The source-driven junior paper
Often, the best work arises from close engagement with a primary source. As you read, you'll think of questions or begin to shape an argument. The hard part is to find a primary source that addresses the broad general area of interest. Here are some strategies for finding primary sources:
- Check the footnotes, endnotes and bibliography of a good academic book on your topic.
- Use the word sources as a keyword when searching the Catalog.
- Consult the subject guides at http://libguides.princeton.edu
- Search the finding aids for collections in Special Collections and Mudd Manuscript Library.
Finding primary sources in library catalogs
Different library catalogs have different interfaces, and Princeton's library catalog currently offers two, the old Main Catalog and the new Books+. But no matter what catalog you're searching, there are some strategies that can help you find primary sources.
To find the papers of an individual, search for that person as an author, e.g. jackson, andrew
To find the records of an organization or government body, use the name of the organization as an author e.g. United States. Dept. of State
Include one of these words as a keyword or a subject:
- sources
- diaries
- correspondence
- personal narrative
If you find something that looks useful, look at the detailed view of the catalog record and try to identify the "subject" assigned. For many topics in history, there's an official term used in all Anglo-American library catalogs, like:
- Cuba--History--Revolution, 1959--Sources.
- Argentina --History--Sources.
- United States--Foreign relations--Cuba--Sources.
- Coups d'état--Venezuela--History--Sources.
To find works published in a particular time and place, explore the search options. It is usually possible to limit your search by date, language, or location of publication.
Digital Primary Sources About Jewish Ghettoes
- Testaments to the Holocaust. Documents and Rare Printed Materials from the Wiener Library, London This link opens in a new windowDigital edition of material from the Wiener Library collection of eyewitness accounts, photographs, propaganda, and printed material documenting Jewish life in Germany from 1933 to after the war.
- Nationalsozialismus, Holocaust, Widerstand und Exil 1933-1945 This link opens in a new windowCollection of primary sources on the history of the National Socialist state, Nazi ideology, and the Third Reich, from the perspective of both supporters and opponents of the regime. Includes administrative records, personal writings, propaganda, and biographical and reference sources. Note: most sources are in German.
- Post-War Europe: Refugees, Exile, and Resettlement, 1945-1950 This link opens in a new window
Digital collection of material from the Wiener Library and the UK National Archives on refugees and resettlement of displaced persons in Europe in the aftermath of World War II.
- Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees [electronic resource] : the West's response to Jewish emigration.Publication Date: 1938-1947The Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees (IGCR) was organized in London in August 1938 as a result of the Evian Conference of July 1938, which had been called by President Roosevelt to consider the problem of racial, religious, and political refugees from central Europe.
- The Jewish Question: Records from the Berlin Document CenterThis collection comprises documents from a wide variety of sources, including the Gestapo, local police and government offices, Reich ministries, businesses, etc., pertaining to Jewish communities.
Digital Primary Sources About African American Ghettoes
- African-American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new windowFull-text collection of African American newspapers printed across the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries.
- ProQuest African American Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowInterdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish), full-text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press.
- African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new windowOnline collection of academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations' bulletins, annual reports and other diverse periodicals.
- African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new windowIncludes newspapers, magazines, reports, and annuals from various African-American organizations including churches and educational and service institutions. 1816-1922
- African American Communities This link opens in a new windowFocusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories, revealing the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity.
- Race Relations in America This link opens in a new windowBased at Fisk University from 1943-1970, the Race Relations Department and its annual Institute were set up by the American Missionary Association to investigate problem areas in race relations and develop methods for educating communities and preventing conflict. Documenting three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights, this resource showcases the speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Department's staff and Institute participants, including...
- Reveal Digital Independent Voices This link opens in a new windowCollection of magazines, journals, and newspapers of the alternative press from the 1960s, including feminists, anti-war groups, African-Americans, Native-Americans and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
- Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Full-text collection of published non-fiction works is included, as well as interviews, journal articles, letters, and other materials of leading African-Americans. Biographical essays by leading scholars and an annotated bibliography of the sources in the database are also featured.
- HistoryMakers This link opens in a new windowOral history interviews with more than 2,600 historically significant African Americans in fields such as the arts, business, education, entertainment, the law, the military, politics, religion, and science.
