Primary sources are first-hand evidence related to the time or event you are investigating. This includes accounts by participants or observers and a wide range of written, physical, audio or visual materials created at the time or later by someone with direct experience.
In the sciences and social sciences, primary sources or 'primary research' are original research experiments, studies, or observations written about by the researchers themselves.
| Discipline | Primary Source Examples | Secondary Source Examples |
|---|---|---|
| History |
|
|
| Art & Literature |
|
|
| Communications & Journalism |
|
|
| Political Science |
|
|
| Science & Social Science |
|
|
Historical documents and other primary sources focusing on the work of African Americans to abolish slavery in the United States prior to and during the Civil War (1830-1865).
Plays written by Black playwrights from the mid-1800s to the present in North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. More than 40 percent of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays.
Historical records and other primary sources on major civil rights organizations, including personal papers of leaders and observers of the 20th century Black freedom struggle.
Historical records and other primary sources on major civil rights organizations, including personal papers of leaders and observers of the 20th century Black freedom struggle. Includes records of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Historical documents and other primary sources focusing on African American police officers in Chicago, beginning in 1968, who attempted to fight against discrimination and police brutality by the Chicago Police Department and to improve relations between African Americans and police.
The full text of poems by influential African American poets of the 1900s, including Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Imamu Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde, and Rita Dove.
Contains the full text of early African American poems, from the first recorded poem by an African American (Lucy Terry's 'Bars Fights', c.1746) to the major poets of the nineteenth century, including Paul Laurence Dunbar and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
Historical documents and other primary source materials focused on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world since the 1940s, including the gay rights movement, activism, and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Primary sources such as autobiographies, diaries, letters, photographs, and other documents are often reprinted in books. Search the library with OneSearch and combine your topic with descriptions like these.
Below are examples of books containing primary sources that can be found in the CSULA Library.
The American Slave by 
Angela Davis by 
Black Panthers Speak by 
The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, 1826-1919 by