Resources for African American History

National Research Collections

• The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York Public Library): The Schomburg Center "is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world." The Center provides access to over 5,000,000 items including art objects, audio and video tapes, books, manuscripts, motion picture films, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, prints, recorded music discs and sheet music.
• John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American Documentation (Duke University): The John Hope Franklin Research Center is an African and African-American studies documentation and an educational outreach division of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University. The Center consists of manuscripts, rare books, organizational records, personal papers, oral histories, photographs, and other archival material concerning African-American history and culture, with particular strengths in nineteenth century slavery and African-American life in the post-World War II civil rights era.
• The African-American Mosaic: Selections from the Library of Congress' Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture. For additional information about archival collections of African Americans at the Library of Congress see the Illustrated Guide to African American History and Culture.
• W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research (Harvard University): The Institute is the nation's oldest research center dedicated to the study of the "history, culture, and social institutions of African Americans. Founded in 1975, the Institute serves as the site for research projects, fellowships for emerging and established scholars, publications, and conferences."
• The John Henrik Clarke Africana Library at Cornell University: Provides extensive electronic and print resources, both primary and secondary, at Cornell focusing on the history and culture of people of African ancestry.
• Amistad Research Center (Tulane University): contains over ten million items documenting African American history and race relations.
• Slave Movement During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: an excellent site at the University of Wisconsin-Madison leading researchers to the "raw data and documentation which contains information on slave trade topics from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."
• American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology
• African American Warriors: contains links to primary and secondary material on "African Americans in the Civil War, African American soldiers in the Civil War, Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airman, The 24th Infantry in Korea, and Colin Powell."
• Archives of African American Music and Culture (Indiana University): established in 1991, the Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) is a "repository of materials covering musical idioms and cultural expressions from the post-World War II era."
• African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920: the Library of Congress organized this collection from Brown University consisting of "1,305 pieces of African-American sheet music dating from 1850 through 1920. The collection includes many songs from the heyday of ante-bellum black face minstrels in the 1850s and from the abolitionist movement of the same period, with numerous titles associated with the novel and the play Uncle Tom's Cabin.
• Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College in Chicago: "The Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College Chicago documents, collects, preserves, and disseminates information about black music in all parts of the world." Search by keyword, author, or title.
• The Black Film Center Archives (Indiana University): "The Black Film Center/Archive is a repository of films and related materials by and about African Americans. Included are films which have substantial participation by African Americans as writers, actors, producers, directors, musicians, and consultants, as well as those which depict some aspect of black experience."
• The King Library and Archives: The King Papers Project is a major research effort to assemble and disseminate historical information concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. and the social movements in which he participated
• Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project (University of California, Los Angeles): provides archival documents and biographical information related to the life and work of Marcus Garvey.
• National Archives for Black Women's History at the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site, Washington D.C.: "commemorates the life of Mary McLeod Bethune and the organization she founded, the National Council of Negro Women." Includes the National Archive for Black Women's History which include collects, preserves and maked accessible "correspondence, photographs, and speeches relating to Mary McLeod Bethune, the National Council of Negro Women, and other African American women and their organizations."
• Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (Howard University): collections at the Center document "the history and culture of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and other parts of the world. Their collections include more than 175,000 bound volumes and tens of thousands of journals, periodicals, and newspapers; more than 17,000 feet of manuscript and archival Collections; nearly 1000 audio tapes; hundreds of artifacts; 100,000 prints, photographs, maps, and other graphic items."
• Freedmen and Southern Society Project at the University of Maryland: The Freedmen and Southern Society Project was established in 1976 and provides online access to over 50,000 documents from the National Archives "depicting the drama of emancipation in the words of the participants: liberated slaves and defeated slaveholders, soldiers and civilians, common folk and the elite, Northerners and Southerners.
• LEST WE FORGET: The Untold History of America: an excellent and comprehensive page that provide links to primary and secondary sources.
• Smithsonian: African American History and Culture: contains selected links to sites hosted by Smithsonian Institution museums and organizations.
• The Black Panther Party Research Project (BPPRP): The project was created during 1997 to locate sources and develop finding aids to assist researchers and the general public with uncovering information about one of the twentieth century's most controversial, yet least researched organizations.
• Carl Van Vechten Photographs Collection: Search or browse images from the Library of Congress' Carl Van Vechten Photograph Collection which consists  of "1,395 photographs taken by American photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) between 1932 and 1964. The bulk of the collection consists of portrait photographs of celebrities, including many figures from the Harlem Renaissance."
• The Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection: the Library of Congress makes available full-text manuscripts docuemnting African-American history and culture  from the early nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, with the bulk of the material published between 1875 and 1900. Search and browse by keyword or subject form authors such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Benjamin W. Arnett, Alexander Crummel, and Emanuel Love.

