Primary Sources

Primary sources are materials created at the time of the event which they are discussing.

Examples:

• Diaries
• Letters
• Speeches
• Statistical data
• Photographs
• News footage

Before you start looking for primary sources, you need to do some background research on your topic and find answers to questions such as...

• What country was most involved in the event, or which country do you want to focus on?
• What were the key dates?
• Who were the key people (politicians, local activists, etc.)?
• What were the key or pivotal events?
• Were there any specific terms or other language used to refer to the event or the people involved?
• What organizations or groups were involved in the event?
• Were there any laws created or removed as a result of the event?

For example, if you were researching votes for women in Canada...

• Language/Phrases 
  • Suffrage or suffragettes
• Organizations
  • Women’s Grain Growers’ Association
• People
  • Nellie McClung
• Events
  • Winnipeg’s Walker Theatre, Nellie McClung mocking Conservative Premier Sir Rodmond Roblin, as she debated whether or not to give men the vote
• Key dates
  • First Woman Elected to Manitoba Legislature-June 1920

​When searching in databases (see below) try some of the following to find primary sources:

1. Look for the type of source and your subject:
   • For example:
     • WW1 and letters
     • cold war and government memos 
     • Berlin wall and newspapers
     • John F. Kennedy and speeches
     • Victoria era and diaries ​
2. Look for works authored by figures involved in your subject during the event in question 
    
3. Look for a primary source filter in the database
    
4. Look in a database that mostly contains primary sources (see box below called "Primary Source Databases")
    
5. Consult the bibliography, notes and acknowledgments in a good, recent secondary work on the subject that interests you -- does the writer tell you where the primary sources can be found?