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.
To find primary sources via Google, 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.
Many primary source documents are republished in books, or even referenced within books on historical topics. To find these books, search WPI Library Search for books about your topic and add keywords like journals, papers, letters, documents, or documentary history to your search terms.
Candid Science: Conversations with Famous Chemists by 
Candid Science III: More Conversations with Famous Chemists by 
A Documentary History of Biochemistry, 1770-1940 by 
A Hammer in Their Hands: A Documentary History of Technology and the African-American Experience by 
Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civilian Space Program by The Gordon Library Archives are a great resource for primary sources. To learn more about the Archives' collections or to schedule a visit to the Archives, please call 508-831-6112 or e-mail archives@wpi.edu.
Richard T. Whitcomb Collection