that creator has a point of view which may or may not be biased.

• Primary sources help to piece together the past and it is much more interesting to learn about the past first-hand, rather than depending on the perspectives of others.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Walbert, K (2004). Reading primary sources: an in. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from Learn NC Web site: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/745

(2006). Historical treasure chests. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education Web site http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/treasure/index.html

(September 26, 2002). The learning page: using primary sources in the classroom. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from Library of Congress Web site: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/primary.html

(August 23, 2006). What are primary sources?. Retrieved April 23, 2009, from University of Illinois Library Web site: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/village/primarysource/mod1/pg2.htm