LibGuides: HIST 203: Childhood, Health and the Formation of US Social Policy: Finding Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

For historical research, the phrase "primary sources" refers to items that were created at the time an event occurred usually by direct observers or participants. Primary sources are not limited to traditional text-based documents such as newspaper articles and journal entries; photographs, posters, audio recordings, video clips, books, and more can all serve as primary sources if they are used as evidence of the time in which they were created. It's not about the source type...it's about how the source is used for your research.

Analyzing Primary Sources (Library of Congress)
The Library of Congress has put together a handful of teachers' guides for helping students to evaluate primary sources. These guides are helpful for students too -- try answering some of the prompted questions related to a pirmary source in front of you.

Public Health-related Government Documents

Law in Public Health Practice
by Kathy Wu Last Updated Oct 15, 2025 45 views this year
* Public Health
by Justina Elmore Last Updated Oct 20, 2025 1110 views this year

Primary Source Databases

Readex AllSearch
Search across all of our available Readex primary source collections, including African Newspapers, Latin American Newspapers, Archive of Americana, America's Historical Imprints, America's Historical Newspapers, and Caribbean Newspapers.
Gale Primary Sources
The Gale Primary Sources cross-search interface provides access to millions of pages of content spanning many centuries and geographic regions. Users can explore a wide range of content including monographs, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, maps, and more.
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926
Comprehensive collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other documents about the Americas. Full-text, full-image.

Based on Joseph Sabin’s Bibliotheca Americana: A Dictionary of Books Relating to America from Its Discovery to the Present Time
America's Historical Imprints
America's Historical Imprints provides access to a vast collection of primary source materials that chronicle American history and culture from the colonial era through the early 20th century. Users can explore books, pamphlets, broadsides, and other printed materials that offer insight into the political, social, religious, and economic life of early America. Includes access to African History and Culture, 1540-1921; Black Authors, 1556-1922; Caribbean History and Culture, 1535-1920; Early American Imprints, Series I; and Early American Imprints, Series II
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
Full-text primary sources and critical materials. Includes images and links to other websites.

Includes more than 50 document projects,1,200 primary documents and images, teaching tools,comprehensive bibliographies,scholarly essays and commentaries. Updated quarterly.

HeinOnline
Extensive collection of government publications and related materials. Includes title list and search tips.

Full text searching. Many titles include entire back file. Downloading as PDF and Text is limited to a maximum of 200 pages.
HeinOnline Congressional Hearings Quick Finder
U.S. Congressional hearings included in HeinOnline.

Downloading as PDF and Text is limited to a maximum of 200 pages.
Factiva
Contains articles on business, news, and companies worldwide, current and historical financial quotes, and company profiles.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Full text - articles, ads, pictures - of New York Times (1851 - 2011) & other major papers. Click "More" link for their names.

Atlanta Constitution (1868 - 1984) Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003) Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) Baltimore Sun (1837-1992) Boston Globe (1872 - 1985) Chicago Defender (1909-1975) Chicago Tribune (1849 - 1993) Christian Science Monitor (1908 - 2004) Globe and Mail (1844-2014) Irish Times (1859 - 2016) Louisville Courier (1830 - 2000) Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1993) Minneapolis Tribune (1867 - 2001) New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) New York Times (1851 - 2013) U.S, Northeast Collection (1785 - 2010) Some issues for 1953, 1962-1963, 1965, 1978 were never published due to pressman's strikes. No Sunday issue was published until April 21, 1861. New York Tribune (1841-1962) Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002) South China Morning Post (1903-1998) Times of India (1838-2008) Wall Street Journal (1889 - 2000) Washington Post (1877 - 2000)

Children's Bureau Collection
This collection of records from the Children's Bureau spans 1909/1912-1969 and represents the largest digitized collection tracing children's health throughout the twentieth century. The collection has been transferred from 290 reels of microfiche from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration originally conducted in the early 1990s. Types of materials in the collection include reports, articles, conference materials, addresses and speeches, government documents, memoranda, drafts, and other documents.
Records of the Public Health Service, 1912-1968 (National Archives)

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History and Political Science Librarian

Joe Easterly

he/they

Email Me

Contact:

Learning Initiatives
106 Rush Rhees Library

716-650-0234

Subjects: History, Latin American Studies, Political Science & International Relations

DiscoverUR Bookmarklet

Search DiscoverUR from Anywhere
This bookmarklet lets you search the UR Libraries' Collections (DiscoverUR) from any webpage. Just highlight text (like a book title, ISBN, or topic) and click the button in your bookmarks bar.

To install: drag the DiscoverUR button below to your bookmarks bar.

DiscoverUR

Find@UR

What is Find@UR?

Find@UR is the University of Rochester’s OpenURL resolver service. It takes citation information—like the title, author, journal name, or ISBN—and tries to link you to a full-text copy of the resource, if available through the library.

You’ll see Find@UR links throughout many of our online tools, especially in Indexes and Abstracts, where full text isn't always included. Use these links to check for access or request items through Interlibrary Loan if needed.