Guides: THEA History I & II: Primary Sources

Primary & Secondary Sources

What is a Primary Resource?

Short Answer: It depends on the project

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:

A book about the playwright, play, themes, time period, or art.
Encyclopedia entries of the artform
Analysis of plays, play themes, or the art movement.

Primary Source:

Autobiography of playwrights
The play
Photos
Reviews
News

Secondary Sources provide detailed summaries of topics- try to search GVR entry or Wikipedia page for a topic, and written down names of important people/places/incidents, and searched for [those] + primary sources in Google.

Databases with Primary Sources

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
The ARTstor Digital Library provides more than 1.8 million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is an extensive archive of interdisciplinary journals and books, covering subject disciplines in Arts, Business & Economics, History, Humanities, Law, Science & Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Religion. Access Arts & Sciences I-IV, VI, and VII archives and over 40,000 ebooks on the JSTOR platform.
North American Immigrant Letters/Diaries This link opens in a new window
Access to personal narratives such as letters, diaries, pamphlets, autobiographies, and oral histories, including several thousand indexed and searchable pages of Ellis Island Oral History interviews. Collection starts around 1840 and extend to the present, focusing heavily on the period from 1920 to 1980. Includes more recent waves of immigrants from Latin America and Asia.
Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Provides a collection of primary documents central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. Each of these collections, compiled by top scholars and experts, exhaustively covers the most critical world events, countries, and U.S. policy decisions from post-World War II through the 21st century. Visit ProQuest's guide for an overview of the collections.
Latin American Pamphlet Digital Collection This link opens in a new window
Access to scarce and unique Latin American pamphlets published during the 19th and the early 20th centuries are owned by Harvard's Widener Library. These pamphlets are valuable primary resources for students and researchers working on Latin American history. They document the emergence of the Latin American colonies as independent states.
Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Accessible Archives provides full text searchable databases of primary source material from 18th and 19th Century publications including historical periodicals and books; eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records are available in an online environment.

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
The collection of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) contains over 85,000 domestic and international political posters and prints relating to historical and contemporary social movements.

Find the Archives Collecting Artifacts on your Topic

What is an archive?

ar·chive

Noun

Plural noun: archives

A collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.

Which archive has the records you need?

Sometimes a whole archive will be devoted to one issue but many times an archive will own many collections. So how do you find archive materials when you don't know where to search?

Google
National Archives
OAC is a database that keeps track of which archives have what collections in California
University Archive (consider alma mater of movement leaders)

TIP: You most likely won’t have the time or the ability to visit various archives in person so filter your search results to "digitized records" only.

National Archives
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Has documents and images
ArchivesGrid
Library website that allows users to search "over 1000 different archival institutions."
The Online Archive of California (OAC)
OAC provides free access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections throughout California & collections maintained by the 10 University of California (UC) campuses.

Photos

Finding Photographs

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
The ARTstor Digital Library provides more than 1.8 million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research.

NYPL Digital Collections
Provides access to over 700,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
Highlighted NYPL Digital Collections
Many digitized materials from the Billy Rose Theatre Division are available to view in Digital Collections.

Visit https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/divisions/billy-rose-theatre-division to browse or check out some of our highlighted collections below