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Memoirs, Journals, and Letters
One category of primary sources are those written by individuals at the time, describing events during their lives. These include memoirs, journals, diaries, letters, and so on.
Most catalogs (such as our catalog and WorldCat) use standardized terms to describe these kinds of materials, making it easier for researchers to locate them.
Below are terms used and some example searches. To find your own: search the catalog using these terms with your topics. For example, civil war and personal narratives.
- Sample catalog search for "Correspondence""Correspondence" is used to describe compilations of letters.
- Sample catalog search for "Diaries"This is the term used for diaries and journals.
- Catalog search for "Sources" in the Subject Headings"Sources" is used for a wide array of primary source material.
- Sample catalog search for "Personal narratives"This is the term used for diaries and oral histories.
Magazine Articles
Magazine articles may also provide insightful primary information. The following tools can help you find magazine articles.
- Alternative Press Index, 1972-1995The Alternative Press Index lists articles written on a broad range of topics and published in small and alternative press publications.
- Readers’ Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Access almost 100 years of cultural history with citations to over 3 million articles that appeared in 373 leading U.S. magazines.
- What dates are covered? 1890 - Present.
- Independent Voices (Reveal Digital) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Digital collection of the alternative press including newspapers, magazines and journals drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals and the New Left, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBTs, anarchists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines. When completed, the Collection will represent complete runs of over 1,000 titles and 1,000,000 pages.
- What else should I know? The content will become open access in January 2019 or sooner.
Newspaper Articles
Note: newspapers are a little tricky -- you need to know the dates of appropriate articles, and you need to be able to access the newspapers, whether they're in print, online, or microfilm.
To find newspaper articles, think about the time frame you're researching, and perhaps the geographic location. For example: 1940s New York, or London during World War I. Larger newspapers are more likely to have indexes. For smaller papers, check libraries in the geographic area, as many will have local history resources.
Sometimes, you can just browse newspapers around particular dates or events. If you're searching for a topic in a newspaper, you'll need to use an appropriate newspaper index to find citations to relevant articles. Below are a few examples.
- African American Newspapers Series 1 and 2, 1827-1998 (America's Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? More than 350 U.S. newspapers covering a century and a half of the African American experience. Includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states and features many rare 19th-century titles.
What dates are covered? 1827-1998
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Page image and full-text index to The Boston Globe. Additional year of content added annually.
- What dates are covered? 1872 - 1990.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Page image and full-text index to The New York Times. Additional year of content added annually.
- What dates are covered? 1851 - 2018.
- Providence Journal (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Articles from the Providence Journal. Searchable page images available for 1829-1982 and 2017 to present. Full text available from 1981 to present.
- What dates are covered? 1829 - Present.
Additional Web Resources
- American Memory Project (Library of Congress)
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Library of Congress gateway to millions of primary sources relating to American history and life. - National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (Library of Congress)Created and maintained by the Library of Congress, the NUCMC contains information describing the archival holdings of institutions around the United States.
- Africana & Black History (New York Public Library)
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Collection of primary sources from the New York Public Library. - RIAMCO
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The Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Consortium Online (RIAMCO) allows you to search for manuscript collections and primary source material on Rhode Island history from repositories around the State. From the home page enter a search query using keywords. Your search will allow you to view the finding aid for collections related to your topic. You can also browse the materials by institution or by major subject.
