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How to: Work With Primary Sources

Starting points for learning about and using primary sources at College of the Holy Cross.

Chicago Manual of Style (Notes-Bibliography)

As of September 2024, Chicago Manual of Style has updated to the 18th edition. 
Consult with your professor to confirm whether you should use the 17th or 18th edition. 

Notes-Bibliography is the version of Chicago style which uses footnotes for in-text citation. 

Book with a single author or editor 

First footnote: Amy D. Finstein, Modern Mobility Aloft: Elevated Highways, Architecture, and Urban Change in Pre-Interstate America (Temple University Press, 2020), 10. 

Second footnote:  Finstein, Modern Mobility Aloft, 10. 

Bibliography: Finstein, Amy D. Modern Mobility Aloft: Elevated Highways, Architecture, and Urban Change in Pre-Interstate America. Temple University Press, 2020.

Journal article from an online database

First footnote: Chanelle Robinson, "'Papa Don't Preach': Imagining a Theology of Apology in Canada," Toronto Journal of Theology 35, no.1 (2019): 10, https://doi.org/10.3138/tjt.2018-0120.

Second footnote: Robinson, "'Papa Don't Preach,'" 10. 

Bibliography: Robinson, Chanelle. "'Papa Don't Preach': Imagining a Theology of Apology in Canada." Toronto Journal of Theology 35, no.1 (2019): 9-24. https://doi.org/10.3138/tjt.2018-0120.

Online newspaper/magazine article 

First footnote: Edward T. O'Donnell, "When Irish Immigrants Were America's Most Feared Terrorist Group," Washington Post, March 17, 2019, ProQuest Central. 

Second footnote: O'Donnell, "Irish Immigrants." 

Bibliography: O'Donnell, Edward T. "When Irish Immigrants Were America's Most Feared Terrorist Group." Washington Post, March 17, 2019. ProQuest Central. 

Page from a website

First footnote: "Classics," College of the Holy Cross, accessed August 19, 2024, https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/classics. 

Second footnote: "Classics."

Bibliography: College of the Holy Cross. "Classics." Accessed August 19, 2024. https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/classics. 

As of September 2024, Chicago Manual of Style has updated to the 18th edition. 
Consult with your professor to confirm whether you should use the 17th or 18th edition. 

Notes-Bibliography is the version of Chicago style which uses footnotes for in-text citation. 

Book with a single author or editor 

First footnote: Amy D. Finstein, Modern Mobility Aloft: Elevated Highways, Architecture, and Urban Change in Pre-Interstate America (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2020), 10. 

Second footnote:  Finstein, Modern Mobility Aloft, 10. 

Bibliography: Finstein, Amy D. Modern Mobility Aloft: Elevated Highways, Architecture, and Urban Change in Pre-Interstate America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2020.

Journal article from an online database

First footnote: Chanelle Robinson, "'Papa Don't Preach': Imagining a Theology of Apology in Canada," Toronto Journal of Theology 35, no.1 (2019): 10, https://doi.org/10.3138/tjt.2018-0120.

Second footnote: Robinson, "'Papa Don't Preach,'" 10. 

Bibliography: Robinson, Chanelle. "'Papa Don't Preach': Imagining a Theology of Apology in Canada." Toronto Journal of Theology 35, no.1 (2019): 9-24. https://doi.org/10.3138/tjt.2018-0120.

Online newspaper/magazine article 

First footnote: Edward T. O'Donnell, "When Irish Immigrants Were America's Most Feared Terrorist Group," Washington Post, March 17, 2019, ProQuest Central. 

Second footnote: O'Donnell, "Irish Immigrants." 

Bibliography: O'Donnell, Edward T. "When Irish Immigrants Were America's Most Feared Terrorist Group." Washington Post, March 17, 2019. ProQuest Central. 

Page from a website

First footnote: "Classics," College of the Holy Cross, accessed August 19, 2024, https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/classics. 

Second footnote: "Classics."

Bibliography: "Classics." College of the Holy Cross. Accessed August 19, 2024. https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/classics. 

As of September 2024, Chicago Manual of Style has updated to the 18th edition. 
Consult with your professor to confirm whether you should use the 17th or 18th edition. 

Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition:

Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition:

The Basics

Most History courses in Holy Cross will require you to cite sources using the Notes-Bibliography Chicago style. If you are unsure, check with your professor. Note that Notes-Bibliography is the version of Chicago style which is done using footnotes. Below are a few examples of citations for primary sources in Chicago Style. 

Need more help? Use the resources listed in the Chicago Citation Help box below. For the most detailed information, we recommend consulting the print Chicago Manual or Chicago Manual of Style online (links below).  The Chicago manual offers detailed examples for almost any kind of primary source you can think of! 

Using a different citation style? See our Citing Your Sources guide and choose the page for the appropriate style. 


Book with a single author

Footnote: Linus H. Shaw, The War, and Its Cause: A Sermon Preached at Sudbury, Mass., on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 21, 1861, at a Union Meeting of the Religious Societies of the Town (Waltham, Press of Josiah Hastings, 1861), p. 10. 

Bibliography: Shaw, Linus H. The War, and Its Cause: A Sermon Preached at Sudbury, Mass., on Thanksgiving Day, Nov 21, 1861, at a Union Meeting of the Religious Societies of the Town. Waltham: Press of Josiah Hastings, 1861

Published correspondence

Footnote: Grant to McPherson, 1 July 1863. In The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, ed. John Y. Simon (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979), 8:200. 

Bibliography: Grant, Ulysses S. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to Gen. James B. McPherson, 1 July 1863. In The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, edited by John Y. Simon, vol. 8. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1979. 

Newspaper article found online

Footnote: George Kilmer, "Crisis on Round-Top," Gettysburg Compiler, September 15, 1896, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nOIyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1QAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6532%2C1049003

Bibliography: Kilmer, George. "Crisis on Round-Top." Gettysburg Compiler, September 15, 1896. 
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nOIyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1QAGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6532%2C1049003