Primary sources were created during the time period being studied, usually by a participant in these events. They are historical documents used by historians as evidence. Some examples of primary sources are: diaries, personal journals, government or court records, newspaper articles.
Secondary sources are works that interpret or analyze a historical event. They are timely removed from the actual event. Some examples of secondary sources: scholary or popular books, reference books and textbooks.
<em>It is important to consider both sources</em> in history because both can provide a different perspective about an event. A primary source enables the researcher to get at close as possible to what had actually happened. A secondary one may offer an explanation why such event had happened and what were its consequences.
A historian trying to research about women's lives in 1904 could use:
1.<em> As primary sources:</em>
- 'Women's Interests: Articles from 1904' by Dora Montefiore. It is a collection of articles, first-person experience, primary source.
-' Your Fondest Annie: Letters from Annie O'Donnell to James.P. Phelan 1901-1904'. Original letters written by the author at that time, primary source.
2.<em> As secondary sources:</em>
- 'Hannah Lynch 1859-1904: Irish writer, cosmopolitan, new woman' by Faith Binckes. This is a critical study of the author written years later, thus a secondary source.
-'Women of the Right Spirit: Paid Organizer of the Women's Social and Political Union, 1904-1918' by Krista Cowman. This is an investigation of a militant campaign, again written well after the events, thus a secondary source.
