Why We Need Secondary Sources
What we can learn about a historical period or topic from a single primary source such as the photograph of the women coal miners is really quite limited. Firstly, this photograph is evidence that women worked in the mines of South Wales in the 1860s. From it we might describe their clothing, physical stature and expressions; as well as noting indications of the conditions of work from the types of tools and implements they carry. But to say much more about the photograph, and begin to understand its significance, we must turn to secondary sources. We need to know about the mining industry where and when the picture was taken. A broader social, political, economic and cultural context is necessary if we want to use the photograph to illustrate or back-up statements about the lives of women workers in this industry. Secondary sources are therefore essential for background information and to tell us what other historians know about the subject. They will enable us to place our photograph in its wider historical context and help us to ask the right questions about our source. Secondary sources also alert us to other evidence that we may need to consult.

Beware Of Primary Sources!
Primary sources need to be treated with caution because they were created for the purposes of their producers, and not necessarily with an eye to accuracy or truthfulness. They contain several layers of evidence and need to be analysed, evaluated and interpreted with this in mind. Arthur Marwick, a former professor of history at the Open University, suggests that primary sources contain both intentional and unintentional evidence. In our example there is the deliberate message conveyed by the photograph – the pose, demeanour and expression of the women. Then there is the unintended information it conveys about the contemporary interest in women workers. We are told this is one of forty-nine studio photographs of Welsh patch girls and that this was a commercial undertaking, with copies readily available for collectors. But in order to learn more about why the photograph was taken, who the buyers were and some of the reasons to doubt that these images are wholly accurate depictions of such workers, we need to look at Angela V. John’s discussion in her book. So we must maintain a critical view of the evidence and begin from the assumption that it may well not be a true reflection of reality.

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Content last updated: 07/01/2005

About our expert

Alan Sennett is an Associate Lecturer at the Open University and lectures in modern history, politics and film at Manchester and Liverpool universities. He also lectures and tutors for a number of adult educational organisations in addition to freelance research and writing. He studied modern history at Sheffield City Polytechnic, took his MA in Political Sociology at Leeds and a PhD at Manchester University. Research interests include political organisations in the Spanish Civil War, the cinema of Empire, Soviet and Weimar cinemas and the documentary film movement in Britain.

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