You can use keywords that denote personal experiences from the time period. For example, you could check for someone's autobiography, letters, diaries, etc.
If one searches for , one will retrieve several books containing diaries.
Subject Searching in Catalogs
One can use Library of Congress Subject Headings to browse subjects and identify primary sources. Some of the subheadins are: Sources Personal narratives Correspondence Anecdotes Manuscripts Archives Papers Newspapers Pictorial Works Cartoons Interviews
Sources is a particularly important one that follows topics, events, etc.