"A primary source is a piece of information about an historical event or period in which the creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of an actual historical moment." -from NHD Website
Examples:
Autobiographies written by a person who had first hand experience during that time period
Interviews with people who lived during the historical period
Census Records [birth, death, marriage records]
Newspaper articles written during the historical era
Photographs from that historical event
Laws passed at that time
Speeches and Government Reports written during the time period
Letters and Diaries written by people who lived during the time period
Flyers or advertisements from that time period
Original pieces of art, video, and music from the era
The Milestone Documents series from Salem History provides full-text copies and analysis of significant documents in U.S. history, world history and world religions.
Magazines and newspaper articles written in the time period can provide first hand reported accounts of an event.
