Primary Sources

Teachers, need a primary source to create a lesson in the classroom? Students, need a source for a research project?

Here, we've listed the primary sources featured in our Unit Plans. Click on a primary source to go to its page, where you may find additional images, transcriptions of the text, a citation guide for including the source in a bibliography, or ways to purchase copies of the source for the classroom.

HSP's collections are not limited to the primary sources listed here. To see all that HSP has to offer, come visit us or explore our collection online through the Digitial Library and the Discover online catalog.

Some sources have handwriting that is difficult to read. If you need help decoding handwriting, check out this guide from Ancestry.

By Topic

Shigezo and Sonoko Iwata This is a photograph of Shizego and Sonoko Iwata from their family photograph collection. 21st century, Ethnic history	School class at Poston This was a school class at the Poston War Relocation Center. 21st century, Education, Ethnic history
Sonoko Iwata with her children at Poston This is a photograph of Sonoko Iwata with her children, Masahiro, Misao, Miki, at Poston in 1942. 20th century, Ethnic history, World War II	The Iwata Family This photo is of the Iwata family: Shigezo, Sonoko, Masahiro (13), Miki (10), Michi (7), and Misono (4) in Seabrook, NJ. 21st century, Ethnic history
Four young girls sitting on a step This photograph shows four young girls sitting on a step at Poston. 20th century, Ethnic history, World War II	Sonoko Iwata and her parents Sonoko Iwata at age 2, with parents, at home in Montebello, CA, circa 1914. Standing: Miyo and Miyosaku, mother and father of Sonoko. 21st century, Ethnic history
Sonoko Iwata and her mother Sonoko Iwata and her mother are pictured here in the garden at the Green Hotel. 20th century, Ethnic history, World War II	Letter from Dora Kelly Lewis to Louise Lewis 4/14/1920 Letter from Dora Kelly Lewis to her daughter, Louise Lewis, April 14, 1920. In it, she mentions how the "negro question" could ruin the campaign for suffrage. 20th century, Civil Rights, Women
Letter from Dora Kelly Lewis to Louise Lewis 1/10/1919 Letter from Dora Kelly Lewis to her daughter, Louise Lewis, January 10, 1919. Dora Kelly Lewis served actively in the Suffrage movement and became an executive member of the National Women's Party in 1913. She was imprisoned while campaigning for voting rights for women and wrote letters from prison to her family discussing her suffragist activities and reassuring them that her actions were not illegal. 20th century, Civil Rights, Women	Summary: Chapter Congressional Meeting 100th Congress This is a blank summary form for recording notes of meetings with Congressional representatives concerning redress for the hardships that the Japanese endured as a result of their time in the internment camps. It includes sections for recording the representative's position on redress and views on compensation. This form was used by the Japanese American Citizens League in their redress efforts. 21st century, Government and civics
Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34 Instructions to persons of Japanese ancestry from the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army Wartime Civil Control Administration, Presidio of San Francisco, California. This ordered all people of Japanese ancestry, whether they were citizens or non-citizens, who were living in "Military Area No. 1" to report to assembly centers. 20th century, Ethnic history, World War II	“Committee on Employment: Freedmen’s Employment Agency Books, 1862-1865” This record comes from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society Committee on Employment's Freedmen's Employment Agency books in the early 1860's. 19th century, African American, Business, Economics, Ethnic history, Labor, Philadelphia