Notes from the archive
How to research history with
primary sources.
Working guides on finding primary sources, fact-checking historical claims, and using AI without losing the rigor. A new post every week.
Lindsay Clancy Mistrial: What the Jury Did Not Decide
The Lindsay Clancy mistrial ended the trial without a verdict. This source-trail guide separates what the jury deadlock decided from what it did not decide.
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What Anne Boleyn’s Trial Records Actually Prove
The archive proves that Anne Boleyn was accused, tried, convicted, sentenced, and executed. It does not preserve a neutral transcript that proves every allegation.
September 14, 2026 · 9 min read
HistoryFlorentine Diamond Primary Sources: From India to Quebec
I saw the Florentine Diamond in my news feed because of the Quebec bank vault story, but its Indian origin is what caught my attention.
September 9, 2026 · 8 min read
Primary SourcesRodal Report: What Canada’s Court Ordered Disclosed About Nazi War Criminals
A Federal Court ordered Canada to disclose Rodal Report material withheld under section 15. One section 13 passage remains protected, and the public archive copy was unchanged at the September 6 verification cutoff.
September 7, 2026 · 9 min read
Primary SourcesHow 9/11 Changed U.S. Law and Government: Primary Sources
A source-first guide to the laws, investigation records, testimony, and archives that document how the United States changed after September 11, 2001.
September 2, 2026 · 10 min read
Primary SourcesTupac Murder Trial Verdict 2026: Evidence and Records
I grew up in the 90s listening to Tupac. Now a Clark County jury has convicted Duane Davis, and the verdict has to be read with the evidence and its limits.
August 31, 2026 · 21 min read
Primary SourcesBerlin Wall Primary Sources: A Source Trail for August 13, 1961
Berlin Wall primary sources show the gap between public slogans, private planning, refugee pressure, Western intelligence, and what happened in August 1961.
August 26, 2026 · 15 min read
Primary SourcesMendez v. Westminster Primary Sources: 1954 Public School Segregation
Mendez v. Westminster is often remembered as the school desegregation case before Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled public-school segregation unconstitutional. The primary sources show something more specific: families, testimony, court orders, amicus briefs, meaning friend-of-the-court legal arguments, and legal opinions that challenged segregation in California schools.
August 24, 2026 · 14 min read
Primary SourcesVoting Rights Act Primary Sources: Selma, LBJ, Congress, and the Law
Voting Rights Act primary sources show the path from Selma to Congress to the law itself. Here is what the 1965 records actually say, and what they do not prove.
August 19, 2026 · 13 min read
Primary SourcesChernobyl Declassified Records: Sources on the 1986 Disaster
A source trail through Soviet, KGB, IAEA, U.S. intelligence, and radiation records that shows what Chernobyl documents can and cannot prove.
August 17, 2026 · 16 min read
Ancient HistoryHerculaneum Scrolls Primary Sources: Pliny, PHerc. 1667
AI helped researchers read a sealed Herculaneum scroll, but the real story is in the primary sources: Pliny’s letters, PHerc. 1667, open data, and careful scholarly review.
August 12, 2026 · 9 min read
Research MethodsAmazon LiDAR Primary Sources: Orellana, Carvajal, and Ancient Earthworks
Amazon LiDAR is trending because it seems to reopen an old question: did 16th-century witnesses describe real dense Amazon societies, or were they exaggerating? Here is the primary-source trail.
August 4, 2026 · 9 min read
Research MethodsMichael Jackson 2005 Trial Transcripts: What the Court Documents Actually Show
Netflix's 'The Verdict' is number one worldwide. The biopic just hit VOD. Here is what the 2005 trial transcripts, FBI Vault files, and court documents actually show, and where to read them for free.
June 7, 2026 · 10 min read
Research MethodsAmerica at 250: What the Founding Era Primary Sources Actually Say
America turns 250 in 2026. The internet is full of Founder quotes. Most of them are wrong. Here's what the primary sources actually say, and where to read them for free.
May 22, 2026 · 12 min read
Research MethodsIs Homer’s Odyssey Real? What Primary Sources Can (and Can’t) Prove
The Odyssey is trending, and the internet is mixing myth, history, and made-up facts. Here’s what primary sources can actually support, what they can’t, and how to verify claims yourself.
May 14, 2026 · 8 min read
Research MethodsWhy Primary Sources Matter More Than Ever in the AI Era
AI can write a confident essay about any historical event. It can also invent half the citations. Here is why primary sources matter more than they ever have.
May 2, 2026 · 8 min read
Research MethodsUncovering Historical Truth in the Age of Misinformation
Misinformation now spreads at the speed of a click. Here is how primary and secondary sources, plus the right tools, let you verify history for yourself.
October 9, 2024 · 6 min read
Research MethodsTips for Effective Primary Source Research
A short, working guide to finding, evaluating, and organising primary sources for students, teachers, and anyone doing history seriously.
September 30, 2023 · 5 min read
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