Local, State, and Regional Research Collections

• African American History of Western New York: A research project that is studying the "historical presence of Blacks in Buffalo, Rochester, Jamestown, Syracuse, Geneva, Ithaca, Corning, Niagara Falls, Canandaigua, Fredonia, and, in general, western New York State from 1700 to 2000."
• An African-American bibliography: Selected sources from the collections of the New York State Library. Albany, N.Y. : University of the State of New York, State Education Dept., New York State Library, 1993.
• Records Relating to African Americans in the New York State Archives
• Yates, Melinda. An African-American bibliography: history. Albany, N.Y. : University of the State of New York, State Education Dept., New York State Library, [1992]
• A guide to Afro-American and African primary sources at Harvard University and Radcliffe College. Compiled by Elizabeth E. Sandager. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Library, 1992
• Von Salis, Susan J. Revealing documents : a guide to African American manuscript sources in the Schlesinger Library and the Radcliffe College Archives. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1993.
• Avery Research Center (College of Charleston): Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston, South Carolina documents the "history and culture of African Americans in Charleston and the South Carolina Low Country."
• The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute: consists of archival collections and exhibits documenting the "spirit and courage of countless individuals who, during the 1950's and 1960's, dared to confront the bigotry and racial discrimination of American society."
• Black Archives of Mid-America: This project is a collaboration between the Black Archives of Mid-America Inc. and Kansas City Public Library. Funded by the Missouri State Library, it is the largest repository of African American history and artifacts in the Midwest, particularly in the four-state area of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma.
• Other Great Migrations: African-Americans in the West: WestWeb provides a decent guide to sources on the history of African Americans in the West.
• Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago Public Library.
• Charles Blockson Collection (Temple University): "this collection of over 30,000 items has materials on the global black experience in all formats: books, manuscripts, sheet music, pamphlets, journals, newspapers, broadsides, posters, photographs, and rare ephemera. In addition, the collection houses selected artifacts, including statues, busts, etc."
• 54th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, Co. 1: Portrays the experience of the "African American soldier in the American Civil War in South Carolina. Includes a view on the Fighting 54th Re-enaction today, upcoming events and activities, information on other African Americans in South Carolina during the war, etc."
• African Missouri: The University of Missouri-St.Louis provide links to "information, articles, and narrative" on the History of African Americans in St. Louis.
• A Guide to African-American Resources in North Carolina: the University of Virginia provides a searchable database for archival resources in North Carolina.
• Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina: contains bibliographic records to manuscripts and books as well as online documents. The page is broken down into the following subject areas: First-Person Narratives of the American South, Library of Southern Literature, North American Slave Narratives, The Southern Homefront, 1861-1865, The Church in the Southern Black Community.
• Afro-American Sources in Virginia: A Guide to Manuscripts: the University of Virginia provides a searchable database for archival resources in Virginia.
• Inventory of African-American Historical and Cultural Resources - Maryland: the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) provides an inventory of archival sources by county.
• UW-Milwaukee Archives: located at the Golda Meir Library of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Archives is the "premier repository for researching the history of Milwaukee-area businesses, civil rights, environmental campaigns, ethnic groups, families, housing, labor, urban development, women, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee." Link to the collections documenting African-Americans.
• The Ohio Historical Society: search or browse the collections of the The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920.

