What is a Primary Source?

A primary source is a first-hand account of an event, time period, or philosophical era.

A primary source may include:

• diaries, journals, speeches, letters, interviews, office memos and other papers if the author was present at the event being written about
•  memoirs and autobiographies which are describing events that the author was present for
• government documents, such as census records
• reports and minutes of organizations that reflect events, conditions and ideas of the time
• books, journals and newspapers written at the time of the event in question
• photographs, audio tapes, and film that document an event
• research data documenting scientific data at the time
• artifacts of all kinds, which may include buildings (architecture), household items, cave drawings, clothing, paintings, pottery

Primary sources do not include:

• memoirs or autobiographies that reflect on an event that the author was not present for, unless it reflects the popular opinion of the time
• a critical analysis of a work of literature that was written much later than the actual work
• documentation of ideas or psychology of a time may be found in popular fiction, films, educational material etc produced during that time period
• a critical analysis of an historical event that was written much later