Primary Sources
Book lists
- Civil War Primary Resources: 13 Books To Check Out Now Primary sources are items that were made at the time you are researching - in this case, items that were made during the Civil War! The Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, and these books are all re-printed primary sources that you can check out now.
- Recent Primary Resources: 11 Books From After 1950 To Check Out You might think of primary sources as old manuscripts you have to handle with gloves, but they can be from any time! These primary sources are about events from 1950 to present, and they are all available as books that you can check out.
- Revolutionary War Books: 11 Primary Sources You Can Actually Take Home Primary sources are items that were made at the time you are researching. The Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. These primary sources were re-printed as books that you can check out from the library. Keep in mind that the items themselves will be primary sources but descriptions and text will not be.
- Revolutionary War eResources: 12 Primary Sources You Can Check Out From Home Right Now Primary sources are items that were made at the time you are researching - in this case, they were made during the Revolutionary War! They have been re-printed and put online, so you can use them from home.
- Slavery and Abolition Primary Resources: 11 Books To Check Out Primary sources are items that were made at the time you are researching - in this case, resources from the 1600s until 1865, when the 13th Amendment ended slavery. "Abolitionists" is a name given to people who worked to end slavery. You can check out these primary sources that have been re-printed as books.
- World War II Primary Resources: 13 Books You Can Check Out Primary sources are items that were made at the time you are researching. World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945. These primary sources were re-printed as books that you can check out from the library. Keep in mind that the items themselves will be primary sources but descriptions and text will not be.
- World War I Primary Resources: 12 Books To Check Out Now Primary sources are items that were made at the time you are researching. The Great War, or World War I, lasted from 1914 to 1918. These primary sources were re-printed as books that you can check out from the library. Keep in mind that the items themselves will be primary sources but descriptions and text will not be.
Boston Public Library books
The New York Times: Front Pages 1851-2012Call Number: D351 .N53 2012x FOLIOISBN: 9781603762977Publication Date: 2012Facsimile reproductions of more than 300 of the most significant and pivotal New York Times front pages.
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela by ISBN: 9781631491177Publication Date: 2018-07-10The first, and only, authorized and authenticated collection of correspondence spanning the 27 years Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner.
September 11 2001 by ISBN: 9780740724923Publication Date: 2001-11-05September 11, 2001 is a collection of 150 front pages of major newspapers throughout the world.
Women's Letters by ISBN: 9780385335539Publication Date: 2005-09-27With more than 400 letters and over 100 stunning photographs, Women's Letters is a work of astonishing breadth and scope, and a remarkable testament to the women who lived -and made- history.
Introductions
The Boston Public Library has several different departments with primary sources. The first one you think of is probably Rare Books & Manuscripts because it houses rare, old materials, but keep in mind that primary sources can be from any time period. They can also be re-printed, so you can even check out some primary sources to take home!
One good place to start is our Researching at the Boston Public Library guide. It answers a number of questions you may have about researching at the library.
If you have any questions, you can contact the library at ask@bpl.org or at 617.536.5400 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm). It's a good idea to get in touch with us if you're making a special trip.
Visit the BPL
Books are perhaps the only primary source you can take home from the library. To be specific, we are talking about published books that have primary sources in them. These will show up in the library catalog and can be on the open shelf. These can contain things like letters, diaries, and other documents.
What they are: You are probably familiar with books in general, but primary sources will be different. Keep in mind that when you're searching the catalog, not all of the books will use the words "primary sources." Some of them might say that phrase, such as collections of primary sources. Others might just be collections of letters and never use the words "primary sources." So, how do you find them? A good way is to search for your topic in the catalog and keep an eye out for items that were created in the time period you're searching.
Sometimes, the book might not be a collection of primary sources and might be a primary source itself just because it's old. For example, the image above is a Boston guidebook from 1895, which is a primary source from the 19th century. You can find it in our library catalog. At the BPL, we have been around for over 150 years, and we own books that are even older than that. These books will usually be "non-circulating," which means you can't take them home. We do have a number of older items digitized that you can see online (including the guidebook above), which you can find out about below.
How to access them: You can find out more about the library catalog at this guide: Using the Library Catalog. In addition, this guide on researching at the library will tell you about many of the research departments you might find primary sources located in.
