Search Tips
While personal correspondence make fascinating primary sources, critically evaluate their content by asking:
- Who is the author and do they have any bias towards the subject of the writings?
- Have the texts been altered to remove potentially embarrassing sections?
- How does the author remember a particular event? Have they revised the events in their memory?
Search tips adapted from Making Sense of Letters and Diaries by Steven Stowe.
Why Use Letters & Diaries?
Letters, diaries, and other forms of personal correspondence are excellent primary sources because they are the direct account of a person from the time period being studied. Unlike the formal language used in more official government documents, personal correspondence show an individual's point of view written in their own voice.
United States History
- American Journeys
- Primary sources for early American exploration and settlement from the Vikings to the mid-1840s mountain men. Access provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
- American West
- Sketches, personal accounts, and more related to American westward expansion from the 18th-20th centuries.
- Founders Online
- Correspondence and documents related to the Founding Fathers of the United States, including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin. Access provided by the National Archives.
- Journals of Lewis and Clark
- Field notes and journal entries from the 1803 - 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. Also includes books, articles, images, and sound recordings from the Native American perspective. Access provided by the University of Nebraska.
- Race and Place: An African American Community in the Jim Crow South
- Personal papers, newspapers, images, and other documents related to racial segregation laws from the late 1880s to the mid-twentieth century in Charlottesville, Virginia. Online access provided by the Virginia Center for Digital History.
- Veterans History Project
- Personal accounts from American war veterans including correspondence, diaries, and visual materials. Documents date from World War I to the present and access is provided by the Library of Congress.
World History
- Canadian Letters & Images Project
- An online archive of the Canadian war experience from pre-1914 to post-Korea collections.
- Cuban Heritage Collection
- Digital collections including letters, manuscripts, and correspondence from the University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection.
- Darwin Correspondence Project
- Read and search full text letters written and received by Charles Darwin from 1809-1882.