Subject Guides

African American History

Guide Contents

Primary Sources

 

To find primary sources, try searching in the Library Catalog with SUBJECT terms such as: sources, correspondence, diaries
 

Voices of the African American Experience Chronological compilation of documents related to the history of African Americans.

African American voices: a documentary reader from emancipation to the present  Bartle Library Stacks -- E184.6 .A346 2014

Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement  Bartle Reference E185.61.D64 1992 -- NON-CIRCULATING

Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion  Bartle Reference E447.E53 2007 -- NON-CIRCULATING
"100 pages of primary documents ranging from transcribed congressional debates to slave narratives"

Race and national power: a sourcebook of Black civil rights from 1862 to 1954  Bartle Library Stacks E184.6 .R33 2011

Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia  Bartle Reference E441.S635 2007 -- NON-CIRCULATING
Has nearly 200 pages of primary source materials in the second volume.

The Frederick Douglass papers. Series three, Correspondence  Bartle Library Stacks E449.D75 A4 2009

Microfilm Collections

Black workers in the era of the great migration, 1916- - MICROFILM 1720

Du Bois, W. E. B. (1868-1963). Papers. - MICROFILM 2177

FBI file on the National Negro Congress - MICROFILM 1799

FBI file on the Black Panther Party - MICROFILM 1801

FBI file on the NAACP - MICROFILM 1850

FBI file on Paul Robeson - MICROFILM 1800

FBI file on the Reverend Jesse Jackson - MICROFILM 1848

Malcolm X FBI surveillance file - MICROFILM 1765

Marcus Garvey FBI investigation file. - MICROFILM 1764

Martin Luther King, Jr. FBI file - MICROFILM 1777, MICROFILM 1777a

NAACP Minutes of meetings, 1909-1959. - MICROFILM 969

NAACP Papers.- MICROFILM 1712

Negros in the military service of the United States, 1639-1886 - MICROFILM 521

New York Public Library Schomburg collection of Negro literature and history. - MICROFILM 1512

Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery. [Papers] - MICROFILM 1569

U.S. Dept. of the Interior records relating to the African slave trade and Negro colonization, 1854-1872 - MICROFILM 520

Archives

Special Collections at Binghamton University

Binghamton University Libraries' Special Collections includes a number of excellent resources for the study of peoples of African descent. The items can only be viewed in person between 10am-4pm Monday-Friday. Contact speccoll@binghamton.edu with any questions or requests.

 

 

  • The Loften Mitchell Collection 
    Loften Mitchell was a prominent African American playwright and Professor of Theater and Afro-American Studies at Binghamton University. His personal papers include scripts, reviews, lecture notes, and memorabilia.

 

 

Resources Outside of Our Library

African American Women Writers from the 19th Century

A digital collection of works by 52 authors. Option to keyword search. Includes fiction, poetry, and essays. Some early-20th century works are also included. (Schomberg Center, NYPL)

American Memory: African American History

Provides links to the five collections of materials in the Library of Congress detailing African American life and culture. Highlights include slave and other personal narratives, sheet music, sound recordings of the blues, pamphlets, and collections on Jackie Robinson, Fredrick Douglass, and Zora Neale Hurston. (Library of Congress)

Documenting the American South

A digital library of texts, audio clips, and images that focus on the African-American experience in the South, with particular attention given to North Carolina. Great online source for primary documents. (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Freedom's Journal

The Wisconsin Historical Society has digitized the full run (1827-1829) of Freedom's Journal, the first newspaper that was owned and operated by African Americans in the United States. (Wisconsin Historical Society)

James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of African American Arts and Letters

Yale’s collection of important African American writers includes the papers of Claude McKay, Lloyd Richards, as well as the Black Panther Trial Sketches. Additional info about these collections can be found at blog, African American Studies at the Beinecke. (Yale University)

National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Smithsonian's newest museum exists virtually. Includes digital collections of photographs on the Civil Rights movement and black resistance, as well as audio files from Story Corps. (Smithsonian)

The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture

The preeminent collection of archival material on the experience of people of African descent. Particularly strong in African American experiences, and to a lesser extent Caribbean experiences. Includes significant materials on the Harlem Renaissance, as well as excellent collections of photographs, art and artifacts, and sound recordings relating to black culture. Check out their list of digitized finding aids to get a sense of what manuscripts and collections are available. (Schomberg Center, NYPL)

Slavery & Abolition in the US: Selected Publications of the 1800s

Digital collection of books and pamphlets about slavery in the United States from the 19th century. Publications are from the Millersville University Library and Dickinson College Library.