Bibliographies

• Black immigration and ethnicity in the United States : an annotated bibliography. Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, the University of Michigan. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1985. UAlbany University Library E 185 Z999 B43X 1985
• Blacks in America: Bibliographic Essays. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1973. UAlbany University Library Z 1361 N39 B56
• Civil Rights Oral History Bibliography: In the fall of 1997 staff members at the University of Southern Mississippi's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage and at the Tougaloo College Archives compiled information regarding oral history collections documenting the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 and 1972. This is a wonderful guide to most oral history collections of the Civil Rights Movement.
• Davis, Nathaniel. Afro-American References: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Resources, compiled and ed. by Nathaniel Davis. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985.
• De Lerma, Dominique-Rene. Bibliography of Black Music. Foreword by Jessie Carney Smith. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981-1984. 4 vols. UAlbany University Library ML 128 B45 D44
• Gray, John. Blacks in Film and Television: A Pan-African Bibliography of Films, Filmmakers, and Performers. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. UAlbany University Library PN 1993.5 A35 Z991 G73 1990
• Henritze, Barbara K. Bibliographic checklist of African American newspapers. Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Pub. Co., 1995. UAlbany University Library REF PN 4882.5 Z999 H45X 1995
• Newman, Richard. Black Access: A Bibliography of Afro-American Bibliographies. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984. UAlbany University Library E 185 Z999 N46X 1984
• New York Public Library. Interdisciplinary bibliographic guide to Black studies. New York : G.K. Hall, 1999. UAlbany University Library REF E 185 Z999 S36X
• Roe, Tangela G. Black Americans : research on family issues selected references, 1988-1992. Microform. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, [1992] UAlbany University Library Film JK 1108 M35 Suppl., 1992, reel 11, fr. 0053
• Roe, Tangela G. Black Americans: a checklist of CRS products. [microform] : Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 1994. UAlbany University Library GOVDOC Film JK 1108 M35 Suppl., 1994, reel 11, fr. 0073
• Ross, Lee E. African American criminologists, 1970-1996 : an annotated bibliography. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 1998. UAlbany Dewey Library HV 9950 Z999 R668 1998
• Stevenson, Rosemary M. Index to Afro-American reference resources. New York : Greenwood Press, c1988. UAlbany University Library E 185 Z999 S74X 1988

Biographical Sources and Dictionaries

• African American Genealogy mailing list: a listserve for African American genealogy researchers. It is also appropriate to discuss African American history within the mailing list. One can subscribe to the list by sending a message to AAGENE-L@UPEOPLE.COM with a subject of SUBSCRIBE.
• African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. ed. by Dorothy C. Salem. New York: Garland, 1993. Nearly 300 summaries of individual African American women, their significance and their works. The appendix includes entries by career category and an index.
• Black Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook. Boulder, CO: Numbers & Concepts, 1990. Demographics and characteristics of the population; vital statistics and health; education; government, elections, and public opinion; crime, law enforcement, and corrections; labor force, employment, and unemployment; earnings, income, poverty, and wealth; special topics. Includes index.
• Black Biography, 1790-1950: A Cumulative Index, ed. by Randall K. Burkett, Nancy Hall Burkett, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Alexandria: Chadwyck-Healey, 1990. 3 vols.
• Brignano, Russell C., Black Americans in Autobiography: An Annotated Bibliography of Autobiographies and Autobiographical Books Written since the Civil War. Rev. and expanded ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1984.
• The Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History
• Foner, Eric. Freedom's lawmakers : a directory of Black officeholders during Reconstruction. Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 1996. UAlbany University Library E 185.96 F64 1996
• Frazier, Thomas R. Afro-American history : primary sources. Chicago, IL. : Dorsey Press, 1988. UAlbany University Library E 184.6 A35 1988
• Genealogical & Biographical Research. Washington, DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1991.
• Hawkins, Walter L. African American biographies : profiles of 558 current men and women. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, c1992. UAlbany University Library E 185.96 H38 1992
• Logan, Shirley Wilson. With pen and voice : a critical anthology of nineteenth-century African-American women. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, 1995. UAlbany University Library PS 663 N4 W5 1995
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project at Stanford University: contains secondary source material on King as well as primary documents written during King's life.
• Malcolm X: A Research Site: contains links to primary and secondary sources on the life of Civil Rights leader Malcolm X.
• Reference Library of Black America, ed. by Kenneth Estell. Detroit, MI: Gale Research ;distributed by Afro-American Press, c1994. 5 vols. UAlbany University Library
• Who's Who Among African Americans. UAlbany University Library REF E 185.96 W52

