Learning Resources Division: Black Studies: Primary Sources

Library Databases

African American Women Writers of the 19th Century This link opens in a new window
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 keyword-searchable.
Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window
This primary source collection details the extensive work of African Americans to abolish slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War. Covering the period 1830-1865, the collection presents the massive, international impact of African American activism against slavery, in the writings and publications of the activists themselves.
Black Economic Empowerment: The National Negro Business League This link opens in a new window
Booker T. Washington, founder of the National Negro Business League, believed that solutions to the problem of racial discrimination were primarily economic, and that bringing African Americans into the middle class was the key. In 1900, he established the League "to promote the commercial and financial development of the Negro," and headed it until his death.
Black Life in America This link opens in a new window
The experience of African Americans as recorded by the news media, 1704 to today. This primary source collection offers an expansive window into centuries of African American history, culture and daily life—as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent. The content in this database is sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 current and historical Black publications.
Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) This link opens in a new window
This collection of RAM records reproduces the writings and statements of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and its leaders. It also covers organizations that evolved from or were influenced by RAM and persons that had close ties to RAM. The most prominent organization that evolved from RAM was the African People’s Party.
Ebony Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Covers civil rights, education, entrepreneurship, and other social topics with an African-American focus. It includes more than 800 issues providing a broad view of African-American culture from its first issue in 1945 through 2014.
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new window
Between the early 1920s and early 1980s, the Justice Department and its Federal Bureau of Investigation engaged in widespread investigation of those deemed politically suspect. Prominent among the targets of this sometimes coordinated, sometimes independent surveillance were aliens, members of various protest groups, Socialists, Communists, pacifists, militant labor unionists, ethnic or racial nationalists, and outspoken opponents of the policies of the incumbent presidents.
James Meredith, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Integration of the University of Mississippi This link opens in a new window
James Meredith was an African American who in 1962 was attempting to register at the all-white University of Mississippi. Meredith had the support of the federal government, which insisted that Mississippi honor the rights of all its citizens, regardless of race. Mississippi’s refusal led to a showdown between state and federal authorities and the storming of the campus by a segregationist mob. In the end, Ole Miss, the state of Mississippi, and the nation were forever changed.
Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement This link opens in a new window
The collection consists of rare works of poetry, organizational records, print publications, over one hundred articles, poems, plays, and speeches by Baraka, a small amount of personal correspondence, and oral histories.

Local Libraries and Archives

Dig DC This link opens in a new window
Dig DC is your web portal for selected digitized and born-digital items from DC Public Library Special Collections, including the Washingtoniana collections and the Black Studies Center at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in downtown Washington, D.C. and the Peabody Room at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library.
Moorland-Spingarn Research Center This link opens in a new window
The MSRC is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive repositories for the documentation of the history and culture of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas, and other parts of the world. Digital collections include documents on the history of Howard University, a selection of manuscripts collections, and prints and photographs.

DC Digital Museum
Since its founding 34 years ago, the Humanities Council of Washington, DC has acquired a substantial collection of documentary films, oral histories, and other materials of great cultural and historic significance to the District of Columbia. Many of the materials are grantee products that can be difficult or even impossible to find elsewhere. The collection consists of over 800 items, many of which are searchable in this online catalog.
DC History Center
DC History Center’s collection is composed of materials donated by families, organizations, businesses, neighborhoods, and other communities that comprise Washington, DC.
Washingtoniana Collection
The Washingtoniana Collection was established in 1905 when Library Director, Dr. George F. Bowerman, started collecting books and articles about the local community. Washingtoniana houses an array of resources and materials from the late 18th Century to the present, with a primary focus on the local city. The Washingtoniana Collection includes the DC Community Archives.

Digital Collections

African Activist Archive
The African Activist Archive is preserving and making available online the records of activism in the United States to support the struggles of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s.
Black Panther Party Collection
Local news film and privately produced footage relating mainly - but not exclusively - to the Black Panther Party's Oakland Chapter, from the 1960s and 70s.
Civil Rights Digital Library
he Civil Rights Digital Library promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement by helping users discover primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale.
Enslaved.org
A robust, open-source database to discover, connect, and visualize 600,000 (and growing) people records and 5 million data points. From archival fragments and spreadsheet entries, we see the lives of the enslaved in richer detail. Explore the data and life stories on Enslaved.org and read articles on data-driven research about the lives of the enslaved in the Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation.
Getty Black History and Culture Collection
The Black History & Culture Collection is a not‑for‑profit initiative created to provide access to historical and cultural images of the African/Black Diaspora in the US and UK, gathered from content owned by Getty Images. The Black History & Culture Collection was created for non‑commercial use to build on existing educational materials, paving the way for a deeper understanding of Black History. Additionally, the visuals found within the Black History & Culture Collection offer inspiration for educational projects.
Google Arts & Culture - Black History, Black Futures
The past, present, and future of the Black experience in the United States.
Library of Congress - African-American Odyssey
Part of the American Memory collection. Includes digitized material covering African American people and movements.
Slave Voyages
he SlaveVoyages website is a collaborative digital initiative that compiles and makes publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history. Search these records to learn about the broad origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people who were sent across the Atlantic in slave ships, and hundreds of thousands more who were trafficked within the Americas. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the horrific loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators, and much more.
Umbra Search
Umbra Search African American History makes African American history more broadly accessible through a freely available widget and search tool, umbrasearch.org; digitization of African American materials across University of Minnesota collections; and support of students, educators, artists, and the public through residencies, workshops, and events locally and around the country. umbrasearch.org brings together hundreds of thousands digitized materials from over 1,000 libraries and archives across the country.

Black Studies

Library Databases

Local Libraries and Archives

Digital Collections

National Archives and Museums

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