What is a Primary Source?
Primary sources provide firsthand evidence of historical events.
They are generally unpublished materials such as manuscripts, photographs,
maps, artifacts, audio and video recordings, oral histories, postcards,
and posters. In some instances, published materials can also be viewed
as primary materials for the period in which they were written. In
contrast, secondary sources, such as textbooks, synthesize
and interpret primary materials.
(definition courtesy of the UCLA
Institute on Primary Sources)
Welcome to the eHistory Primary Sources and Documents Section.
We will be gathering documents, images, and other
primary source material here to help with teaching, research and
the investigation of history. The entire collection will be searchable,
and will include results from other sections with primary sources
like the Oral Histories and Maps & Images.
One of the greatest assets of our collection is the Official
Records,
affectionately known as the "OR": all 128 volumes are
available here.
| Letters and Diaries |
|
|
| Official
Records of the Civil War |
|
The War of
the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of
the Union and Confederate Armies. No serious study
of the American Civil War is complete without consulting
the Official Records. Affectionately known as the "OR",
the 128 volumes of the Official Records provide the most
comprehensive, authoritative, and voluminous reference
on Civil War operations.
About | Index | Atlas | Search the OR |
| Historical Texts (from our Online Books Section) |
|
The Chonicles of Froissart
Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln
Ridpath's History of the World
|
| Historical Documents (a quick
sampling) |
|
|
|
| Oral Histories [oral histories main page] |
|
Chu Lai, South Vietnam, at the 3rd Battalion 7th Marine LZ • Battle for Okinawa, 24 March -30 June 1945 • U.S. Navy Nurse in the Pacific Theater during World War II • Invasion of Normandy, 6 - 25 June 1944 • The Sinking of USS Indianapolis • Battle of the Atlantic, 1941-1945 • The Sinking of USS Indianapolis • Battle of Guadalcanal, 1942-1943 • Iwo Jima Flag Raising • Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941: Lieutenant Ruth Erickson, NC, USN • Battle of the Atlantic, 1941-1945 • Oral History of Captain Joseph W. Kinzer, US Army • Oral History of Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Smith • Alan and the Water Buffalo •
|
| Photographs
& Images |
|
Browse or search our growing catalogue of photographs and other historical
images
Search Maps & Images
|
|
indicates
an external link 