africanamerican

Library Guides: Ethnic Studies
African Americans

Developed by Connie Fly, Librarian

This guide will help you in your journey of discovery for information on your topic. In addition to the Reference Books, Internet Sites and Periodicals listed below the COS Library has a large number of books that you can check out. Please look for books by using our online catalog.

A Good Place to Start

Reference Books

Africana - The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience - Call # - R 909.0496 A258
The African American Encyclopedia - Call # R 973 A258
Afro-American Encyclopedia - Call # R 917.306 A258
American Immigrant Cultures; Builders of a Nation (2 volumes) - Call # R 305.8 A512
Encyclopedia of African American Culture (6 volumes) - Call # R 973 En56
Encyclopedia of American Social History (3 volumes) - Call # R 301.0973 En56
The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America (3 volumes) Call # R #323.1 En56
Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology - Call # R 306.03 En56
Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America (2 volumes) Call # R 305.8 G151
Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups - Call # R 973.04 H339
International Library of Afro-American Life and History - Call # 917.306 In61
Multiculturalism in the United States: a Comparative Guide to Acculturation and Ethnicity - Call # R 305.8 M961
Reference Library of Black America (5 volumes) - Call # R 973.0496 R332

The Internet

African American Journey - World Book editors have assembled a comprehensive look at the history of African Americans and their struggle for freedom. The articles in this feature were taken from the World Book . There are also numerous links to World Wide Web sites concerning important figures and events in black history, as well as issues surrounding current events.
African American Web Connection (AAWC) - This site is easy to use and arranged logically. Links include art & poetry, authors, history, prominent people and many more resources.
African American World | PBS - African American World tries to cover all things Black or African American and does a good job at it. Sections included are history, arts and culture, race and society, and biographical profiles. There is also a timeline of African American history from the 1400s on with links to further PBS readings and programs, a page for children, African American history teaching modules, and pro and con opinions on social issues. Searchable.
Black Studies - A browseable webliography featuring dozens of annotated links to high-quality Web sites related to African American studies. Prepared by Grace-Ellen McCrann of the Cohen Library at the City College of New York (CCNY).
Directory of the Civil Rights Movement - A good place to begin your research about the Civil Rights Movement.
Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History - This site features 600 informative articles and is beautifully illustrated with historical film clips and audio recordings, as well as hundreds of photographs and other images. The Related Internet Links and Bibliography sections provide excellent source material and areas for further study.
Race and Ethnicity-African-American - Part of their American Studies Web pages, this is an alphabetical listing of a nice variety of sites not often linked elsewhere.
Resources in Black Studies - UC Santa Barbara. Links to many broad categories including: organizations; politics & government; African Diaspora; news media; radio, TV & film; historical texts & documents; literature; religion; art; images and music.
A Roadmap to African-American Resources - Includes links originating from academic institutions, professional organizations, government agencies, societies, news agencies and businesses.
Universal Black Pages - Links to a variety of web sites on Black history

Art, Dance, Film, Music and Museums

Reference Books

Blues Who's Who - Call # R 784.092 H516
The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900-1950 (4 volumes) - Call # R 780.42 Ki56
The Guinness of Jazz - Call # R 785.4203 C622
International Dictionary of Black Composers (2 volumes) - Call # R 780.92 In61
International Encyclopedia of Dance - Call # R 792.803 I61
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz - Call # R 785.4203 C622
Reggae; the Rough Guide - Call # R 784.56 R334
Theatre World - Call # R 792 T374

The Internet

African American Museum and Library at Oakland
African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 - Over 1,300 pieces of music associated with antebellum black face minstrelsy, the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, and on into the twentieth century. Composers include James Bland, Ernest Hogan, Bob Cole, James Reese Europe, and Will Marion Cook. From the American Memory Project, Library of Congress.
African American Genealogy Society of Northern California
Black Film Center Archive - The Black Film Center/Archive is a repository of films and related materials by and about African Americans, including 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. Primarily a resource list of historic and contemporary Hollywood and independent films, the site is enhanced by a selection of historical film clips. From Indiana University.
Black History Museum - Links to websites on various people and incidents in African American History.
California African American Museum at Los Angeles
Directory of African American Art
Directory of African American Motion Picture Industry
Directory of African American Museums and Galleries
Directory of African American Music
Directory of African American Performing Arts
Museum of the African Diaspora at San Francisco
Museum of the City of San Francisco
National Parks Associated with African Americans
Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies (UCLA)
Through the Lens of Time: Images of African Americans from the Cook Collection of Photographs. - Search or browse nearly 300 images of African Americans dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth century from the Cook Collection of Photographs. These digitally scanned images are of prints taken by George S. Cook (1819-1902) and Huestes P. Cook (1868-1951) primarily in the Richmond and Central Virginia area. "Through the Lens of Time" is joint project between VCU Libraries and the Valentine Richmond History Center.

