What is known as the account of the past of a person or group of people through written documents and historical evidence?

Primary sources include documents or artifacts created by a witness to or participant in an event.  They can be firsthand testimony or evidence created during the time period that you are studying.

Primary sources may include diaries, letters, interviews, oral histories, photographs, newspaper articles, government documents, poems, novels, plays, and music.  The collection and analysis of primary sources is central to historical research.

Note about primary sources: While there are many digital primary resources available, it is very important to remember that the majority of primary sources have not yet been digitized.

  • The Books link in the navigation bar at the left provides information for locating primary sources via UW Libraries Search
  • Under the Primary & Secondary Sources link in the navigation bar your find several options for locating these types of resources. 

The first thing to note is that a historical document may be found in a variety of formats. For example, the original of a handwritten letter by George Washington might be available to researchers at the Library of Congress, but a copy of that letter might be available elsewhere as microfilm, in a published collection of documents, or in electronic form online.

Secondly, one of the main challenges of dealing with primary sources is locating them. Many historical documents have never been published, and they may only be available in archives.

Moreover, depending on the topic and time period that you are studying, you will have to look for different kinds of primary sources. For example, if you are interested in the issue of birth control in 20th century America, you can expect to find many primary sources, including:

  • court cases
  • legislative documents
  • newspaper articles
  • and letters

If you are interested in a topic from a more distant historical time period, such as the status of Jews during the Renaissance, you may have to look harder, but you can still find documents such as:

  • laws
  • novels
  • and pamphlets

If you’re interested in first-person accounts, you’ll want to take a look at sources like:

  • letters
  • diaries
  • autobiographies
  • oral histories
  • literary works
  • or polemical writings

In other cases, you will want to think about what kinds of organizations might have created records related to your topic. You might be able to find:

  • statistics
  • government reports
  • legislative documents
  • court records
  • transactions of an association
  • annual reports and financial records
  • or reports of non-governmental organizations.

Visual material can also provide a powerful window into the time period you are studying. For instance, maps not only reveal contemporary political boundaries, but also how people thought of them. Other visual sources include:

  • photographs
  • posters
  • advertisements
  • illustrations
  • cartoons
  • travel narratives
  • and motion pictures

Keep in mind that primary sources can have multiple meanings. For example, an 1854 map of the cholera outbreak in London can provide a new understanding of how the disease spread and why people were concern with the illness as a social problem.

Source:  https://primarysources.yale.edu/identify-types-formats

Source:  https://www.library.illinois.edu/hpnl/tutorials/primary-sources/

Search Across Government Agencies & Databases

  • FirstGov

The U.S. government's official web portal is a useful resource for data related to Public Health and Criminal Justice.

  • Resources.Data.gov

The Master Portal to all Open US Government data. 
Here you will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.


Public Health Data Sources

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a CDC-run system of health-related telephone surveys that collect state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services.

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics  

This site includes Occupational Outlook data on salary and benefits, wages by occupation, and employment projections.

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Includes Infographics,  Data, Statistics and ToolsResearch Tools and DataSpecific Populations and more. AHRQ is the health services research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

  • CDC Wonder

Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research -- an easy-to-use, menu-driven system that makes the information resources of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) available to public health professionals and the public at large. It provides access to a wide array of public health information.

  • Census.gov Library (and Data.Census.gov) 

Federal Government Census information -  Topics area includes datasets organized by:
Age and Sex, Business and EconomyEducationEmergency PreparednessEmploymentFamilies & Living ArrangementsGeographyHealth, HousingIncome & Poverty, International TradeMigration/Geographic MobilityPopulation, Population Estimates, Race, and Voting and Registration. 

  • Federal Statistical Research Data Centers

Users can search across federal agencies and research agencies by subject.

  • National Center for Health Statistics (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)

The nation's principal health statistics agency provides quick and easy access to a wide range of information and data. The A-Z index is structured to provide users multiple access points to health topics, and also includes common and scientific terms.

  • Population Reference Bureau 

PRB specializes in world population, health, and environmental information. Their site includes DataFinder, which is a database containing data on world variables for over 200 countries. Other research tools include data sheets, webcasts, graphic banks, and U.S. Census 2010.

  • Partners in Public Health Statistics (Health Topics)

This site is a collaboration of US government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries. Includes sections on Health Statistics, Public Health Data Sets and Public Health Infrastructure Data. 


Criminal Justice Data Sources

  • Bureau of Justice Statistics 

BJS is the primary statistical agency of the Department of Justice. The mission of BJS is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer

According to their website: The FBI's Crime Data Explorer (CDE) aims to provide transparency, create easier access, and expand awareness of criminal, and noncriminal, law enforcement data sharing; improve accountability for law enforcement; and provide a foundation to help shape public policy with the result of a safer nation.

  • Federal Bureau of Prisons: Research Links  

Links to multiple websites which contain statistical and historical data that may be useful for research purposes.

  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: Committee on Law and Justice

The Committee on Law and Justice’s (CLAJ) mission is to improve government decision making and public policy and promote the understanding and dissemination of research in matters involving law and justice.

  • United States Sentencing Commission: Commission Datafiles 

This page provides users with access to the Commission's special datafiles for researchers studying federal sentencing practices through quantitative methods.

What is known as the account of the past of a person?

The word “history” and the English word “story” both originate from the Latin historia, meaning a narrative or account of past events. History is itself a collection of thousands of stories about the past, told by many different people.

What is the study of people and events of the past called?

History is an intellectual discipline practiced by historians who try to make sense of the past.

What is the account of the past of a person or of a group of people through written documents and historical evidence?

"History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of these events. Historians seek knowledge of the past using historical sources such as written documents, oral accounts, art and material artifacts, and ecological markers.

What is written records in history?

Recorded history or written history is a historical narrative which is based on a written record or other documented communication. It contrasts with other narratives of the past, such as mythological, oral or archeological traditions.