Primary sources are firsthand accounts of an event - or original records created during its time period - which do not contain any outside interpretation. Examples include:
Primary sources are usefel because they give researchers a better understanding of an event, written by someone who experienced or witnessed the event in question.
Secondary sources are one step removed from the original event. They provide criticism or interpretation of a primary source.
For more information, check out this video.
Here's a list of some of the databases that we subscribe to that may be of interest to GSWS researchers. For more comprehensive lists, visit our A-Z Database lists for Primary Sources (History) and Primary Sources (Literature).
Access is guaranteed through May 2027
Legacy History Vault platform
ProQuest History Vault includes several subject modules: Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle; Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; Women's Studies; Workers, Labor Unions, and Radicals; American Indians and the American West; American Politics and Society (from Kennedy to Watergate); International Relations and Military Conflicts; Latinx History; Revolutionary War and Early America.