Authors and Literature

Reference Books

African American Writers - Call # R 810.9 A512
Contemporary Authors - Call # R 928.1 C761c
The Oxford Companion to African American Writers - Call # R 810.8 Ox98
Selected Black American Authors - Call # R 810.9 P132
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism - Call # R 809.04 T971

The Internet

African American Literature Book Club - Authors, books, events, reviews, writers' resources, "fun stuff," and discussion groups--all with the goal of increasing "everyone's knowledge of the diversity of African American literature." Author section has information and links to Web pages for African American and other black authors.
African American Literature Online - The purpose of this web site is to provide the reader with a comprehensive guide to African American Literature during the Twentieth Century. Here, you will find over 75 novels, poems, autobiographies, and essays along with summaries of the selected literature.
Black Literature - An online community for books about, for and by African Americans including mystery, romance and biography
Directory of African American Poetry
Writing Black - Literature and history written by and on African Americans
The Zora Neale Hurston / Richard Wright Foundation - The Foundation's mission is to nurture and sustain writers of African descent. Programs and services preserve the legacy and ensure the future of African-American writing.

Biography

Reference Books

Biography Index - Located on the First Floor in Periodicals Area
Black Women in America - Call # R 920.72 B627
Current Biography - Call # R 920 C976

The Internet

African American History Challenge - Biographical profiles of some important 19th century African Americans.
African Americans in History - On this page you will find brief biographical sketches of several key figures in African American history.
African-American Leaders: The Black History Database (MIT) - Provides a search engine to locate short biographies and events in African-American history.
African American Women - On-line Archival Collections of the Special Collections Library at Duke University.
Breaking Racial Barriers: African Americans in the Harmon Collection - In 1944 the Harmon Foundation, then under the direction of Mary Beattie Brady, organized an exhibition "Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin," with the express goal of reversing racial intolerance, ignorance and bigotry by illustrating the accomplishments of contemporary African Americans. Including twenty-three portraits created by both a black and a white artist--Laura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948) and Betsy Graves Reyneau (1888-1964)--the exhibition premiered at the Smithsonian Institution on May 2 and then traveled around the United States for the next ten years. Other portraits were added to the tour during that time.
Colonel Allensworth State Park - "Allensworth is the only California town to be founded, financed and governed by African Americans. The small farming community was founded in 1908 by Colonel Allensworth and a group of others dedicated to improving the economic and social status of African Americans. With continuing restoration and special events, the town is coming back to life as a state historic park." Includes history, location, directions, hours for the visitor center, events, a brochure, and camping information.
Directory of African American Links
The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences - Profiled here are African American men and women who have contributed to the advancement of science and engineering. The accomplishments of the past and present can serve as pathfinders to present and future engineers and scientists
Hall of Black Achievement Gallery - A project of Bridgewater State College, the Hall of Black Achievement (HOBA). is a repository of the significant achievements and contributions of African Americans, Cape Verdeans, and Hispanics of African descent. The mission of the HOBA is to "discover, detail, and disclose the significant achievements and contributions of people of color." HOBA also serves as a forum for research, discussion, and analysis of the significant contributions that people of color continue to make to this country and beyond. The Web site now features a gallery of the historical figures inducted into the HOBA and chronicles their lives, contributions, and the period of history in which they lived. Audio narratives can be heard with RealPlayer. [MG]
Mathematicians of the African Diaspora - Profiles of black mathematicians, computer scientists, and physicists; a history of Blacks in modern mathematics; a section on Black women in math sciences; math in ancient Africa; and links to Black organizations and journals in the field are some of the features of this site.

Health

The Internet

MEDLINEplus: African American Health - This is the best place to start your research on any aspect of African American health or disease.
AfroMed - A resource of patient education tools and links for African Americans.

