Primary sources are a moving target because what constitutes a primary source very much depends on your research.
Search Albert (Library catalog) for "personal narratives" in book form. For example, civil war and "personal narratives" would search the subject headings and titles and return some suggested books or video that fit. Try other subjects, but stay broad in your search-- gettysburg and letters, for instance, or confederacy and diaries. If "personal narratives" doesn't work, try: sources, narratives, letters, diaries, diary, etc.
Other suggestions if you are having trouble identifying primary sources:
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (2nd floor, 973.7 L638) New Brunswick: Rutgers University, 9 volumes.
The Papers of Ulysses S Grant (2nd floor, 973.82 G767p) Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 30 volumes.
Freedom: a documentary history of emancipation, 1861-1867. Series. 1 (2nd floor, 973.71 B455) 3 vols. Cambridge, 1985-. Continuing series on emancipation during and after the Civil War. Series 2 focuses on the Black Military Experience, and Series 3 with Land and Labor after the Civil War.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. (2nd floor, 973.74 Un3o) General index. Washington, DC: US GPO, 1927. There is an index to the collection of documents in this same call number.
War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (2nd floor, 973.74 Un3) 70 vols. Washington, DC: GPO, 1901. You can also find it on the Web.
The Library has an excellent collection of historical newspapers. Search by event, person, and/or date. Remember that what makes a newspaper a primary source is the contemporary account of the event. A retrospective article written years after the event may not be a primary source (it really depends on your research).
Also:
The Library offers a diary and collection of letters to add to the scholarship for the American Civil War. There is also some interesting online collections as well.
The SMC Library also has:
Here are various primary source collections of possible interest (below). If you are looking for something specific, try searching for it on the web. For instance, if you would like to find documentation relating to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, try searching like this: assassination and "abraham lincoln" and eyewitness. You'll find various quotes and statements by people who were watching the same play that Lincoln was watching when he was shot. Always put the named object in quotes to keep the words as a phrase. Obviously, only do this if you know what the source is called! This is a great way to find government documents of all sorts, speeches, interviews, and even contemporary news stories if someone has scanned said stories and placed them on the web. Please do ask for help if you can't find what you are looking for!
Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide - Includes the Abraham Lincoln collection from the Library of Congress, but also access to other documents from around the world, and a biography on Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress - Use in conjunction with Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, (which focuses on the years 1830-1861).
American Slave Narratives - Transcripts from selected interviews (thirteen) of former slaves. These are annotated with explanations of lapses and inconsistencies in the narratives. Remarkable and unique site.
Civil War Maps - Browse over 2,000 maps with campaigns, battlefields, and much more. From the Library of Congress.
Civil War Photographic Collection From the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress, contains over 1,000 photographs of the War in all its aspects.
The Civil War: Women and the Homefront: Primary Sources Online - Diaries, letters, personal narratives by women during the Civil War. From Duke University.
Documenting the American South Relates the Southern experience in 19th century America through text and graphics; subject areas include narratives on slavery, diaries and memoirs and autobiographies; numerous links to other sites are included.
Foreign Relations of the United States - The digitized version of this venerable series. Click on Browse to get a chronological listing of volumes, beginning in 1861. Often the digitized documents are listed in older years. All documents are compiled by the State Department's Office of the Historian.
Frederick Douglass Papers - Full text of speeches, letters etc. all from Frederick Douglass. From the Library of Congress American Memory Project.
"I Will Be Heard!": Abolitionism in America - Examples of materials in the antislavery collection at Cornell University Library.
Making of America A "digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction [1850-1877]." Now being kept by Hathi Trust. Searchable.
Secession Era Editorials - Transcriptions of many primary texts from nineteenth century American history. Includes texts in such subjects as: Slavery/Sectionalism, 1860 Election, Secession/War, John Brown/Harper's Ferry, and Post Civil War.
Ulysses S Grant Digital Collection - Digitized Papers of Ulysses S Grant and political cartoons. From Mississippi State University.
Valley of the Shadow - Two towns, one in the North and one in the South, their lives and influences examined through diaries, letters, and other primary sources.
Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories - From the Library of Congress, audio of 23 slaves' interviews recorded between 1932 and 1975. Transcripts are also included. Supports the book Remembering Slavery (2nd floor 326.0922 B455)
War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies - Use this source if you are doing any type of research that involves the battles or the people who commanded them. Also available as a book series in the Library. Preserved by Hathi Trust. Browse down below the title to see the individual volumes or search within the title.
Women Soldiers of the Civil War - Articles from the National Archives discussing and documenting the women who served as soldiers in the Civil War.
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