Soc 444 Social Movements (Crubaugh): How To Find Primary Sources

Social Movement is: "collectivities acting with some degree of organization and continuity outside of institutional or organizational channels for the purpose of challenging or defending extant authority, whether it is institutionally or culturally based, in the group, organization, society, culture, or world order of which they are a part" which is from the intro to the Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Short Answer: It depends on the project

(Some secondary sources used differently can become primary sources)  

Textbook Answer: Primary sources are contrasted with secondary sources, works that provide analysis, commentary, or criticism on the primary source. A primary source is "first-hand" information, sources as close as possible to the origin of the information or idea under study. 

Secondary Source:

• Book about Martin Luther King Jr.  
• Encyclopedia entry about the Civil Rights Movement
• Analysis of a Martin Luther King Jr. speech

Primary Source:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Autobiography
• Pamphlets produced by Civil Rights activists / Photos of march Posters / Newspaper article reporting a civil rights marches/events 
• Transcript or a published copy of Martin Luther King Jr. speech

In historical studies, primary sources include written works, recordings, or other sources of information from people who were participants or direct witnesses to the events in question.

Examples of commonly used primary sources include government documents, memoirs, personal correspondence, oral histories, and contemporary newspaper accounts.