What are Primary Sources?
Primary Sources are original sources: they were created by someone who participated in or observed an event. They include diaries, letters, newspapers, government documents, photographs, and other manuscripts.
General Collections
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new windowFBIS is comprised of the collections from the Archives of the Central Intelligence Agency including government publications, magazines, newspapers and transcribed television and radio broadcasts. Collected between 1941-1996 and translated into English by the Central Intelligence Agency, these intelligence reports are an indispensable source for insight into decades of turbulent world history. Now available in a fully searchable digital collection, these primary source documents provide crucial news and information from all countries outside of the U.S. during the second half of the 20th century. Collections include:
- Digital Library of the CaribbeanThis collection includes images and maps, newspapers, government documents, manuscripts, and more. Some text documents are in Spanish, some in English.
- Cuban Heritage CollectionManuscripts, letters, maps, and other resources for cuban history.
- LANIC Virtual Libraries in Latin AmericaDiscover online primary sources for various Latin American countries.
- Frontier Life This link opens in a new windowThrough a large array of unique documents, this multi-archive collection captures the lives, experiences and colonial encounters of people living at the edges of the Anglophone world from 1650-1920. It ranges across the various colonial frontiers of North America before touching on the settlers of Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
- Bracero History Archive"Collects and makes available the oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964."
- Brazilian and Portuguese History and Culture (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
Manoel de Oliveira Lima's personal library contains pamphlets on colonialism, independence, slavery, Catholic Church, indigenous peoples, immigration, ecology, agriculture, economic development, medicine, public health, international relations, and Portuguese literature.
- Latin American Studies: Helpful LinksThis group of links is provided by UA's Latin American Studies website.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
Includes collections on the transatlantic slave trade, the global movement for the abolition of slavery, the legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and the dynamics of emancipation in the U.S. as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new windowThis resource brings together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world covering an extensive time period from 1490. Close attention has been given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.
British General Collections
- Nineteenth Century Collections Online"Drawn from libraries worldwide and representing multiple languages, the collection includes books, newspapers, periodicals, diaries, letters, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, maps, and more."
- 19th Century U.K. Periodicals: Series 2, Empire: Travel and Anthropology, Economics, Missionary and Colonial19th Century UK Periodicals is a multi-part series which covers the role Britain played beyond its own borders as an imperial power throughout the nineteenth century.
American General Collections
- Sabin Americana, 1500-1926Contains works about Latin America published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's.
Spanish Language General Collections
These general collections include images and photographs, but most of the manuscripts are in Spanish.
- Feminism in CubaThis archival collection of personal letters, essays, radio broadcasts, and accounts of women’s congresses addresses the feminist movement in Cuba from the Spanish-American War (1898) to the end of the Batista regime (1958).
- Digital Library of the CaribbeanThis collection includes images and maps, newspapers, government documents, manuscripts, and more. Some text documents are in Spanish, some in English.
- The Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and PhotographsIncludes numerous manuscripts from the 19th Century.
- Latin American Pamphlet Digital CollectionThis collection includes "many scarce and unique Latin American pamphlets published during the 19th and the early 20th centuries."
Government Documents
- HeinOnline Foreign Relations of the United States This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline Foreign Relations of the United States presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. The series, which began in 1861 under President Abraham Lincoln, contains books and documents from various Presidential libraries as well as different governmental agencies.
- ProQuest CongressionalBrings together a vast amount of information published by and about the United States Congress.
- House of Commons Parliamentary PapersThe House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) are the most detailed primary source for the past two centuries, for Britain, its colonies and the wider world.
- Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 This link opens in a new window
The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between 1820 and 1970, is a crucial source for political, social, and economic research in Central and South America and the Caribbean, covering topics like slavery, immigration, wars, and populist rulers.
- National Security ArchiveA collection of declassified reports about American foreign relations and diplomatic history.
- The Avalon ProjectTreaties, compacts, constitutions, diplomatic materials from world history.
- Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room (CIA)Read declassified CIA materials about operations against the Soviet Union, including files on clandestine operations.
- History VaultIncludes U.S. government documents related to Cold War policies in Latin America.
- Brazilian Government Document Digitization ProjectIncludes Brazilian government documents from 1821 to 1993.
- Opening the Archives: Documenting U.S.-Brazil Relations, 1960s-1980s"A joint effort by Brown University and the Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil to digitize and index 10,000 U.S. State Department documents on Brazil."
- Castro Speech Database"This database includes speeches, interviews, etc., by Fidel Castro from 1959 to 1996. All texts are in English."
Newspapers & Periodicals
- ProQuest Historical Newspapersincludes several major papers of the 20th century, including the New York Times (1851-2001) and the Washington Post (1889—1987). Offers feature articles as well as classifieds and advertisements.