History

Reference Books

Africana - The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience - Call # - R 909.0496 A258
The African American Encyclopedia - Call # R 973 A258
Black Names in America: Origin and Usage - Call # R 929.4 P77
Encyclopedia of African American Culture (6 volumes) - Call # R 973 En56
Negro Almanac - Call # R 973.04 P727
Reference Library of Black America (5 volumes) - Call # R 973.0496 R332

The Internet

African American Journey - World Book editors have assembled a comprehensive look at the history of African Americans and their struggle for freedom. The articles in this feature were taken from the World Book . There are also numerous links to World Wide Web sites concerning important figures and events in black history, as well as issues surrounding current events.
African American Pamphlet - A collection of over 350 pamphlets, presenting "a panoramic and eclectic review of African-American history and culture, spanning almost one hundred years." Searchable by keyword, and browsable by subject and author (including Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett). Also contains a timeline of African American history (1852-1925), selected bibliography, and a virtual 1898 meeting of the National Afro-American Council. From the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress.
Africans in America - The Africans in America Web site is a companion to Africans in America, a six-hour public television series. The Web site chronicles the history of racial slavery in the United States. Africans in America examines the economic and intellectual foundations of slavery in America and the global economy that prospered from it. And it reveals how the presence of African people and their struggle for freedom transformed America.
African American Odyssey - Developed by the Library of Congress for the study of black history and culture. This is a searchable collection with documents, photographs, maps, sound, and film clips.
African-American Mosaic Exhibition (Library of Congress) - A resource guide for the study of Black history and culture
African American Pamphlets - Time Line (Library of Congress) - A chronological history of the African American beginning in 1852.
African American Women - On-line Archival Collections of the Special Collections Library at Duke University.
Allensworth - This site is designed to share the town of Allensworth, which also includes the State Historic Park. It provides an historical account on Colonel Allen Allensworth and the town named after him.
Black Facts Online! - A free searchable database that provides Black history facts for any day of the year or just by looking for matching words.
Black History Hotlist - This is a collection of links to Internet resources for exploring African-American history and issues. Topics include Black History Month (February), slavery, abolition, The Underground Railroad, "Buffalo" soldiers, civil rights movement, Million Man March, poetry, news, people, and much more. Part of the Education First initiative of SBC Pacific Bell.
Celebrating Black History - Articles, essays, photographs, and transcripts about the African-American experience from Time and Life magazines. Includes "transcripts of TIME.com's exclusive online conversations with newsmakers like Toni Morrison and Angela Davis."
Christine's Genealogy Website - An excellent collection of African American genealogical resources.
Directory of the Civil Rights Movement - A good place to begin your research about the Civil Rights Movement.
Directory of Links about the Underground Railroad
Gateway to African-American History - This Web site has been established to assist an international audience in acquiring information on the rich and varied contributions of African-Americans to the culture and history of the United States and the world. Updated throughout the year, the Gateway includes documents, articles, Internet sites and other resources which honor and acknowledge the accomplishments of African-Americans
Guide to African American Documentary Resources on the WWW - Home - A highly selective collection of over 80 annotated links to sites "relating to African American history," including academic, government, and other sites, and digitization projects. Searchable and browsable. Includes a plain-text version for convenient download to PDAs. From Elaine L. Westbrooks of the Cornell University Library.
History of Black American in California - This report, an historical overview of the Afro-American experience in California, was drawn from both oral and documentary accounts to identify and interpret significant Afro-American cultural resources. The study broadly covers the period from the Spanish and Mexican era through World War II, with the years between 1850 and 1940 examined in greatest detail.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University - This site contains secondary documents written about Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as primary documents written during King's life.
The North Star: Tracing the Underground Railroad- The Menare Foundation, Inc. is a national Non-profit organization dedicated to the documentation, preservation, and restoration of Underground Railroad safe-houses and environments.
Our Shared History: Celebrating African American History & Culture - Covers African American History within the National Park Service.
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture - The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 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 Shifting Pattern of Black Migration From and Into the Nonmetropolitan South, 1965-95 - This report measures the amount of Black migration from and to the nonmetropolitan parts of the South from 1965-70 to 1990-95. Data are shown for 1990-95 for two key characteristics of the migrants--education and income. Comparisons are also made with the non-Black population, and population trends for 1990 to 2000 are examined for counties with a large proportion of Black residents.
W.E.B. Du Bois Institute - The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research 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, conferences, and Working Groups

