Historical Primary Sources: Home

Letter from John W. Browne addressed toChairman of Miami University Trustees, ca. 1810

Definition of Primary Source

Primary Sources are the raw data directly associated with their producer or user and the time period in which they were created. Examples include:

• Public Records -- government documents, , court records, wills, tax records
• Offfical Records -- for the operation of governments, such as laws and legislation
• Personal Documents -- diaries, letters, email, correspondence, oral histories, household managment records
• Artifacts and Relics --the material culture of life; furniture, tools, machines, clothing
• Organizational Records -- all organizations keep some form of financial documents and minutes, among other records; businesses, charities, civic clubs
• Images -- photographs, posters, paintings, engravings, icons,
• Architecture, City Plans, and Maps -- how neighborhoods change, cities develop, landscape changes
• Media -- television news, newspapers, broadsides
• Literary Texts -- text of a novel, essay, poem, play, short story, religious work