LibGuides: HSTR 101C: Epidemics from the Black Death to to Aids (Fall 2022) : Primary Sources

Find Primary Sources

Primary sources are sources which provide a first hand account of events, or are artifacts from those events. They can be anything in any format - letters, diaries oral histories, newspaper articles, speeches, laws, treaties, artworks, and more. Old things are not always primary sources, context and contents are important. Understanding the provenance of a thing can help you decide if it's useful to your argument or not, and we must read primary sources with the same critical eye as we do anything else.

A great source for primary sources is in your secondary sources -

in the citations and notes, as something the author has consulted; or,
in the historical narrative. A law was passed, a treaty signed, a speech delivered etc - we can find those documents that were part of events.

Seeking primary sources involves understanding the key people, places, and events of your topic, and thinking through what kind of documentary evidence might exist. Then you can seek those things in a variety of places:

republished in books: search for your topic + "sources"
Online, via a google search, using google images, or using a site which collects primary sources
via our subscriptions to collected archives, government documents, newspapers, and more.

Online Sources

There are many excellent collections of primary sources onlne - a google search (topic + primary sources) should reveal the biggest ones. I also love this guide from the Unviersit of Washington, and don't forget about the huge sites like Europeana, which cover every possible topic in european History or the British Library for UK History.

Below are some collections that are useful for the HIstory of Medicine. This is not a comprehensive list, there's much more out there, especially if you search for specific epidemics or topics in the History of Medicine.

Images from the History of Medicine Provides access to thousands of images in the prints and photographs collection of the History of Medicine Division (HMD) of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). The collection includes portraits, pictures of institutions, caricatures, genre scenes, and graphic art in a variety of media, illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine.
Index of Medieval Art The Index records works of art produced without geographical limitations from early apostolic times up to A.D. 1400 (extended in the case of the Morgan and Princeton Library projects to include this manuscript holdings up to the end of the sixteenth century). As is to be expected, there is a particular emphasis and focus on art of the western world. The database is both text and image although some works of art may not have an accompanying image. Approximately thirty percent of the images, due to copyright laws, are restricted for public use and cannot be accessed by the public subscriber. To compensate for this every effort is made to include, where possible, a bibliographic reference which will include a published image of the work and this can be consulted outside of the electronic resource.

Medieval Travel Writing This project provides direct access to a widely scattered collection of original medieval manuscripts that describe travel - real and imaginary - in the Middle Ages. These sources tell us much about the attitudes and preconceptions of people across Europe in the medieval period, shedding light on issues of race, economics, trade, militarism, politics, literature and science. They will be welcomed by scholars in both literature and history as well as by French and German studies departments.

NLM History of Medicine Collection The NLM's History of Medicine Division collects, preserves, makes available, and interprets for diverse audiences one of the world's richest collections of historical material related to human health and disease.
Wellcome Arabic Manuscripts online
Wellcome Images A unique collection, with themes ranging from medical and social history to contemporary healthcare and biomedical science, including Tibetan Buddhist paintings, ancient Sanskrit manuscripts written on palm leaves, illuminated Persian books and more.

the Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History & Culture Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 covers topics including LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis. It provides researchers with the documents necessary to delve deep into the Gay Rights Movement with resources that may otherwise go undiscovered. Repositories for this collection include: Lesbian Herstory Educational Foundation; Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives; Women's Energy Bank; GLBT Historical Society; National Library of Medicine; among other archives.

Selected Web Resources

Contagion : Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics
This online collection offers important historical perspectives on the science and public policy of epidemiology today and contributes to the understanding of the global, social–history, and public–policy implications of diseases. It is a digital library collection that brings a unique set of resources from Harvard’s libraries to Internet users everywhere.
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Brought to you by Harvard University Open Collections Program.
HLWIKI Canada - History of Surgery in BC (and Canada)
National Library of Medicine History Homepage
William Osler Photo Collection
The William Osler Photo Collection chronicles Sir William's life (1849-1919) from his childhood in the Canadian wilderness to his medical education at McGill University, his innovative days as a doctor and teacher in Canada and the United States, and the final years of his life in Oxford, England.
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Hosted by McGill University
WWW-VL: History: Science, Technology History | Medicine, Natural History, Astronomy, Computing, Physics, Mathematics
A list of links, organized by topic, to resources in the history of science, technology and medicine.
History of Vaccines
This site explores the role of immunization in the human experience and it's continuing role in human life.