 Any material produced by eyewitnesses or participants
in an event, historical moment, or original research.
Primary Source Examples
Photographs
Artifacts, Clothing
Diaries
Videos
Autobiographies
Maps
Interviews
Speeches
Letters
Government Documents
Advertisements
Original research
A journal article reporting NEW findings
Creative works – poetry, drama, music, art
 Secondary sources summarize, explain, comment on,
or draw conclusions from primary sources. They are
accounts of the past created by people writing about
events after the event.
Secondary Source Examples
Textbooks
Criticisms
Encyclopedias
Commentaries/Documentaries
Magazine articles
Reports
A book about…
A journal which interprets
previous findings
Primary Source
Secondary Source
 Score Card from 1919
 The book Eight Men Out
World Series
 Photograph of Charlie
Chaplin on a movie set
 Interview excerpt with
Jackie Robinson
by Eliot Asinov
 Biography of Charlie
Chaplin
 Movie titled 42 about
Jackie Robinson
 Did the information come from personal experience?
 Did the author conduct original research on the
project?
 Is the information uninterpreted data or statistics?
 Is the source an original document or a creative
interpretation?
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Photographs
Textbooks
Diaries/Journals
Encyclopedias
Autobiographies
Magazine Articles
Interviews
Criticisms
Letters
Commentaries/Documentaries
Advertisements
Reports
Artifacts/Clothing
Speeches
A journal article that interprets
previous findings
Government Documents
A book about…
Original research
A journal article reporting NEW
findings
Creative works – poetry, drama, music
art
Keywords: Abstract, Introduction,
Methods, Results, Discussion