Primary Sources
A primary source is usually a record made at the time of an event by participants or by firsthand observers. Examples include:
- contemporary newspaper or magazine accounts
- government reports
- books that contain personal writings such as diaries
See the boxes below for resources to help you find different types of primary source material: Books and More, Newspapers and Magazines, and Government Publications.
Also see the full primary source guide.
Books and More
The Local Catalog includes primary sources as well as secondary sources,
as does the international database, Worldcat.
as does the international database, Worldcat.
- Local CatalogMany books and other materials, such as government documents, may be primary sources. Try using these keywords with your topic to search for them: correspondence, diaries, interviews, papers, personal narratives.
- Worldcat (Firstsearch/OCLC)Books and other materials held by libraries around the world. You may borrow (interlibrary loan) materials through the Worldcat database. Interlibrary loan is free! But give yourself time for a book to come through the mail.
These databases or links include books and other types of materials,
such as photographs, maps, original manuscripts, etc.
such as photographs, maps, original manuscripts, etc.
- America's Historical Imprints (1639-1900; Readex/Newsbank)Books from Early American Imprints, the Evans Series (1639-1800), the Shaw-Shoemaker Series (1801-1819), and full text of broadsides, 1820-1900, (large sheets of paper usually printed on one side), and ephemera, 1760-1900 (things like invitations, lottery announcements, menus, stock certificates, etc.) from American Broadsides and Ephemera.
- American Indians and the American West (1809-1971; Proquest History Vault)The database contains a large variety of collections from the U.S. National Archives, a series of collections from the Chicago History Museum, as well as selected first-hand accounts on Indian Wars and westward migration.
- American West (1722-1939; Adam Matthew)Full text of manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material related to the American west.
- Denver Public Library Western History CollectionPhotographs, maps, broadsides, architectural drawings and other documents from the collections of the Western History/Genealogy Department chronicling the people, places, and events that shaped the settlement and growth of the Western United States.
- Doris Duke Collection (1967-1972; OU's Western History Collections)Typescripts of interviews conducted with hundreds of Indians in Oklahoma regarding the histories and cultures of their respective nations and tribes. Members of every tribe resident in Oklahoma were interviewed.
- Indian Claims Insight (Proquest)1789-Present Indian Claims Insight allows researchers to understand and analyze Native American migration and forced resettlement throughout U.S. history, U.S. Government Indian removal policies, and subsequent actions to address Native American claims against the U.S. Government. This collection includes congressional publications, treaties, maps, and docket materials for all Indian Claims Commission cases, as well as cases that preceded and followed the existence of the commission.
- Indian Pioneer Papers (1861-1936; OU's Western History Collections)Includes typescripts of interviews conducted during the 1930s by government workers with thousands of Oklahomans regarding the settlement of Oklahoma and Indian territories, as well as the condition and conduct of life there
- Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America (16th-20th C.; Adam Matthew)Peoples of North and Central America. Materials include manuscripts, illustrations, newspapers, books, photos and maps.
- Indigenous Newspapers of North America (1828-2016; Adam Matthew)Includes national, local, and student publications from Indigenous peoples of what is now the U.S. and Canada. In English and Indigenous languages.
- Indigenous Peoples: North America, Parts 1 and 2Includes correspondence, pamphlets, draft legislation, manuscripts, monographs, newspapers, photographs, motion pictures, images of artwork, the papers of Indian Rights Association founder Herbert Welsh and more.
- Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law (HeinOnline)With nearly 3,900 titles and more than 2.3 million total pages dedicated to indigenous American life and law, this library includes an expansive archive of treaties, federal statutes and regulations, federal case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence This library also features rare compilations edited by Felix S. Cohen. (Formerly called American Indian Law Collection.)
- Library of Congress - Prints and PhotographsDigitized photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections (was American Memory)Includes digital collections on advertising, culture, photography, and many more subjects.
- Native American Manuscripts (OU's Western History Collections)The Western History Collections has more than two hundred manuscript collections about Native Americans. Most of these collections date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some include earlier materials. The collections focus on Indian history in Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and the southwestern United States.
- North American Indian Thought and Culture (Alexander Street Press)Resources include autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files. Biographies include works on Quanah Parker, Dennis Banks, Susan La Flesche Picotte, Crowfoot, Peter Pitchlynn, Sacajawea, Black Elk, Standing Buffalo, and others.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries (1675-1950; Alexander Street Press)Personal writings of more than 1,300 North American women from all classes and walks of life. All age groups, all life stages, many ethnicities, and many geographical regions are represented, from colonial times to 1950. Resources include diaries and letters, as well as biographies.
- Oklahoma Digital Prairie (1800s-present; State of Oklahoma)Documents, photographs, newspapers, reports, pamphlets, posters, maps and audio/visual content.
- Oklahoma Historical Society Research CenterThe OHS Research Center collects and preserves the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Materials available in Oklahoma City and online through this site and the Gateway to Oklahoma History
- Overland Journeys: Travels in the West (1800-1880; Gale)Selections from the bibliographies, The Plains and Rockies: A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure, and Travel in the American West, 1800-1865 in the American West, 1800-1865 and The Trail West: A Bibliography-Index to Western.
- Sabin Americana: History of the Americas (1500–1926; Gale)Includes books, pamphlets, serials, and more.
