The group of documents known as family papers represents one of the largest categories of primary sources. This diverse group includes personal letters, diaries, photographs, wills, memoirs, ephemera, and even transcriptions of interviews and oral histories. These sources offer students a window into the daily lives of both ordinary people and extraordinary historical figures. Personal papers truly humanize history. History loses its reputation as an endless progression of facts and dates as students learn first hand about family life, entertainment, holiday traditions, and life on the job, on the front, or on vacation.
People produce and keep a surprising amount of personal records in their lifetime.
In them can be found a wealth of human history.