The phrase "primary sources" has different meanings in different disciplines, but in this case indicates sources that reflect first-hand experience. You can find such sources in a couple of ways:
Many sources are listed in Discover@MU or are included in the Hathi Trust Digital Library or in the Internet Archive. You can limit by publication date or use the subject headings listed above to focus on primary sources. But we also have databases that reproduce primary sources:
Offers full-text searchable letters and diaries of soldiers and noncombatants on both sides of the U.S. Civil War. The database can be searched by U.S. state, topics described, year of writers death, as well as by Union or Confederate loyalty and many other ways.
Provides access to full-text letters & diaries by North American women from colonial times to 1950. This collection includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters.
A full-text collection resources that chronicle the development of America across 150 years that include digitized images of the pages of magazines and journals.
Provides access to nineteenth-century books, periodicals, official documents, newspapers and archives. Includes Palmer's Index to The Times, Periodicals Index Online, Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, and Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, among others.
Contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
