In the historical sense, a primary source comes from the time period under study. A secondary source is later, and interprets, or records, later impressions/re

In the historical sense, a primary source comes from the time period under study. A secondary source is later, and interprets, or records, later impressions/recollections of the period in question. So for example, a newspaper article from the 1890s is a primary source about the late 19th century, even if the author had no direct knowledge of the topic about which they were writing.