- Mapping InequalityDigitized real estate maps from the Home Owners' Loan Corporation between 1935 and 1940, showing redlining in numerous cities across the U.S.
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowAllows user to visually analyze and understand the demography of the United States through the use of interactive maps and data reports from 1790 to the present. Also includes the 2011 censuses for Canada and the United Kingdom.
Other resources to locate primary sources
- Princeton University Library Finding Aids This link opens in a new windowProvides access to finding aids or descriptive inventories for archival records and manuscript collections held within the University Library. Approximately 1,300 finding aids from the Department of Special Collections are now available online and include the Manuscripts Division, Public Policy Papers, and University Archives.
- Archive Finder This link opens in a new windowContains the entire holdings in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). Current directory of thousands of repositories and over 220,000 collections of primary source materials across the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland. 1959+
- ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new windowIndex to finding aids and other descriptive information about the holdings of manuscript and archival collections in libraries and research institutions throughout the world.
- America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSearchable full-text of historical newspapers including titles from all 50 states. Now includes select coverage of some major papers after 1922 through the mid 1990s.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Coverage depends on the newspaper. American Hebrew and Jewish Messenger (1857-1922); American Israelite (1854-2000); Arizona Republican (1890-2007); Atlanta Constitution (1868-1984); Atlanta Daily World (1931-2010); Austin American Statesman (1871-1980); Baltimore Afro-American (1893-2010); Baltimore Sun (1837-1998); Barron's (1921-2010); Boston Globe (1872-1993); Calgary Herald (1883-2010), Call and Post (Cleveland) (1934-1991); Chicago Defender (1909-2010); Chicago Tribune (1849-2015); Christian Science Monitor (1908-2011); Cincinnati Enquirer (1841-1922);Cleveland Call & Post (1934-2010); Dayton Daily News (1898-1922); Detroit Free Press (1831-1999); Edmonton Journal (1903-2010), Globe & Mail (1844-2020); Guardian and the Observer (1791-2003); Hartford Courant (1764-1998); Hindustan Times (1924-2010); Indianapolis Star (1903-2004); Irish Times (1859-2022); Jerusalem Post (1932-2008); Jewish Advocate (1905-1990); Jewish Exponent (1887-1990); Korea Times (1956-2016); Le Monde (1944-December 30, 2000); Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan) (1883-2010); London Evening Standard (1827+); Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005); Los Angeles Times (1881-2015); Louisville Courier Journal (1830-2000); Michigan Chronicle (1936-2010); Minneapolis Star Tribune (1867-2001); Montreal Gazette (1857-2010), Nashville Tennessean (1812-2009); New York Amsterdam News (1922-2010); New York Times (1851-2020); New York Tribune (1841-1962); Newsday (1940-1995); Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2003); Ottawa Citizen (1845-2010); Philadelphia Inquirer (1860-2001); Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001); Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002); Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1786-2003); Province (1898-2010); San Francisco Chronicle (1865-1922); St. Louis American (1949-2010); St. Louis Dispatch (1874-2003); St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay Times (1886-2009); Saskatoon Star Phoenix (1902-2009); Scotsman (1817-1950); South China Morning Post (1903-2001); Times-Colonist (Victoria) (1884-2010); Times of India (1838-2011); Toronto Star (1894-2021); Vancouver Sun (1912-2010), Wall Street Journal (1889-2011); Washington Post (1877-2008); Windsor Star (1883-2010). Also includes a Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953) and a collection of American and British Communist papers (1917-2013).
- Readers' Guide This link opens in a new windowIndexing and abstracting of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and Canada, plus the full text of selected periodicals.
- Proquest Congressional This link opens in a new windowIndexes publications of the U.S. Congress such as hearings 1824+ (including previously unpublished hearings: Senate 1824-1992 and House 1833-1982), committee reports, documents and prints. Material is available in microfiche and/or electronic. Essential tool for doing legislative history research. Includes Congressional Research Reports from 1916+, Bills & Laws 1789+, U.S. Serial Set from 1789+, Annals of Congress from 1789-1824, Register of Debates from 1824-1837, Congressional Globe from 1833-1873, and Congressional Record from 1873+. Also includes Executive Branch Documents 1789-1948 and Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations 1789+.