Research Guides: Cultural Studies: Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Not edited or analyzed
Direct "witness" of an event or person
"Raw material" for further analysis

Examples:

Letters (including letters to newspapers)
Blog Commentaries
Diaries/Journals
Oral Histories
Documents, such as mission statements of an organization
Government Documents
Design Sketches, Drawings
Political/Activist Pamphlets
Advertisements
Company/Organization web sites
Photos, videos
Sound recordings (Interviews)
Maps

Primary Sources in Archives

Library of Congress Digital Collections
American Memory provides access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America.

Finding Primary Sources

BobCat

Use Subject Word Sources to look for collections of primary source materials

New York Times Historical Archives
You can select other historical by Clicking on "News & NEwspaper Databases" on top of the screen

Covers 1851- present, pdf of original articles, includes advertisements, images

•Historical newspapers can be used as primary sources, since they report events at the time when they happened.

New York Times Historical (1851-2017)
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Articles appear as black-and-white, low resolution PDFs.

Related Guides

Introduction to Archival Research
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Primary Sources in Databases

The following databases are New School Libraries subscriptions and provide primary source materials for cultural studies. Select them from the Databases A-Z list.

Black Thought and Culture (Alexander Street Press)
Black Thought and Culture contains 1,297 sources with 1,098 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamplets, letters and other fugitive material.
Social Theory
Features full text of major social theorists that influenced cultural and contributed to studies, such as Baudrillard, Judith Butler, and others. You can Browse by Theories to read texts relevant to a particular approach.
The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives
Brings the 1960s alive through diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary
Twentieth Century Advice Literature: North American Guides on Race, Gender, Sex, and the Family
Provides a window into American social history by bringing together the instructional, prescriptive, behavioral, and etiquette literature that defined standards of personal conduct for millions of Americans.

Cultural Studies

What are Primary Sources?

Primary Sources in Archives

Finding Primary Sources

Related Guides

Primary Sources in Databases

Libraries, Collections, & Academic Services

University Resources

Colleges