HIST 4562: Africa: Which Way Forward

The research guide is intended to assists students in the senior capstone class, "African: Which Way Forward," with primary and secondary research.

What are Primary Sources?

Collage of primary source documents

Here's a great definition of primary sources from the American Library Association

"Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include:
  • letters,
  • manuscripts,
  • diaries,
  • journals,
  • newspapers,
  • speeches,
  • interviews,
  • memoirs,
  • documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President,
  • photographs,
  • audio recordings,
  • moving pictures or video recordings,
  • research data,
  • and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons.
These sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research."

--Using Primary Sources on the Web, rev. 2008.

Primary Sources Help

Not sure how to work with primary sources? Here are some great tips:

Search for Primary Sources

Try to add terms such as "sources" or "personal narratives" to your search terms to locate published sources, for example:

slavery history sources freedmen southern states sources
louisiana history personal narratives haiti history revolution personal narratives
Subjects: History