Journals

• African American Review (formerly Black American Literature Forum)
• Afro-American History & Culture.
• Afro-American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. UAlbany University Library Per E 184.7 A33
• Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. UAlbany University Library Per E 185 A35
• America: History and Life
• Journal of Afro-American Issues. UAlbany University Library Per E 185.5 J68X
• Journal of Black Studies. UAlbany University Library Per E 185.5 J8
• Journal of Negro History. UAlbany University Library Per E 185 J86

Indexes & Databases

• Analytical Guide and Indexes to the Crisis, 1910-1960. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press. 3 vols. 1975. A selective index designed for users interested in locating the important items dealing with social change and reform.  UAlbany University Library Per E 185.5 C923 R67 1975.
• Black studies database [computer file]. Baltimore, MD : National Information Services Corporation, 1997. UAlbany University Library ReadyRef Z 1361 N39 K34
• Black studies on disc [computer file]. 1995- .Contains 100,000 records for monographs and audiovisual material owned by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the last five years of periodical indexing from Index to Black Periodicals. UAlbany University Library ReadyRef Z 1039 B56 B62
• EBSCO Academic Search Premier. --Interdisciplinary index of more than 1,000 journals, with more than 150 full-text journals. Available to University at Albany students and faculty only.
• Index to Black Periodicals. 1950-9999. Boston, MA. : G.K. Hall & Co. UAlbany University Library Index AI 3 O4 1998
• JSTOR. --Fully searchable text and page images from 16 major historical journals, including American Historical Review, Journal of American History, Journal of Modern History, and William and Mary Quarterly, among others (doesn't include most recent years). Available to University at Albany students and faculty only.
• Newman, Richard. Black Index: Afro-Americana in Selected Periodicals, 1907- 1949. UAlbany University Library E 185 Z999 N48X

Newspapers

• Antebellum Black newspapers : indices to New York Freedom's journal (1827-1829), The Rights of all (1829), The Weekly advocate (1837), and The Colored American (1837-1841) / edited by Donald M. Jacobs, assisted by Heath Paley, Susan Parker, and Dana Silverman. UAlbany University Library E 185.5 J33
• Henritze, Barbara K. Bibliographic checklist of African American newspapers. Baltimore, MD : Genealogical Pub. Co., c1995. UAlbany University Library REF PN 4882.5 Z999 H45X 1995
• La Brie, Henry G. The Black newspaper in America: a guide. [Kennebunkport, Me., Mercer House Press] 1973. UAlbany University Library Z 6944 N39 L3 1973

Exhibits

• The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship: a Library of Congress exhibit that "explores black America's quest for equality from the early national period through the twentieth century."
• AFROAmerica@: The Afro-American Newspaper Company of Baltimore, Inc.: Current online exhibits include "Black Resistance... Slavery in the U.S.", "The Tuskegee Airmen",  "Jackie Robinson", "The Black Panther Party",  "Black or White",  "The Million Man March",  "The Scottsboro Boys", "This Is Our War."
• African American Women Writers of the 19th Century: From the Digital Schomburg Project at the New York Public Library.
• Digital Schomburg: Images of African Americans from the 19th Century: From the Digital Schomburg Project at the New York Public Library.
• The Schomburg Legacy: Documenting the Global Black Experience for the 21st Century: From the Digital Schomburg Project at the New York Public Library.
• Schomburg Center Video Oral History Gallery: Selected Clips from the Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project.
• Still Going On: An Exhibit Celebrating The Life and Times of William Grant Still: A project of The Digital Scriptorium, Special Collections Library, Duke University.
• Third Person, First Person Slave Voices: From The Special Collections Library Broadside Collection, Special Collections Library, Duke University