The department is undergoing a major renovation project and collections are not accessible at this time; current projections indicate that the department will remain closed until 2021. The department does have a number of digitized materials, which you can find out about in the box below. Some materials are also on microfilm, which will be marked in the catalog.
Find updated information about the department here.
What they are: The Rare Books & Manuscripts Department at the Boston Public Library holds approximately 235,000 rare or historically significant printed books and an estimated one million manuscripts. The department’s holdings are particularly rich in American literature and history, manuscripts and printed materials relating to colonial Boston and New England, early modern English literature and drama, Spanish and Portuguese literature, the history of science, mathematics, and navigation; early European printing, and medieval and early Renaissance manuscripts.
How to access them: Because the department is closed for renovations, the only collections currently available are online. You can find out about their online collections in the box below.
Newspapers are a great way to see a snapshot of what was happening at a specific time. If you're researching a big event or historical figure, newspapers can be particularly valuable. You can find out more about our newspaper collection at this research guide.
Source: Boston Globe, January 16, 1919
What they are: At the Boston Public Library, most of our newspaper collection is on microfilm. Microfilm is a hard copy resource that you can only use at Central, and it is film with images of the newspapers on it. The film holds a lot of newspapers in a small space and is also more durable more paper.
We do also have other primary sources on microfilm, such as books, papers, and letters.
How to access them: Microfilm can be used at Central in Bates Hall, and you need a library card to use it. You can find out about using microfilm at this research guide. Find out about our newspaper databases in the "Online collections" box below this one.
The Boston Public Library is a Federal Depository Library, which means we house a variety of government documents.
What they are: Government documents, by definition, will mostly be primary documents because they are created at a specific time and place. Keep in mind that while they can date back to the founding of the country, these documents might not be very old. You might be researching the Boston Police Department from the 1990s or the Boston Public Health Commission from 2000. For government documents, they serve a purpose at the time they're created and then can be useful for you to research later as history.
Governments documents include countless types of records, including: hearings, reports, plans, and brochures.
How to access them: Government documents will have the words "GOV DOCS" in the call number, for example this homelessness report from 1985. You can request them from the reference desk in Bates Hall, and you need a library card to view them. They are in library use only. You can find out more about using government documents at this research guide. You can also find out about the BPL's digitized government documents in the box below.
Maps might not be one of the first resources you think about, but they contain a wealth of information about the past, including about people, places, and culture.
What they are: What can you learn from maps? A lot of different things! You can find a map about a vast number of subjects - railroads (1873), population (1912), Boston parking (1922), and even whales (1851).
Did you know the Back Bay area of Boston was originally under water, and it was filled in by human intervention? The map from ~1870s below shows you what areas were filled in in dark orange and what areas are swamps in green.
How to access them: The Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center is the department of map specialists at the Boston Public Library. Their collections spans the world and goes back to the 1400s. If you would like to visit them for research, they do ask that you make an appointment. They also have digital collections, which you can see here. Find out more about online maps in the box below.
Online Collections
What they are: The BPL's digitized collections are items that we physically own that we have digitized and put online. Digitized collections are a great way for you to view items without having to come to the library or handle the physical item.
How to access them: You can find them two ways: if you're in our catalog, a digitized item's link will be in the catalog record, and you can also go to our digitization partner websites directly.
In the library catalog: If you find an item in the catalog that is digitized, the BPL will put the link right in the catalog record. You will see the link on the right, underneath the call number.
Directly through partner websites: You can also access our resources directly through our partner websites. We have digitized content available through the following websites: Internet Archive, Digital Commonwealth, and Flickr. You can find descriptions of these resources below.
Internet Archive - The Internet Archive is a digitization project that includes institutions from all over the world. The Boston Public Library mostly contributes items that are out of copyright, meaning they're freely available. Sometimes, items that are in copyright will be put on the Internet Archive, which means you create a free account and digitally check out the title.
Best uses: Books, manuscripts, letters, reports, government documents
Digital Commonwealth - The Digital Commonwealth is a digitization project headed by the BPL that includes institutions from all over Massachusetts.
Best uses: Images (photographs, paintings, prints), letters, some books
Flickr - Flickr is one of the BPL's old repositories for digital images. It has select images from our collection. It is not actively added to currently.
