HY 442: Research Seminar in European History: Empire and Migration in the British World: Primary Sources

Primary resources are items that directly relate to your research topic. The difference between a primary resource and secondary resource depends on your research topic.

Primary resources are:

• Directly limited by your topic
• Examples of your research topic in real life
• Proof of your claims

If you were writing about how boxing champions were trained in the 1920s, your primary resources should all be direct proof of how 1920s boxing champions were trained. Some primary resources could be:

• 1920s boxing gloves
• a journal entry written in 1921 by a boxing trainer
• a source book of letters and essays written by 1920s boxers

For your topic, a book written in 1993 about the history of boxing would not be a primary resource.

This course focuses on the years 1815-1960, so primary sources should be within those dates or possibly before.

For extra guidance on how to find and use primary sources, please visit USA Marx Library's Primary Source Guide.