Primary Sources - Historical Newspapers and Periodicals

Primary sources are the historical documents used by historians as first-hand evidence. Examples of primary sources include diaries, personal journals, government records, court records, property records, newspaper articles, military reports, and military rosters, among many other things.

In contrast, a secondary source is the typical historical account which discusses a person, event or other historical topic. A good secondary source uses primary sources as evidence.

The key to determining whether an item may be considered to be a primary source is to ask how soon after the event was the information recorded. This can be a problem with an autobiography, memoir, reminiscence, etc. if the author is working several years with only the memory of what happened. Your history professor will disallow most or all of these as primary sources.   However, the rule of thumb should always be:  if you're not sure whether something is an acceptable primary source, ask your professor.

Of these, only Academic Search Ultimate will have articles considered to be primary sources for more recent events. Both America History & Life and Historical Abstracts lead mainly to secondary sources in history journals.