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Assignment | Texas HIST 2301 Primary Sources (Strohmeier): Primary Sources

HIST 2301 | Prof. Strohmeier (Fall 2021)

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What Are Primary Sources?

A primary source comes directly from the concept or people in question. Primary sources give us direct glimpses into how people thought and felt at the time. A few possibilities include:

  • Diaries, letters, manuscripts, autobiographies 
  • Speeches
  • Photographs, drawings, and other creative works
  • Sound recordings
  • News footage and newspaper articles from the period
  • Artifacts like clothing and furniture
  • Original research reports and lab notes
  • Laws, statutes, and court opinions

Why Primary Sources?

Primary sources build key learning skills

  • Develop critical thinking skills
  • Provide greater understanding of topics being studied
  • Allow you to come to your own conclusions
  • Develop grounding in history to better question what has been or is being said about a topic/event

Primary Source Collections

 

  •  LOC Primary Sources for Texas
    • Contains historic artifacts and cultural materials from across the U.S.
  • History Study Center
    • HINT: Search Texas in the title and use a keyword like: "new deal"
  • West Texas Digital Archive
    • Over 100,000 unique historical photographs, newspapers, yearbooks, letters, oral histories, periodicals, manuscripts, journals, documents, maps, audio/video files and more pertaining to the history of west Texas.

 

 

Additional Sources