ALL HANDS ARCHIVEFor students · Grades 6-12
Research guide
How to find a primary source, check that you may use it, and cite it. Every example below is a real item we used.
1 · Primary or secondary?
A primary source was made at the time by someone involved: the Navy film shot at Leyte on Oct 20, 1944, or Roosevelt’s message that day. A secondary source explains events later, like the Army’s 1954 history by Hamlin Cannon. Historians use both, and check every claim in at least two sources.
2 · Where to look
| Archive | Search here | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| National Archives (NARA) | catalog.archives.gov | Search a topic plus a year (“Leyte 1944”). Filter to “Available online.” Write down the NAID number and the local identifier (e.g. 428-NPC-5802). |
| Library of Congress (LOC) | loc.gov | Use the “Rights & Access” note on each item. Chronicling America has newspapers from the day. |
| Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) | history.navy.mil | Photo pages list an ID like 80-G-288886 and a caption. H-Grams are short, sourced histories. |
| US Army Center of Military History | history.army.mil | Official histories (“Green Books”) are free PDFs. |
3 · Can I reuse it?
Works made by US government employees as part of their job are public domain (17 U.S.C. 105). Still read the rights note on every item: donated or third-party material can be restricted. For a school project you can usually quote and show sources with credit; for publishing online, stick to public domain, CC0 or CC BY.
4 · Cite it: real examples
| Item | Chicago (notes-bibliography, bibliography entry) | MLA 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Film at NARA | US Navy. Bombardment & Invasion of Leyte Islands. Motion picture, October 20, 1944. 428-NPC-5802, National Archives Identifier 77670. Moving Images Relating to Military Activities, ca. 1947–1980. General Records of the Department of the Navy, Record Group 428. National Archives at College Park, MD. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77670. | Bombardment & Invasion of Leyte Islands. United States Navy, 20 Oct. 1944. General Records of the Department of the Navy, Record Group 428, National Archives at College Park, 428-NPC-5802, NAID 77670, catalog.archives.gov/id/77670. |
| NHHC photo | US Navy. “USS Heermann (DD-532) Laying Smoke … off Samar, 25 October 1944.” Photograph 80-G-270517. Naval History and Heritage Command. https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/80-G-270000/80-G-270517.html. | “USS Heermann (DD-532) Laying Smoke … off Samar, 25 October 1944.” 1944. Naval History and Heritage Command, 80-G-270517, www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/80-G-270000/80-G-270517.html. |
| Official history (book) | Cannon, M. Hamlin. Leyte: The Return to the Philippines. United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, US Army, 1954. | Cannon, M. Hamlin. Leyte: The Return to the Philippines. Center of Military History, United States Army, 1954. |
| Presidential message | Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Congratulations to General MacArthur.” October 20, 1944. American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/congratulations-general-macarthur. | Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Congratulations to General MacArthur.” 20 Oct. 1944. The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/congratulations-general-macarthur. |
| Sound recording | MacArthur, Douglas. Recorded message to the people of the Philippines. 1944. Voice 4334, G. Robert Vincent Voice Library, Michigan State University. https://d.lib.msu.edu/vvl/2727. | MacArthur, Douglas. Recorded message to the people of the Philippines. 1944. G. Robert Vincent Voice Library, Michigan State U, Voice 4334, d.lib.msu.edu/vvl/2727. |
| Web article | Naval History and Heritage Command. “H-038-2: Leyte Gulf in Detail.” Accessed October 21, 2026. https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-038/h-038-2.html. | “H-038-2: Leyte Gulf in Detail.” Naval History and Heritage Command, www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-038/h-038-2.html. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026. |
Chicago footnote form for the book: 1. M. Hamlin Cannon, Leyte: The Return to the Philippines (Washington, DC: Center of Military History, US Army, 1954), 62. (Page 62 is where Cannon writes that rockets hit the beaches “with the rumble of an earthquake.”) Always use the page you actually read. Check your teacher’s preferred style edition.
5 · Ask these questions of every source
- Who made it, and when? Were they there?
- Why was it made, and for whom? (A newsreel was made for the public; an operations report was made for commanders.)
- What does it leave out? A film shows one beach, not the whole battle.
- Does a second source agree?
Practice with our Leyte article, the source library, and the free teacher guide (PDF).