The American Presidency

Many students may find useful this definition of primary sources:: "Primary sources are those with a direct link, in time and place, to the person, event, situation, or culture under study." 

For example, a newspaper article in November of 1963 on the assissination of President Kennedy would be a primary source; a newspaper article on the Kennedy assassination in 2014 would be considered a secondary source. A primary source, such Abraham Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation," issued January 1, 1863, is a primary source, but it is also a primary source when republished in 1963.

The primary sources you can find on this page are government websites, newspapers, and books.

Primary Documents in American History provides links to materials digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress that supplement and enhance the study of these crucial documents that may relate to the term of office of the presidents you are researching.

The links provided highlight eras of American History. Each of these sections link to a list of important documents from that era. For each item on these lists there is a page with background information about the document.

The American Presidency Project, at University of California, Santa Barbara, contains more than 110,000 documents related to the study of the United States Presidency, including Public Papers of the United States Presidents, State of the Union Addresses, and Daily and Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.

This government documents link provides access to all the Public Papers of the Presidents since 1991, from President Ronald Reagon to President Barack Obama.

Primary sources are the foundation of historical research and history writing, as opposed to secondary sources, which are books on history researched from primary and secondary sources. Students who write capstone papers are expected to make use of primary documents and sources, as well as secondary sources. 

Below are some examples of primary sources located in the Lewis University Library, either in the reference section or the general circulation collection.

Newspapers are an extraordinary primary source. The best place to find newspapers in the library databases is the Proquest Historical Newspapers. History majors will find most useful the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times, both dating back to around 1850.

To find this resource go to the ProQuest database, and click the icon for Historical Newspapers. You will then get the Historical Newspapers page, and we recommend that you click "Advanced" for advanced search.  Under Search Options, you will need to narrow the date to either the precise date, a date range, or to before or after a certain date.