Research Guides: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources for History Research Guide: Academic Websites for Primary Sources

The following websites are great places to find primary sources for your research assignment. The following sources are not all-inclusive, but the sites are a good place to start your research.

History of Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Primary Documents
Links connect to European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. As well as video or sound files, maps, photographs or other imagery, databases, and other documentation.
The sources cover a broad range of historical happenings (political, economic, social and cultural). The order of documents is chronological wherever possible.
Internet History Source Book Project (opens in new window)
Contains a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts. Explore primary sources by historical era using the menu on the left-hand side.
Library of Congress: Primary Source Sets
Contains sets of primary sources on different historical topics. Topics include Abraham Lincoln, child labor, the Civil Rights Movement, and more.
Smithsonian: Library and Archival Exhibits (opens in new window)
A digital, searchable collection of digitized material from around the world.
World Digital Library search page
The World Digital Library is a free online archive of over 19,000 culturally significant primary source materials from around the world. It is an international collaboration between the Library of Congress, UNESCO, and 158 libraries, museums, archives, and other partners across 60 countries.
Yale Law School Avalon Project (opens in new window)
This website from Yale Law School provides primary source legal, historical and governmental documents from all over the world. Time range covered is the 17th century to present day.

History of Prehistoric and Ancient Europe (opens in new window)
EuroDocs is a indexed repository of online sources for European history with selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations divided into time periods.
Internet History Source Book: The French Revolution (opens in new window)
A collection of historical texts focusing on the French Revolution. Contains speeches, letters, reports and journal articles.
The Labyrinth - Georgetown University (opens in new window)
Provides access to medieval documents and literature.
The Perseus Library (opens in new window)
Contains primary and secondary sources pertaining to ancient Greece and Rome and the Renaissance.
Powers of Persuasion: Poster Art from World War II (opens in new window)
From the National Archives, this collection of materials includes posters from World War II.
The Russian Revolution Through the Prism of Propaganda (opens in new window)
Contains political posters from the Russian Revolution.
Scrolls from the Dead Sea (opens in new window)
This Library of Congress exhibition, Scrolls From the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship brings a selection from the scrolls which have been the subject of intense public interest. The exhibition describes the historical context of the scrolls and the Qumran community from whence they may have originated.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Resources on Propaganda (opens in new window)
Contains links to several online archives of propaganda.