Military Service

Buffalo Soldiers - America's Unsung Heroes - The Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry, the Tuskegee Airmen, and other distinguished soldiers of African American heritage. Photos, artwork, interviews, links, and more!
History of African-Americans in the Civil War - History of Blacks in the Civil War including Medal of Honor winners.
History of African Americans in the Military
The Revolution's Black Soldiers - A history of black soldiers in the American Revolution.
The Truman Administration and the Desegregation of the Armed Forces - The collection has links to the digital versions of the "Desegregation of the Armed Forces" study collection, as well as the smaller study collection of the same topic. These are digital representations of the original study collections held at the Truman Presidential Library.
United States Colored Troops in the Civil War - A history of United States Colored Troops, including correspondence and reports.
54th. Mass. Volunteer Infantry, Co. I - Portrays the experiences of the African American soldier in the Civil War in South Carolina.
366th Infantry HomePage - An all-Black army unit in WWII

Religion

Reference Books

Contemporary American Religion (2 volumes) - Call # R 200 C761
The Encyclopedia of Religion (16 volumes) - Call # R 200.321 En56

The Internet

Directory of African American Religion

Science

The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences - Profiled here are African American men and women who have contributed to the advancement of science and engineering. The accomplishments of the past and present can serve as pathfinders to present and future engineers and scientists
Mathematicians of the African Diaspora - Profiles of black mathematicians, computer scientists, and physicists; a history of Blacks in modern mathematics; a section on Black women in math sciences; math in ancient Africa; and links to Black organizations and journals in the field are some of the features of this site.

Slavery

Reference Books

Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery (2 volumes) - Call # R 306.3 H673

The Internet

Directory of Slavery Links
Dred Scott Case
Beyond Face Value: Depictions of Slavery in the Confederate Currency - Many Southern notes did not feature images of slavery; this exhibit focuses on the ones that did. This collection features notes issued and circulated in the South during the Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction Eras. Notes were issued by various entities, including the Confederate government, state governments, merchants, and railroad companies.
Born in Slavery - Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves.
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909 - A collection of about four hundred pamphlets "by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. The materials range from personal accounts and public orations to organizational reports and legislative speeches. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Kelly Miller, Charles Sumner, Mary Church Terrell, and Booker T. Washington." From the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress.
Slave Voices from the Duke University Special Collections Library - Probes the life experiences of American slaves from the late 18th century to the 19th century.

Sports

Reference Books

The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League Call # R 796.3320922 T717
The Official NBA Encyclopedia - Call # R 796.323 O32
Total Baseball: the Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball - Call # R796.357 T717

The Internet

African Americans in the Sports Arena - This exhibit represents a glimpse into the history of sports and the role the African American played in that arena. On view are seven major sporting events - boxing, horse racing, cycling, track and field, basketball, baseball, and football - which opened the doors to the expanding Sports Arenas of today.

Statistics

Facts on the Black/African American Population - From the U.S. Census Bureau
The Black Population in the U.S. - From the U.S. Census
Brown vs. the Board of Education - from the U.S. Census Bureau- Provides various statistics relating to education of black children during the early 1950's compared to 2002

Periodicals and Newspapers

Titles in the COS Library (Located in the Library Periodical Area on the First Floor)

American Visions
African American Literature Forum
African American Review
African Arts
Black Enterprise

Black Scholar
Ebony
Essence
Journal of Negro History
Negro History Bulletin

Periodical Databases that the COS Library subscribes to over the Internet.
African-American Newspapers - Lists over 200 newspapers sorted by state.
Black World Today - News site put together by a "collective of journalists, writers, artists, communicators and entrepreneurs" for the purpose of reporting and interpreting "the daily social, political, cultural and economic realities of Black communities and countries." Headline news, sports, entertainment, health, jobs, and religion are among the topics. There is also a searchable, annotated directory of over 3,000 other Black Sites.
New California Media - Multi-Ethnic Media News. New California Media (NCM) – an association of over 400 print, broadcast and online ethnic media organizations – was founded in 1996 by the non profit Pacific News Service. NCM's goal is to raise the visibility of ethnic media as a major information source for California's 17 million ethnic residents.

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This page was created November 27, 2001This page was last updated: March 03, 2008
For questions and comments, please mail to: connief@cos.edu