History 

Letters and diaries provide a personal angle on history and often gives voice to the common person such as the WWI soldier in the trenches or the sweetheart on the homefront.  However keep in mind that, like all sources, letters and diaries follow the convention of their times and must be considered in light of the writer's motivations and biases.  There are a number of published collections of letters especially those written by well-known historical figures (Walt Whitman or Winston Churchill).  Unpublished diaries and letters are found in manuscript repositories such as the Special Collections here at the UW.

Help: Making Sense of Letters & Diaries

To find published letters and diaries search the UW Libraries Catalog and use the terms diaries or correspondence in conjunction with your topic. For example:

• correspondence and civil war
• diaries and pioneers
• disraeli and correspondence

To find published letters and diaries available at the UW Libraries search the UW Libraries Catalog using the search terms:correspondence or diaries. This search will also find letters and diaries housed in Special Collections. Additional collections of this type of primary source can be found under the tabs for History by Region and History by Topic.