Finding Primary Source Photographs
There are many ways by which to search for historical photographs. Be sure to check that the photographs you find are not copyrighted but are in the public domain.
For famous court trials, you may be able to find photos or sketches of the trial, judges, attorneys, plaintiffs, and defendants.
*Be sure to cite your photographs!
Here is an example of locating a primary source photograph from the Library of Congress.
* Click on either the file type (e.g., JPEG) or “View Larger” links to access a larger copy of the photograph.
Here are some additional places to find primary source photographs:
- Newspaper databases (see links above under “Locating a Primary Source Article” - historical news articles on your topic may also include a photo or sketch.
- Internet Archive
- There may be a digital collection of photographs created by a university library on your topic. To search for a digital collection like that, try the following search terms in Google:
- “digital collection Holmesburg prison”
- In the search results for this example you’ll see that Temple University Libraries has a number of photographs of Holmesburg prison in Philadelphia and Dr. Albert Kligman. Always be sure to review the rights statements.
