What is a Primary Source?
Examples of primary sources are original documents - diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, and official records. Primary sources are also physical objects found in everyday life, museums, or archaeological sites. Princeton states primary sources are created “during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.”[1] Secondary sources are current textbooks, histories, and encyclopedias, which are created by historians and authors observing the past.
A photograph of farmers spraying peaches
A historical report.
[1] “Primary vs. Secondary Sources,” Princeton, accessed October 25, 2014, http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html