- Sanborn Maps, Oklahoma (Dates vary by city; Proquest)Access to detailed maps of Oklahoma cities from late 1800s to the mid 1900s. View street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use and physical features, house and block numbers, pipelines, railroads, wells and dumps. Special features include the ability to manipulate the maps, magnify and zoom in on specific sections, and layer maps from different years.
- Western History Collections (OU) - Manuscript Collection Finding AidsOnline access to WHC manuscript collection finding aids.
- Western History Collections (OU) - Photographic ArchivesThe Photographic Archives, with holdings of over 2 million prints and negatives has an emphasis on the American Southwest and West for the period 1870-1990. Browse the Gallery for a sample of our major collections.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States (1600-2000; Alexander Street Press)Historical analysis and documents related to women and social movements in the United States. Materials include books, films, archival documents, teaching tools, and more.
Newspapers and Magazines
- America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1922; Readex/Newsbank)Early American newspapers. (NOTE: library does not own all the series in this collection.)
- America's News (~1980s-present; Newsbank)Newspaper articles, news blogs, magazines, newswires, journals, transcripts, videos, and web-only news sources. Includes the Oklahoman from 1981 onward and the Oklahoman Web Edition from 2013 onward.
- American Periodicals Series (1740-1940s; Proquest)Magazines and journals that began publishing between 1740 and 1940.
- Gateway to Oklahoma History (1850s-1920s+; Oklahoma Historical Society)Online repository of Oklahoma history. Originally covered newspapers up to the 1920s but later years are increasingly being added. Includes African American newspapers.
- Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980; Readex/Newsbank)Spanish and Spanish-English newspapers printed in the U.S.
- Historically Black Newspapers (ProQuest)Includes these historically Black papers:
-Atlanta Daily World, 1931-2010;
-Chicago Defender, 1909-2010;
-Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2010;
-New York Amsterdam News, 1922-2010;
-Norfolk Journal and Guide, 1916-2010;
-Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2010. - Historical U.S. Newspapers (ProQuest)Includes these U.S. papers:
-Chicago Tribune, 1849-present;
-Los Angeles Times, 1881-present;
-New York Times, 1851-present;
-Wall Street Journal, 1889-present;
-Washington Post, 1877-2007, 2008-present.
(The UK's Guardian and Observer, 1791-2003, is also included in this search as are papers from the Historically Black Newspapers collection.) - Newspaper Source Plus (~1980s-present; Ebsco)More than 500 U.S. newspapers and 600 international newspapers, as well as newswires, and radio and television transcripts.
- Nexis Uni (~1970s-present; LexisNexis)News, business, and legal sources. Html text only. No images. NOTE: OU Libraries will cease subscribing to Nexis Uni, effective July 1, 2024. More information about this decision, as well as a list of databases covering the content in Nexis Uni, is available.
- Oklahoman Archive (1901-present; Newsbank)A Pioneer Library System (Norman) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. The Oklahoman, formerly The Daily Oklahoman. Full text of images to 1991. Text only 1992-2019. NOTE: Scroll down and click on Oklahoman Archive - Newsbank. Click link for additional login options, type Pioneer for library name, and then enter your library card number. This database may not work on the OU campus.
- Oklahoman Archives (The Oklahoman, formerly The Daily Oklahoman, 1901-March 3, 2022)—Update: as of 2-5-2024, the database is still available. Due to the large size of the archive, searches may need to be limited with a date range in order to return results.
Because Gannett found this database unprofitable, beginning February 3rd, 2022, the full Oklahoman Archives will no longer be available. Access to 1981-present. For other ways to access online content see this blog post. - Oklahoman Collection (1901-present; Newsbank)A Metropolitan Library (OKC public) database. Sign up for a library card if you don't have one. The Oklahoman, formerly The Daily Oklahoman. Full text of images to 1991. Text only 1992-2019.
- Oklahoma Newspapers ListScroll all the way to the bottom of this page for a list of digitized newspapers from various sources such as libraries and Google. Dates vary.
- Tulsa World (and title variants)1906-2018 on microfilm. 4th floor East, outside former Government Documents Department. Online: 1989-present.
Government Publications (Federal, State, Local)
- Carl Albert CenterLocated in Monnet Hall at OU, the Carl Albert Center houses one of the largest collections of congressional papers in the United States. Online access to the search engines for its congressional and political collections.
- City of Oklahoma City RecordsAvailable for research by appointment only!
- Congressional (Proquest)Includes hearings (1824-present); CRS Reports (1916-present); House and Senate Documents/Reports (Serial Set; 1817-present); legislative histories (1969-present); bills and laws (1776-present); miscellaneous publications including GAO, CBO, the American State Papers, the House and Senate Journals (1789-present); vote reports (1987-present); maps (1789-2007); Congressional Record (1789-present); executive branch (1789-1932); and presidential materials such as executive orders (1789-present). Many of these are full text.
- Nexis Uni (~1970s-present; LexisNexis)News, business, and legal sources. Html text only. No images. NOTE: OU Libraries will cease subscribing to Nexis Uni, effective July 1, 2024. More information about this decision, as well as a list of databases covering the content in Nexis Uni, is available.
Resources from the Western History Association
In June 2020, librarians and archivists from the Western History Association held a webinar to assist graduate students with research during the COVID pandemic.
Additional Information
- In depth guide to finding primary sources at OU.
- In depth guide to finding secondary sources at OU.
- All history research guides.
- Western History Collections
- Interlibrary Loan
- Government Documents Department
- Learning to do Historical Research: A Primer for Environmental Historians and Others (from Wisconsin)