Researchers often use firsthand accounts of specific events, or direct investigations to understand events from the viewpoint of people living during that time period. Primary materials can be diaries, news stories from that time period, personal journals, interviews, oral histories, letters, manuscripts, and a variety of visual documents such as photogrpahs and maps. For popular reaction to events/issues, try searching the Letters to the Editor in a newspaper such as The New York Times.
New York Times
Everyone with a WPI email address has access to NYTimes.com. This exciting service will provide you with an e-subscription to The New York Times to stay connected with the events of the day. In addition, you will have access to the extensive NYT database dating back to 1851 – a tremendous research tool.
To set up your account, go to:
http://www.accessnyt.com/ (If on campus or otherwise within the WPI IP range)
http://ezproxy.wpi.edu/login?url=http://ezmyaccount.nytimes.com/grouppass/redir (If off campus and outside the WPI IP range)
Once you have activated your account you can log in no matter where you are at https://www.nytimes.com/.
You can also access New York Times articles from 1851 to 2013 via the New York Times Historical database from ProQuest:
Search full text and images 1851-2020 including news, illustrations, editorials, and advertisements.
To find primary sources online, try adding keywords like journals, papers, letters, documents, primary sources, or documentary history to your search terms. Primary sources can often be found on library, museum, and government websites.
Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.