PrimarySecondary Sources

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Primary/Secondary Sources
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What do you see?
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Describe who you see in this picture?
Where are the people in this picture?
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What new people or things do you see?
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Make a hypothesis about what you think is
happening in this picture.
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Do you see someone who looks different from the
others? Who could it be?
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Life of George Washington--The farmer / painted
by Stearns lith. by Régnier, imp. Lemercier,
Paris. CREATED/PUBLISHED Paris Lemercier,
c1853. SUMMARY Washington standing among
African-American fieldworkers harvesting hay Mt.
Vernon in background.
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Examples of primary sources

• Poems
• Diaries
• Letters
• Interviews
• Original Art Work
• Photos
• Research Results
• Objects (artifact)
• Autobiographies
• Official Document treaties, court records
• Videotape of a performance

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Places that you can find primary sources?

• In books
• In an attic
• At your house
• In a library
• Virginia Room in Fairfax - FCPL
• Library of Congress website www.loc.gov

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What is a primary source?
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What is a primary source?

• A primary source is something that was created in
  the time under study. A primary source is an
  original work written by someone who witnessed or
  wrote close to an event. The primary source has
  not been evaluated, interpreted, or analyzed.
• A primary source helps us to know how people
  lived, worked, and played in the past.

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Examples of secondary sources?

• Dictionaries
• History Books or Text Books
• Encyclopedias
• Almanacs
• Magazines
• Biographies

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What is a secondary source?
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What is a secondary source?

• A secondary source is created using information
  provided by someone else. Secondary sources are
  often created with some distance from the event.
  The primary source has been evaluated,
  interpreted or analyzed.

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When is a source a primary source?

• When using a source, examine when the item was
  created, who created the item and why it was
  created. Ask questions, to deepen understanding
  of the source.
• What do you think about the following sources?

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TITLE Epistolade Insulis nuper inventis
(Letter Concerning the Islands Recently
Discovered) Created/Published by Christopher
Columbus (1451-1506) in Rome 1493, Rare Books
and Special Collections Division, Library of
Congress Interpreted from text There I found
very many islands, filled with innumerable
people, and I have taken possession of them all
for their Highnesses, done by proclamation and
with the royal standard unfurled, and no
opposition was offered to me.
Taken from pg. 14 in AAMNVA notebook.
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TITLE Columbus taking possession of the new
country.
CREATED/PUBLISHED Boston, U.S.A. Published by
the Prang Educational Co., 1893. 1 print
chromolithograph, Prints and Photographs
Division, Library of Congress. Taken from pg. 14
in AAMNVA notebook.
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Think.

• Are these primary or secondary sources?
• What do the items tell you about Christopher
  Columbus?
• What dont the items tell you about Christopher
  Columbus?