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.
By the Instruction & Research Services Committee of the Reference and User Service Association History Section in the American
100 Key Documents in American Democracy edited by Peter B. Levy Ref. E 173 .A15 1994
The Complete Bill of Rights : the drafts, debates, sources and origins edited by Neil H. Cogan Ref. KF 4744 1997
Documents of American History edited by Henry Steele Commager Ref. E 173 .C66 1973c (Earlier editions are located in the library stacks and may be checked out.)
Documents of American Indian Diplomacy : treaties, agreements, and conventions, 1775-1979 compiled by Vine Deloria, Jr. and Raymond J. DeMallie Ref. KF 8202 1999 (2 volumes)
English Historical Documents edited by David C. Douglas Ref. DA 26 .E56 (12 volumes)
Historic Documents Ref. E 839.5 .H57 (Salem State College Library holds volumes from 1972-present. Volumes for the years 2005-present are shelved in the reference section, earlier editions can be found in the stacks.)
Massachusetts Broadsides of the American Revolution edited by Mason I. Lowance, Jr. and Georgia B. Bumgardner Ref. E 263 .M4 M54
Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt edited by Bernard Rosenthal Ref. KFM 2478.8 .W5 R43 2009
March of America Facsimile Series - Salem State has 97 volumes in this series, each a reproduction of primary or source material. The series covers works from Columbus' account of his first voyage to Fredrick Jackson Turner's essay on the closing of the frontier (1893). All volumes are shelved in their subject area, for call numbers look up the series title in the catalog.
Speeches and Documents in American History selected and edited by Robert Birley. E 183 .B53 (4 volumes)
