Locating Primary Sources

For historians, finding primary sources is like a comedian in search of the perfect joke.  While secondary sources help people learn the foundation for historical subject matters, primary sources give historians and all students of history an insider's point of view and help to bring history to life.  History teachers are often in search of great ways to find, access, and share primary sources with their students.  Here are a few great resources I have come across while undertaking my own history research projects!



Online Databases


National Archives- Finding Primary Sources

Legal History on the Web/Primary Source Databases- Duke University 

Museum Traveling Trunk Programs


Jefferson National Expansion Museum-Traveling Trunks

National Churchill Museum

Osage Culture Traveling Trunk- Missouri State University

Civil War Trust-Traveling Trunk 


Compiled Educator Resources



Books and Primary Source Readers


George Washington Carver: Planting Ideas By Jennifer Kroll (2011)

Founding Mothers: Women Who Shaped America By Melissa Carosella (2012) 

Hidden Teens, Hidden Lives: Primary Sources From The Holocaust By Linda Jacobs Altman (2010)






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