Best uses: Images (photographs, paintings, prints)
Databases are different from digitized collections. These are online resources the BPL subscribes to, and we give you access through the library.
What they are: Databases are online resources with information in them. Usually, they have journals, articles, or eBooks in them, but they can have a variety of information in them.
How to access them: There are two ways to use Boston Public Library databases: at the library and remotely (outside the library). Massachusetts residents with library cards or eCards are the only patrons who can use databases remotely. Many of our databases can be used from home. You will see a note underneath the ones that must be used at the library.
You can view the Boston Public Library’s databases on our website here. To find them on the website, go to BPL.org, click “Books & More” and then “Online Resources” (underneath "Learning & Research"). Find out more about using our databases here.
If you need somewhere to get started, here is a list of databases that contain primary resources:
17th, 18th, and 19th Century Newspapers
American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection
American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990
Archives of Sexuality & Gender
Artemis Primary Sources
Boston Globe
New York Times
Please note that the Rare Books & Manuscripts Department is currently closed due to a large renovation project, and current projections indicate the department will closed until 2021.
What they are: The Rare Books & Manuscripts Department has a number of items digitized. Because these items are unique and of historical significance, putting them online allows a larger number of people to view them. The cuneiform tablet above, "Bill for one fat ox," is one of the oldest items the library owns. It dates to about 2350 B.C.E.
How to access them: The websites to access Rare Books & Manuscripts collections are the same as in the Digital Collections tab. This tab will highlight some collections that are highly used in the department.
Internet Archive - All BPL
American Revolutionary War Manuscripts
Boston Public Library Anti-Slavery Collection
Digital Commonwealth - All BPL
Medieval and Early Renaissance Manuscripts
Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee
Shakespeare
Image Source: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (which can be found in the database 19th Century US Newspapers),
July 17, 1869, page 281
What they are: Newspaper databases are a great resource because they are keyword searchable, meaning you can search for words and look through results like an Internet search. With microfilm, you have to search through specific dates and newspaper issues. In addition, many of them can be used remotely, so you can use them from home.
How to access them: Our newspaper databases can be found in two places:
The newspaper format section of our online resources: here.
Our newspaper research guide: here.
Another resource that is outside the BPL is Chronicling America, through the Library of Congress.
Government documents are a great resource to look at online. They are not under copyright, so they can be digitized and shared freely. As a result, the BPL has put a large number of ours online.
What they are: These government documents will be the same ones as in our hard copy collection. Like our other digitized collections, we have digitized the same items and put them online.
How to access them: You can access them two ways: in our catalog and at our partner digitized website, Internet Archive.
If you find an item in the catalog that is digitized, the BPL will put the link right in the catalog record. You will see the link on the right, underneath the call number. A government document will have "GOV DOCS" in the call number.
If you would like to directly look for digitized materials, you can look on our partner website, Internet Archive.
We have digitized some popular collections on some research guides here:
Boston (City) Departmental Reports
Boston Lists of Residents
Boston Public Library: Historical Documents Online
Boston Tax Records: 1780-1821
Boston Transit History and Documents
Boston's Annexed Towns and Some Neighborhood Resources
What they are: The Leventhal Map Center is where our physical maps are held, and they have also digitized a lot of maps as well. Digitized maps are usually high quality images because you need to zoom in to see the details on the maps. Sometimes, maps will be in large collections called an "atlas." Think of an atlas as a book of maps.
How to access them: The Leventhal Map Center has several online resources to help you find digital maps.
The following links are useful for searching for maps or atlases of a general area, topic, or time in history. If you are researching a specific address, look at the section below this one.
Leventhal Map Center digital collection
Internet Archive - Leventhal Map Center
Digital Commonwealth - The Leventhal Map Center's collections are held within the Boston Public Library's on the Digital Commonwealth. You can find several of the Map Center's collections here, but you should also search the BPL's overall collection for other maps.
Boston Public Library
American Revolutionary War-Era Maps
Boston and New England Maps
Mapping Boston
Maritime Charts and Atlases
Norman B. Leventhal Map Center Collection
Urban Maps
The following resources are made for researching specific addresses or small areas on atlases:
Atlascope
Historical Urban Atlases of Boston @ the BPL
Historical Urban Atlases of Massachusetts Towns @ the BPL