Primary Source Accounts of Historical Events at the
State Library Resource Center
When researching a topic for a term paper or for personal interest, there is sometimes a requirement or desire to look at primary sources relating to the subject. Material in the collections at the Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center(SLRC) can help interested researchers.
What is a primary source?
The definition of primary source materials is not always a straightforward one. While some researchers believe when and why the document was created determines its eligibility as a primary source, others hold that how the document is used classifies whether or not it is a primary source. Primary sources at the State Library Resource Center:
- Refer to a first hand account or evidence of an event or topic
- Use the words of the witness or the initial recorder of an event
- Reflect the viewpoint of the observer as well
- May be used to produce a secondary source
Examples of primary sources include:
- Autobiographies and memoirs
- Letters and correspondence
- Original documents, such as vital records
- Photographs and recordings
- Records of an organization
- Newspaper or magazine articles that are written at the time of an event
- Journals and diaries
- Speeches
- Artifacts
For more information on library research and the use of historic library materials, consult our Guide to Library Research.
Primary Source Material at SLRC
Using the above description, researchers will find many valuable primary sources in the Library. While a large majority of these are reference items and have to stay in the Library, they are available for public use.
Each Subject Department of SLRC contains some material that may be classified as primary sources. The links that follow provide lists of identified primary sources on sample historic events housed in a number of SLRC Subject Departments.
Sinking of the Titanic, April 14-15, 1912
Charles Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight, May 20-21, 1927
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
Thurgood Marshall
Civil War in Maryland
World War II in Maryland
If You Need More Help
Contact us through our Ask A Librarian Service, call (410) 396-5430, or write:
Enoch Pratt Free Library
State Library Resource Center
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Or, if you are outside of Maryland, contact your local library.
