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Primary sources (also called primary resources or primary documents) are original records created at the time historical events occurred. Examples include: letters, diaries, journals, letters, oral accounts, hearings, speeches, interviews, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, maps, photographs, government documents, reports, novels, autobiographies, memoirs, newspapers, short stories, artifacts, family trees, business records, the census, coins, stamps, buildings, roads, tools, weapons, articles of clothing, and more.
For more explanation and hints on finding them, see our Finding Primary Sources guide.