Getting Started Guide: African-American Studies: Internet Sources

"Relying on the expertise of distinguished curators and scholars, Digital Schomburg provides access to trusted information, interpretation, and scholarship on the global black experience 24/7. Users worldwide can find, in this virtual Schomburg Center, exhibitions, books, articles, photographs, prints, audio and video streams, and selected external links for research in the history and cultures of the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora."

African American resources page created by the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

"... is a scholarly organization that aims to foster dialogue about researching, writing, and teaching black thought and culture. "

"... is a digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers. A part of the Digital Schomburg, this collection provides access to the thought, perspectives and creative abilities of black women as captured in books and pamphlets published prior to 1920. A full text database of these 19th and early 20th- century titles, this digital library is key-word-searchable. Each individual title as well as the entire database can be searched to determine what these women had to say about "family", "religion", "slavery" or any other subject of interest to the researcher or casual reader."

This site, provided by Columbia University, is designed as a "unique multimedia resource for secondary school teachers to enhance their knowledge and ability in teaching African-American history"

"... is the award-winning blog of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). As engaged scholars, we are deeply committed to producing and disseminating cutting-edge research that is accessible to the public and is oriented towards advancing the lives of people of African descent and humanity. We serve as a medium to advance these critical goals."

Extensive artworks and related archives consisting primarily of modern and contemporary art, with an emphasis on Latin America. Also includes Colonial Latin American art, international decorative arts, and a selection of Latin American landscapes from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century.

"The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood. "

offers data on race and slavery extracted from eighteenth and nineteenth-century documents and processed over a period of eighteen years. The Digital Library contains detailed information on about 150,000 individuals, including slaves, free people of color, and whites. These data have been painstakingly extracted from 2,975 legislative petitions and 14,512 county court petitions, and from a wide range of related documents, including wills, inventories, deeds, bills of sale, depositions, court proceedings, amended petitions, among others. Buried in these documents are the names and other data on roughly 80,000 individual slaves, 8,000 free people of color, and 62,000 whites, both slave owners and non-slave owners.

"Relying on the expertise of distinguished curators and scholars, Digital Schomburg provides access to trusted information, interpretation, and scholarship on the global black experience 24/7. Users worldwide can find, in this virtual Schomburg Center, exhibitions, books, articles, photographs, prints, audio and video streams, and selected external links for research in the history and cultures of the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora."

The Duke University Libraries Digital Collections Program builds distinctive digital collections that provide access to Duke's unique library and archival materials for teaching, learning, and research at Duke and worldwide.

"These oral interviews reveal how leaders are nurtured, and how historical circumstances shape them. They are stories of identity -- stories about the self, stories about the group, and stories about value and meaning. They link the private and the public -- the personal and the professional."

This site which is part of the Yale Center for International and Area studies "is dedicated to the investigation and dissemination of information concerning all aspects of the Atlantic slave system and its destruction."

"Harlem History presents a wealth of archival treasures and scholarship from Columbia about the history of one of the world's most famous and influential neighborhoods."

In 1936 the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project joined the Harlem Renaissance, when the WPA commissioned a set of murals designed for the Harlem Hospital Center. In an era where African American visual artists had a particularly difficult time finding work, this project represented a unique opportunity. While the murals fell into disrepair over the decades, they were finally restored to their original glory in the 1990s. Created by the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University, this site tells the story of these murals, their creators, and the controversy surrounding their subject matter. The site contains a number of video clips that talk about the artwork, along with some nice biographical portraits of the artists, who included Charles Alston, Vertis Hayes, and Georgette Seabrooke. Of course, the murals can also be viewed in their entirety here, and they are simply wonderful to behold. Description from The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007. http://scout.wisc.edu/

This website explores different aspects of U.S. History from approximately 1857-1912. It includes political cartoons, lesson plans, excerpts from Harper's Weekly, biographies, bibliographies, reference lists, and more. [For access to the Harper's Weekly subscription database go to the A-Z list of databases.]

"The HBCU Affordable Learning Community is building a collection of free and open educational resources to support faculty and students teaching and learning in Africana, African American, and Black Studies programs as well as bringing the Africana, African American, and Black Studies content and context into all disciplines. We know the topic areas within the collection will expand over time with the participation and leadership of the HBCU community."

"This guide provides a list of historical African American Newspapers available online as part of digitization projects at libraries and historical societies as well as digitization projects done by Google. The content is available for free, though it is at the discretion of the institution providing the content. "

A site at the Thurgood Marshall Law Library which provides access to the historical record of this Federal Agency. Documents can be accessed by title, date, subject, or sudoc number. Coverage begins with the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Additional information may also be found at U.S. Commission on Civil Rights web page (http://www.usccr.gov/).

"The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is a national, nonprofit research and public policy institution. Founded in 1970 by black intellectuals and professionals to provide training and technical assistance to newly elected black officials, the Joint Center is recognized today as one of the nation’s premier think tanks on a broad range of public policy issues of concern to African Americans and other communities of color." The website provides a Data Bank of statistical information, abstracts of available publications, and information on the programs sponsored by the Center.

A Resource Guide for the study of Black History & Culture designed by the Library of Congress. Includes sections on Colonization, Abolition, Migration and the WPA.

A libguide with internet links for general multicultural studies as well as other specific ethnic and religious groups.

Established in 1909 as the National Negro Advancement Committee, it works to insure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority groups and citizens in the United States. The site provides information on the programs and resources available from the NAACP.

"The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution."

" Explore 881,711 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections.

This site is a living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more."

"The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, created in 1957 by the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, works to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society. The Division enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, religion, familial status and national origin."

"umbrasearch.org brings together hundreds of thousands digitized materials from over 1,000 libraries and archives across the country."

This site provides three different modes of access: Browse Mode - "provides access to all the primary material in the archive -- texts, images, songs, 3-D objects, film clips, &c. -- one at a time." Search Mode - "allows you to search all the primary material at once." Interpret Mode - "includes an interactive timeline, virtual exhibits designed to suggest ways of exploring and understanding the primary material, as well as lesson plans for teachers and student projects. Usually the best place to enter is the BROWSE MODE, which gives you the most direct access to the story of Stowe's story as an American cultural phenomenon." Use this site to research Uncle Tom's Cabin; site includes reviews, articles and numerous other resources..

Digital historical collections available from Washington University. Includes maps, photographs, oral histories, etc. Categories include Northwest History, Ethnic History, Film, Photographs, and Texts. The collections may be searched or browsed. An advanced search feature is also available.