Historical Health Care Policy Research: Primary Sources

Primary sources are the raw materials of history; an original document that contains contemporary, first-hand, evidence regarding an historical event, place, time, person, etc.

Examples of Primary Sources:

• Legal Documents - Affordable Care Act

• Letters/Diaries - Letter from Abraham Lincoln to Erastus Corning

• Speeches - Ronald Reagan State of the Union Address

• Creative Works - Communist Manifesto, Carl Marx and Frederick Engels

• Art/Architecture - Statue of Asclepius

• Period Newspapers - Evening Star, March 15, 1917

• Manuscripts/Archival Records - National Library of Medicine Archives

• Government Documents - Constitution of the United States

• Scientific Documents - Big Cities Health Coalition Data

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Examines the difference between primary and secondary sources using the John F. Kennedy assassination.