A Primary Source is a item produced from the time you are researching. It can be a photograph, a letter, government documents, and much more. Looking at actual sources from a specific time helps to get the firsthand account of what was happening when it was happening.
General Primary Sources:
Multidisciplinary resources providing access to thousands of primary source documents, including archival collections, government documents, periodicals, newspapers, and video.
Archives of searchable historical primary source materials. Note: This content has moved to the History Commons platform, but still contains the Accessible Archives collections subscribed to by Rowan University.
Digital collection of historical documents from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
Collections cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.
Search across multiple GALE databases of primary sources.
American History Primary Sources
World, Government, and Law Primary Sources
Provides access to a broad range of previously classified U.S. federal records spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Includes sensitive documents from all the presidential libraries and numerous executive agencies.
Covers major international events from the Cold War to the Vietnam War and beyond.
Use these websites to find other primary sources:
Newspapers can be a great place to find primary sources, use one of the library's databases to search:
You can use Google! One of the best ways to do that is by using the Advanced Search option. This helps you choose specific websites or domains (.org, .gov, .edu) to find information better suited to your needs and look for primary source documentation.