Primary Sources: African-Americans: Women

"... 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 series documents black women’s activism in Los Angeles from 1950 to the present, showing how women’s roles in the professions and in religious, civic, and social organizations translated into community activism to address disparities in education, healthcare, housing and political rights and access."

"The Black Women Oral History Project collection consists of audiotapes and transcripts of the oral histories of 72 African-American women from across the United States. The interviews discuss family background, marriages, childhood, education and training, significant influences affecting their choice of primary career or activity, professional and voluntary accomplishments, union activities, the ways in which being black and a woman had affected their options and the choices made. For each oral history, the interviewer cooperated with the memoirist to record as full an account of her life as possible."

A collection of writings on a variety of topics, genres, and formats including novels, poetry, diaries, essays, etc.
These items are provided full-text through the Hathi Digital Library.

"The Dr. Matilda A. Evans Collection of documents how she broke boundaries as one of the first African American women physicians to have her own practice. The collection highlights her role as a physician and the great impact she had on the health and welfare of the African American community. The collection is comprised of educational material, business records, photographs, publications, and reference materials collected by and about Evans and her work."

"Harriett Elizabeth Byrd was an educator who taught for 37 years in Wyoming. In 1981 she was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives and then the Wyoming State Senate in 1988. Byrd was the first African-American legislator elected in Wyoming since its statehood in 1890. The collection consists of files, photographs, awards, certificates, and other memorabilia relating to Byrd's legislative and educational careers as well as her family."

"Dr. Olivia J. Hooker turned 100 in 2015. She is a fascinating, brilliant, fun person, and White Plains is lucky to count her among its residents. Her life started in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where her father owned a successful department store. His store and the neighborhood known as The Black Wall Street were destroyed in what Dr. Hooker called “the terrible catastrophe in Tulsa.”"

Part 1: "Commentary of a Black Souther Busrider" by Rosa Parks (April 1956 interview)
Part 2: "We Want To Be Free" by Dorothy Dandridge (speaking at a Freedom Rally at Wrigley Field, 26 May 1963)
Part 3: "The Negro In American Culture" by Lorraine Hansberry (From a panel on Black perceptions of the American setting in art. WBAI, 10 january 1961)

Part 1: "Trial by Sex" by Florynce Kennedy
On discrimination against women in the judicial system. WBAI broadcast 7 August 1968
Part 2: "Author Alice Walker Reads Her Short Story, Roselilly" by Alice Walker

"Blues, Legacies and Black Feminism" by Angela Davis
Activist and author Angela Davis discusses several key early blues artists to illustrate how black women helped shape feminist historical traditions through their music. March 1998, Santa Monica, CA,

"Lena Horne"
Singer discusses her career. KPFA broadcast 12 April 1966

"Collected Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer"

Part 1: "Voices of Pacifica: Gwendolyn Brooks"
Spring 2001
Part 2: "Poets and Politicians Against the War" by June Jordan
Part 3: "Why Choose Love?" by bell hooks

"Carmen McRae"
McRae discusses women's involvement in show business, her own career, and Charlie Parker. KPFA broadcast 16 January 1978, from AZ0146.

"The Power Of African-American Women"
Four part program which examines the work and impact of several African-American women: Sweet Honey in the Rock, Shirley Chisholm, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Rosa Parks.

"A Coretta Scott King Special"
Three speeches from Coretta Scott King.
Part 1: Speech given at a Peace Rally in New York just over three weeks after her husband was slain on April 4th, 1968.
Part 2: This speech was given on Women's Day 1971.
Part 3: This third speech was given at an Anti-Nuclear Rally in 1983, from PZ0672.

"...ten plays written by Hurston (1891-1960), author, anthropologist, and folklorist. Deposited as unpublished typescripts in the United States Copyright Office between 1925 and 1944, most of the plays remained unpublished and unproduced until a manuscript curator rediscovered them in the Copyright Deposit Drama Collection in 1997. The plays reflect Hurston's life experience, travels, and research, especially her knowledge of folklore in the African-American South. "