- Newspapers.com – World Collection This link opens in a new window
Newspapers.com Library Edition offers full page newspaper images with searchable full-text of newspapers. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to both full runs and portions of runs of newspapers.
- Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1998A "full-text compilation of more than 350 Spanish-language or Spanish-English bilingual newspapers printed in the U.S."
- Historic Mexican and Mexican American PressIncludes "historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s."
- Caribbean NewspapersCoverage from 1718-1876. Includes papers published in English, Spanish, and French.
- Ethnic NewsWatchIncludes Hispanic American newspapers. Titles in English and Spanish.
- LexisNexis AcademicAn exceptional resource for news topics from the past twenty years, includes news sources from around the world.
- America's News"local, regional, and national sources. It has diverse source types including printed and online newspapers, blogs, journals, newswires, broadcast transcripts, and videos."
- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowThis collections features publications of all kinds, from political party newspapers to dailies and includes major newspapers as well as those published by African Americans, Native Americans, labor groups and other groups and interests.
Newspapers in Latin America
- LANIC Newspapers & NewsThe Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) has published this helpful index of Latin American newspapers.
British Newspapers & Periodicals
- The Times Digital ArchiveCovers all news printed by The Times newspaper between 1785 and 1985. Includes everything from top news stories to editorials, obituaries, sports, and advertisements. Excludes Sunday editions.
- Illustrated London News Historical Archive: 1842-2003The full facsimile run of this iconic illustrated newspaper. Includes over 260,000 pages, including specials and presentation pieces. Full color imaging of every page.
- London GazetteA key British newspaper covering most of the 1900s.
- 19th Century British Library NewspapersThis collection offers a broad, comprehensive range of national, regional and local newspapers in Britain during the 19th century, and also provides a range of publications to reflect the social, political and cultural events of the times.
- 19th Century Serials Editionseveral key British papers, including English Woman's Journal and Northern Star
Spanish Language Newspapers & Periodicals
- Global Press Archive This link opens in a new window
Offers archives of a diverse range of predominantly non-Western newspaper titles, fully digitized and searchable for discoverability.
- El InformadorAn important Mexican newspaper with coverage from 1917-2008.
- Latin American Newspapers, 1805-1922, Series 1Archives of newspapers of the 1800s and 1900s from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and several other countries. Some English language newspapers are included.
- Latin American Newspapers, 1805-1922, Series 2Archives of newspapers of the 1800s and 1900s from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and several other countries. Some English language newspapers are included.
- Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1998A "full-text compilation of more than 350 Spanish-language or Spanish-English bilingual newspapers printed in the U.S."
- Historic Mexican and Mexican American PressIncludes "historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s."
- Caribbean NewspapersCoverage from 1718-1876. Includes papers published in English, Spanish, and French.
- Ethnic NewsWatchIncludes Hispanic American newspapers. Titles in English and Spanish.
Images
- Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera"The posters included in this collection were created by a wide variety of social activists, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, political parties, and other types of organizations across Latin America, in order to publicize their views, positions, agendas, policies, events, and services."
- Google ImagesUse Google's Advanced Search Screen to fine-tune your image search.
- Digital Library of the CaribbeanThis collection includes images and maps, newspapers, government documents, manuscripts, and more. Some text documents are in Spanish, some in English.
- The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual RecordCollection of images documenting the Atlantic slave trade.
- Latin American Studies: Helpful LinksThis group of links is provided by UA's Latin American Studies website.
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library
- W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library Research GuideUse this guide for more information on doing research at the Hoole Library.
- Latin America and the CaribbeanA detailed guide of the Latin American collections housed at The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library.
Keyes Family Papers
- Keyes Family PapersA collection of correspondence, diaries, biographical notes, scrapbooks, photographs, memorabilia and other papers. It concerns the emigration of the family of John Washington Keyes and his wife Julia Hentz Keyes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the Civil War, and their subsequent travel all over the world. At the Hoole Special Collections Library (on-campus).
Video Resources
- Meet the PressThis database contains streaming video of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” providing most of the show’s footage since it began in 1947.
- Television News Archive"The world's most extensive and complete archive of television news." Streaming video of news clips since 1968.
- The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures"Features 68 motion pictures, produced between 1898 and 1901, of the Spanish-American War."
Websites
An increasing number of primary sources are available for free on the web. Here are some search strategies for finding them:
Strategy 1: To focus on primary sources, go to a search engine like Google, and combine your topic with terms designating primary sources such as memoirs, diaries, accounts, narratives, documents, autobiographies, online archives, correspondence, speeches. You can link synonyms together with a capitalized OR. Here are some examples:
"Pancho Villa" "primary sources"
"Mexican Revolution" accounts
Mexico "online archives"
Strategy 2: Another great way to find sources on the web is to think of a library, archives, or university that specializes in your topic, and pay them a "virtual visit" (check their web site for online collections).