Same Social studies › Start here › Primary vs. secondary sources
What's the difference between primary and secondary sources?
A primary source was made at the time by someone who was there or lived then: a diary, letter, photo, law, speech or object. A secondary source was made later by someone studying the past: a textbook, documentary, biography or encyclopedia. Kids are asked to tell them apart and use both.
- Primary: from the time, often firsthand.
- Secondary: later, explaining or interpreting.
- The question is when it was made, not how old it looks.
Why schools teach it
Different sources answer different questions
Fourth graders compare firsthand and secondhand accounts of the same event (RI.4.6), and middle schoolers analyze how primary and secondary sources on one topic relate (RH.6-8.9).
Primary sources show how people saw things at the time. Secondary sources add the bigger picture and hindsight. Historians need both.
At the kitchen table
What to say, and what to skip
Say this
When was this made: at the time, or later?
Was the maker there?
Firsthand?What can this source tell us that a textbook can't?
What might the maker not have known?
Limits
Skip this
- “Old means primary.”A book from 1950 about ancient Rome is still secondary.
- Treating primary sources as always true.People at the time had opinions and limits too.
- Treating secondary sources as less useful.They often explain the big picture best.
See it in action
Sorting sources about the Civil War
Primary
A soldier's letter home from 1863 · a photo of a battlefieldSecondary
A textbook chapter · a documentary made in 1990Tricky one
A newspaper from 1863 is primary for how people reacted at the time.
Objects count too: tools, coins, clothing and buildings are primary sources.
Free practice sheet
Make a primary or secondary sources sheet
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Parents also ask
Is a photo always primary?
A photo taken at the time is primary. A modern photo of a historic site is not a primary source about the past event.
What about an interview with someone who was there?
An interview with an eyewitness, called an oral history, is a primary source.
Is a textbook ever primary?
Only if you're studying how textbooks themselves have changed.
What's a tertiary source?
A summary of secondary sources, like an encyclopedia or index. Many classes just group these with secondary.