THEA 4321 History of Costume

"Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects which were created at the time under study." source: https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2011/10/what-makes-a-primary-source-a-primary-source/ 

The following comes from U Mass Boston's Primary Sources: A Research Guide

Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. Primary sources can include:

• Texts of laws and other original documents
• Newspaper reports, by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote people who did
• Speeches, diaries, letters and interviews - what the people involved said or wrote
• Original research
• Datasets, survey data, such as census or economic statistics
• Photographs, video, or audio that capture an event

Secondary Sources are one step removed from primary sources, though they often quote or otherwise use primary sources. They can cover the same topic, but add a layer of interpretation and analysis. Secondary sources can include:

• Most books about a topic
• Analysis or interpretation of data
• Scholarly or other articles about a topic, especially by people not directly involved
• Documentaries (though they often include photos or video portions that can be considered primary sources)

Adapted from: Presnell, Jenny L. The Information-Literate Historian: A Guide to Research for History Students. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. pp. 114 - 116.

To quickly locate a particular type of primary source in most online catalogues use the following terms as SUBJECT rather than KEYWORD terms:

Diaries

Correspondence

Archives

Sources

Entries for countries and regions are usually subdivided by century.  If you are looking for what is available to document general social or intellectual trends in a period search for the country's formal name (Great Britain, not "England") followed by the century designation: Great Britain 15th century.  Major events in any century will often have a subheading of their own: Great Britain World War 1914 - 1918.

You can use the subheading Sources with these time period designations as well: Hundred Years War 1339 1453 Sources

When searching in WorldCat your result list will have a set of tabs at the top, two may be of interest for primary sources:

• Archival - used for collections of unedited primary sources for individuals, professional societies, or corporations
• Internet - may lead to freely accessible digital collections, such as The Diaries of John Quincy Adams a Digital Collection located on the Massachussets Historical Society web site

• Essential Resources for Historical Research - Lots of great resources here, see in particular the primary sources section organized by regions.
• First-Person Accounts - American Women: Resources from the Library of Congress - this resource includes tools to explore letters, diaries, travel accounts, journals, and other kinds of first-person accounts from the Library of Congress, American Folklife Center, National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection, and others.
• Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 - Contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves.  These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration (WPA).  At the conclusion of the Slave Narrative project, a set of edited transcripts was assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. In 2000-2001, with major support from the Citigroup Foundation, the Library digitized the narratives from the microfilm edition and scanned from the originals 500 photographs, including more than 200 that had never been microfilmed or made publicly available.  This online collection is a joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs divisions of the Library of Congress.
• Primary Sources for United States History - Collections of primary sources dealing with American history organized chronologically.
• The National Archives (United States)

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• Archives Portal Europe

  "The Archives Portal Europe provides access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent." (web site).
  You can limit search to digital items only or to country, archive, sound/image/text object, and date (currently only from 1800 forward).

• EuroDocs

  Links to open access sources of European documents that are "transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated." Arranged by three broad chronological periods and by country/nation-state. Includes documents that shed light on historical, cultural, political, and economic history

• European History Primary Sources

  Provides online access to digital copies of European primary sources. Search by country, time period, language, subject, or type of source. Access to sources is free, but some sites may require registration.

• Europeana

  "Europeana is a single access point to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised throughout Europe. It is an authoritative source of information coming from European cultural and scientific institutions."
  From music to art nouveau, Eastern European wedding ceremonies to musical instruments, this site makes many aspects of European culture accessible to users.

• World War I Document Archive

  "This archive of primary documents from World War One has been assembled by volunteers of the World War I Military History List (WWI-L). International in focus, the archive intends to present in one location primary documents concerning the Great War. "
  Organized into 9 subject/content sections, this site includes a biographical directory, an image archive, and a section on diaries and personal reminiscences, among other sections.

• Primary Sources for World History since 1500 
• The National Archives (UK)