US History

Hello US History students!  The following sources will be most helpful for you for your research needs. 
What is a primary source?  What is a secondary source?  
PRIMARY SOURCE: First or original.  These are original records created by firsthand (primary) witnesses of an event.
Examples of Primary Sources
  1. Audio: Oral histories or memoirs, speeches, interviews, music from the time period you are searching or created by your person of interest
  2. Images: Photographs, videos, film, fine art of or created by your person of interest
  3. Objects: Clothing (fashion), tools, pottery, gravestones, inventions, weapons
  4. Statistics: census data, population statistics, weather records, almanacs
  5. Text:  Letters, diaries, original documents, legal agreements, treaties, maps, laws, advertisements, recipes, genealogical information, sermons, lectures, written speeches, autobiographies.
SECONDARY SOURCE: Secondhand or from an original source.  These are documents, texts, images, and objects about an event created by someone who typically referenced the primary sources for their information.

EXAMPLE:  A letter from George Washington to his wife is a primary source.  An article written by a journalist that references the letter from George Washington is a secondary source.  
Library Databases

Library Databases & Electronic Library Resources This is where you can access our databases to research in newspapers, magazines, journals, and other resources for which we pay. 

The username and password for each of our databases are jfkchs and lancers. 

I suggest checking the following two databases for PRIMARY SOURCE searching:
  1. History Study Center  click on "Historical Documents" and enter your search term
  2. Proquest and doing a search in the "History" section.
Here's another awesome place for  PRIMARY SOURCE searching:
Go to Salem Press (password is "lancers"), scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and click on "Milestone Documents."  Choose the one you need (probably "Milestone Documents of American Leaders") and you will see all the sources available to you.  You can peruse the sources or go directly to the keyword search.  
    General History Resources


    Archives.gov A variety of resources available for research and perusal through the National Archives 


    Office of the Historian
    US Department of State Office of Historian Find historical documents, guides to countries, statistics, and other resources online from this government agency.

     
    		 



    Find a wealth of information from the various collections and archives available through the Library of Congress online.
                       




    How do I cite those sources?!  Go to The OWL at Purdue University for the best, and most up-to-date information on MLA format.



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