LibGuides: Immigrant and Refugee Studies: Primary Sources

Primary Sources in-depth

Many primary or historical sources can be found in archival collections, however as first-hand accounts from specific events, primary sources can also be found in a variety of formats and places beyond the archives. For example, primary sources can be:

Letters
Diaries/Journals/Notebooks
Recordings (visual and audio)
Interviews
Speeches
Books and articles (published during the specific time period being examined)
Data as a direct result of an experiment, or observation
Ephemera (pamphlets, buttons, fliers)
Newspapers
Pictures
Television shows, paintings, plays, and other artistic media

If you have to make a research visit, contact the archives and speak with an archivist before you go!

To learn more about using an archive, take a look at the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Guide "Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research."

Primary and Secondary Sources

What is a Primary Source?

A direct source from a particular event; a first-hand account from someone who was involved in an event; a work that was created during the time period studied.
A diary, newspapers from the time an event took place, a personal letter or correspondence.

CHINESE CRUSH FOE IN CHIHKIANG ZONE. (1945, May 11). New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/107140388?accountid=13701

What is a Secondary Source?

Uses primary sources to make an argument or provide an analysis; not from the direct time of the event that it is describing.
Criticisms, commentaries, a document that reviews or interprets a previous event or findings.

The Long Road Home by Ben Shephard
Call Number: D808 .S44 2011
ISBN: 9781400040681
Publication Date: 2011-02-22

Can a Source be Primary and Secondary?

Simply put, yes. For example a documentary about World War II could be used as both a primary or secondary source. It could be used as a primary source if it has first-hand accounts or if you are studying the art of documentary. It could also be used as a secondary source because it uses primary source material to analyze an event.

White light, black rain : the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Steven Okazaki; Takafumi Kawasaki; Steve Condiotti; Masafumi Ichinose; HBO Documentary Films
Call Number: D767.25.H6 W45 DVD
ISBN: 9780783156552
Publication Date: 2007

Primary Resources at Sarah Lawrence College & Beyond

Sarah Lawrence College & Beyond
Historical Newspapers

Historical (U.S.)

American Memory Provides free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. Collections are primarily from the Library of Congress, but also includes material from other institutions as well.
Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide To Published Sources (Library of Congress)
National Archives: Immigration Records
Aspiration, Acculturation, and Impact : Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930

Current Events (Global)

UNHCR Refworld Documents and case law regarding IDP, refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of trafficking.
Council on Foreign Relations - Syria - Global Conflict Tracker Scroll down the the "Primary Sources" section.
Onda Latina: The Mexican American Experience Over two hundred digitized audio collections including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns from the radio series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982.
Bracero History Archive "...oral histories and artifacts pertaining to the Bracero program, a guest worker initiative that spanned the years 1942-1964. Millions of Mexican agricultural workers crossed the border under the program to work in more than half of the states in America."
SEAAdoc: Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience "SEAAdoc is an educational resource of the Southeast Asian Archive at the UC Irvine Libraries focusing on post-1975 refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and the communities they have developed in the United States. It contains 1,500 visual images and 4,000 pages of searchable text selected from the Archive to represent a cross section of our holdings. SEAAdoc documents the exodus of Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants from their homelands, their experiences in Asian refugee camps, and subsequent resettlement in the United States."

Art and Music Collections

The Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings Mexican and Mexican America recordings of over 100,000 historical Spanish-language songs.

American Music (formerly American Song) A growing database of over 12,500 tracks that illustrate our countrys history through music. Includes the following genres: country, folk, jazz, bluegrass, Western, old time, American Indian, blues, gospel, R&B, and shape note singing. Scope: United States. Dates: Varies.
Smithsonian Global Sound Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries is a virtual encyclopedia of the worlds musical and aural traditions. This collection provides users with a variety of online resources, including access to full length streams of the vast audio database. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.

Historical Newspapers via Sarah Lawrence College Library

New York Times Comprehensive digital coverage back to 1980 is available for this internationally renowned U.S. newspaper through the ProQuest database. The complete text of recent articles is provided in the ASCII format. The New York Times Book Review and Sunday Magazine are provided in PDF format. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1980 to present.
New York Times, ProQuest Historical Newspapers Full page and article images with searchable text from 1851-2013. Digital reproductions of every page of the New York Times are available to be searched and researchers can also scan through the front pages, advertisements, editorials, obituaries, and other features of the newspaper. Searches can also be constructed for specific date ranges. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1851 to 2013.
Ethnic NewsWatch Ethnic NewsWatch contains and searches as one both Ethnic NewsWatch, which is a current collection, and Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which is an historical collection. Ethnic NewsWatch, the current file, covers 1990 to present and Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, covers 1959-1989. Includes newspapers, magazines, and journals of ethnic, minority, and native presses. Scope: United States and Canada. Dates: 1959 to present.
Early American Newspapers (1690-1876) Includes thousands of U.S. historical newspaper titles from all 50 states. Search through news content in individual publications as well as images and advertisements. Scope: United States. Dates: 1690 to 1876.

Additional Historical Newspaper Resources

Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers Search by newspaper title, state, date, or keyword to search across hundreds of historic American newspapers from 1836 - 1922. Users also have the option to highlight text, download pages as PDFs and more.
HathiTrust Search across various newspaper collections. Access may vary depending on the partnering institution. Use the advanced search to limit to a specific format.
Internet Archive Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, music, images, TV news, and more.
Alternative Press Center The Alternative Press Center (APC) is a non-profit collective dedicated to providing access to and increasing public awareness of the alternative press. They also publish the Alternative Press Index.
Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press This collection consists of Mexican and Mexican American publications based in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico. Publication dates range from the mid-1800s to the 1970s.

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