Conquer It
My friend Omar is doing his project on First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, but he’s struggling to identify historical sources. Watch the following video and listen as Omar tells us a little bit more about Eleanor Roosevelt.
Let’s take a minute to help Omar examine his sources. If you get stuck, you might want to review the definitions of primary and secondary sources again.
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A primary source is an original document or object created by someone who was living during the same time period that you are studying. Primary sources help to capture a moment in time (including the thoughts, words and feelings) from the past.
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A secondary source is a secondhand account created by someone who did not participate in the historical period you are studying.
Can you separate these into primary and secondary sources? Complete the drag-and-drop activity below by deciding what kind of source each item is.
What makes the primary sources different from the secondary sources?
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The primary source items, including a book, letter, and speech, were all created by Eleanor Roosevelt when she was alive. There’s also a photograph that was taken of her when she was living.
The secondary source items include books and media that were created by someone else after Eleanor Roosevelt’s death and provide information about her life.