Definitions
What makes a source primary?
In theory, primary sources are original documents and objects which were created at the time being studied. Typical examples include letters, diaries, photos, newspaper articles, eyewitness accounts, autobiographies, government reports, paintings, maps, etc. In actuality, it can be more complicated and can depend on format and the topic/time period and discipline.
Useful Tips
Browse footnotes and bibliographies of books, encyclopedias, and articles for information about primary sources.
Archival Primary Sources (2)
Kroch Rare and Manuscript Collections
The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) is Cornell's principal repository of rare books, manuscripts, and archival materials in history, literature, music, the arts, science, natural history, and technology). These RMC collections can be searched for using the Library Catalog. Some collections have finding aids. Visit or email RMC to discuss your research interests with archivists who typically have extensive familiarity with the collections.
Published guides to collections, archives, and libraries help identify and locate manuscripts. Print and online examples are listed below.
Use the Library Catalog to identify archival collections at Cornell RMC.
Use Worldcat or ArchiveGrid to identify archival materials or guides to archives Cornell does not own.
A technique for browsing before you go to RMC:
- Search the Library Catalog with a term or two related to your topic.
- Select either the "Manuscript/Archive" format type or set the "Kroch Library Rare and Manuscripts" as the library location using the "Limit your Results" facets which appear on the left of your search results.
Online Collections
Additional Primary Source Online Collections
- HistoryMakersSpectacular and unique source of online video oral history interviews dedicated to preserving African American history. Easy to use and to search.
- The Sixties: primary documents and personal narratives 1960-1974Diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary. The database covers subjects in arts, music, and leisure, civil rights, counter-culture, law and government, mass media, new left and emerging neo-conservative movement, student activism, Vietnam War, women's movement, etc.
- Meet the Press.Alexander Street Press.
"...over 1,500 hours of footage--the full surviving broadcast run from 1947 to present day--available online in one cross-searchable interface. Network television's longest running program--with its thousands of interviews, panels, and debates--is available via streaming online video." [home page] For more streaming video of television news including the commercials, see Television News Archive, below. - Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975: Rock and Roll, Counterculture, Peace and Protest.Adam Matthew Digital.
"Topics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, and the Vietnam War. The collection includes pamphlets, letters, government files, eye witness accounts, underground magazines, visual and video materials and ephemera and memorabilia. Part II contains additional material, such as music, press kits, mail order catalogues, advertising proofs, additional photos from the Mirrorpix archives, and documents on student unrest and the Troubles in Northern Ireland." [home page] - Women and social movements in the United States, 1600-2000Includes 102 document projects and archives with more than 4,050 documents, and 145,000 pages of additional full-text documents, written by some 2,200 primary authors. It includes book, film and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.
- North American women's letters and diaries : Colonial to 1950Full-text database of letters and diaries of women who lived in North America before 1950. Browsing and searching of both the bibliographic and full-text elements provided by PhiloLogic software.