Primary Sources
- First-hand accounts by people who experienced event.
- A person's account of own feelings, actions, or experiences.
- Object or document that comes directly from person, place, or event being researched.
Secondary Sources
- Second-hand accounts by people who did not experience event.
- One person's account of someone else's feelings, actions, or experiences.
- Object or document that originates much later than person, place, or event being researched.
- Contains interpretations or analysis.
Content Versus Format
Newspapers aren't always primary sources. "Primary" and "secondary" relate to the content, not the format.
Example:
- 1975 newspaper article about prohibition is a secondary source if it's an analysis of the impact of prohibition as the century progressed.
- 1924 newspaper article about prohibition is a primary source because it was written during prohibition and documenting its impact on society in the 1920s.
