201617 Florida History Day

Taking a Stand in History

USING PRIMARY SOURCES

Using primary and secondary sources to unravel the past is at the heart of NHDs approach. Youre
familiar with secondary sources because you rely on them all the timefor example, your textbook,
the news you hear on the television, an article you read online. However, secondary sources deliver
information based on someone elses interpretation and perspective. To be a really good historian,
you have to know how to find and analyze primary sources, which allow you to learn about the past
in challenging, thoughtful, and authentic ways.
Definitions vary for the terms primary and secondary source. The Florida History Day uses a
broad definition that includes a wide variety of original and firsthand material.
Primary source: documents, records, and other evidence that are original to the time period,
culture, or event under study and that are not derived from another source. In other words, they were
created as part of the historical event.
Secondary source: documents, records, and other evidence that are derived from original sources
and that analyze or interpret a time period, culture, or event. In other words, they were created by
someone who did not experience the event or situation firsthand.
Among the materials that constitute primary sources are written documents and records (institutional,
commercial, scholarly, and personal), books, newspapers, artifacts, buildings, structures, maps,
artworks, photographs, film and audio recordings, narratives, oral histories, legends, music, dance,
folkways, people, andin some caseslandscapes. Wow! What a selection! Sources for these
materials are varied, and good historians do not depend solely on what they find on the internet.

The Student Connection

Finding, analyzing, and interpreting primary sources are integral steps in your History Day research.
Some topicsfor example, those relating to a very important personwill have lots of related
materials that often are housed in one or more large collections. Other topics that are more obscure
may require some real detective work to find written materials, track down associated artifacts, and
find informants who can give firsthand accounts.
When beginning your research, start with secondary sources, which provide an overview of the
situation being studied, the names of major players and key dates, and a summary of the
importance of the situation. In addition, the bibliography in a secondary work usually cites the
primary sources that the author used. This list can serve as a starting place for your research.
In the same way that a detective looks for clues at a crime scene to identify a suspect, historians look
for evidence and details in primary sources to reconstruct past people, events, and ideas. To analyze a
primary source effectively, you have to ask questions about the author, the physical nature of the
Using Primary Resources

Page 1

source, and the era in which, and reasons for which, it was created. For example, in the case of a
document, some of the questions you might ask are:

Who wrote it?

When, where, and why was it written?
Who was the intended audience?
What was the intended purpose?
What information or evidence did the author use?
What are the authors assumptions and conclusions?

Of course, you will ask different questions depending on the type of primary source that you are
analyzing. Primary source analysis worksheets are available online from many sources to guide you
through the inquiry process. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has
developed analysis worksheets for artifacts, cartoons, documents, maps, photographs, posters, and
sound (http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets). Other worksheets are available by
googling primary source worksheets.
Returning to the analogy of a crime scene, after a detective has analyzed the evidence, what happens
next? He or she explains, or interprets, the meaning and significance of the evidence (and hopefully
arrests a suspect!). Similarly, historians interpret the meaning of primary sources to reconstruct the
behaviors, beliefs, and actions of people of the past and to understand how and why events took
place. Again, asking questions is part of the process of reaching conclusions:

What historical questions are answered by this source?

What questions does the source not answer?
Does the source support or refute conclusions that you or other historians have reached?
What other sources would be useful?

You will discover that some sources can be both primary and secondary, depending on the questions
youre asking or thesis statement youre trying to support. Youll also find that the terms analyze,
interpret, and evaluate sometimes are used interchangeably in discussions about primary and
secondary sources. Regardless, as a historian, your job is to gather as much evidence as you can, look
at all sides of the issue as you critically review the material, and draw conclusions about the causes,
effects, and historical context of your topic.

Be Diverse!
Internet resources can facilitate History Day research, but you should remember that judges look for a
balance among books, documents, interviews, websites, and other primary and secondary materials in
an entrys annotated bibliography. You cannot become an effective historian if you only sit in front of
your computer. You have to go to libraries, archives, and historic sites. You have to call people on
the telephone or visit them in person.

Defining Primary Sources

Many websites define and describe primary and secondary sources. Here are some examples.
www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html
www.archives.gov/education/research/primary-sources.html
www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/usingprimarysources
eric.ed.gov
ipr.ues.gseis.ucla.edu/info/definition.html
Using Primary Resources

Page 2