Skip to Main Content
The U.S. Naval Academy Nimitz Library

HH216 The West in the Modern World

Primary Source Database Subscriptions at Nimitz Library

Full-text Primary Source Document Collections

Online Primary Source Documents

NOTE: See the links on the HH104 page, Primary Sources tab, for documents on battles or other naval history topics.

https://libguides.usna.edu/content.php?pid=338119&sid=2765130

 

Primary Sources Tip Sheets

Primary sources can be defined as "those closest, in time and connection, to any subject of investigation." [Richard Maruis, A Short Guide to Writing about History, 8th ed., 2012, p.14]

These include

  • Letters, diaries, memoirs, speeches, and other first person accounts
  • Certain government publications, such as Congressional hearings
  • Official accounts by people in authority, such as reports from the Secretary of the Navy or captain of a ship
  • Oral histories or interviews
  • Manuscript collections
  • Most newspaper or periodical articles from the time of the event
  • Other material from the time such as photographs or pamphlets

 

History Vault, World War II: U.S. Documents on Planning, Operations, Intelligence, Axis War Crimes, and Refugees

Defining Documents in American History

Examples of Primary Source Collections in Books

Primary source collections in print may be in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor or in the general collection with other material on that subject.

Early American Naval Document Collections

Nimitz Library Special Collections and Archives