*American History

To access the pages with information about locating different types of primary sources, please use the sub-pages in the menu to the left.

The Boston Public Library has a number of excellent databases withe primary source materials, including:

• Slavery and Anti-Slavery
• Sunday Times (London) Digital Archive
• Making of the Modern World

 You can sign up for a BPL ecard which will allow you to use these databases.

The nature of a research project will determine what can serve as a primary text. Literary critics will use literary works as primary texts, in order to find passages that will support their arguments about the meaning of literary works and their place in literary history. Historians will use documents like diaries, newspaper articles, letters, and personal narratives as primary texts, in order to create a fresh interpretation of an historical event.

When you are looking for primary sources, start by searching the Library Catalog. Search by an author from the time period or enter a subject in combination with any of the subject headings used to define primary sources:

Depending on the focus of your research, the University Archives & Special Collections may have relevant primary source materials. Check out their Research Guides.