Research Guides: History: African American History

African American History - Selected Databases and Websites

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Accessible Archives provides primary sources from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, reflecting broad views across American history and culture – including: African American life, Women’s Suffrage, American County Histories, Colonial America, the Civil War, America in World War I, and much more.
African American Experience This link opens in a new window
A wide-ranging research tool for African American history and culture. Includes more than 300 titles including reference books, primary source materials, WPA slave narratives, and thousands of photographs, maps and other images.
African American Studies This link opens in a new window
An interdisciplinary academic collection devoted to the study of the history, culture, and politics of Black Americans covering the tumultuous period from1900 to present day.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new window
This site is a free, open resource for students and educators who are researching U.S. Black history. It features over 2,000 curated primary-source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.

Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Black Studies Center consists of scholarly journals, commissioned overview essays by top scholars in Black Studies, historic indexes, and The Chicago Defender newspaper from 1910-1975. The components of Black Studies Center include: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience; Black Studies Periodicals Database; The Chicago Defender; Black Literature Index; Proquest Black Newspapers; and Black Abolitionist Papers.

Historical African American Newspapers Available Online
This guide from the James A.Cannovino Library at Marist College provides a listing of African American Newspapers that can be accessed and viewed on the internet.
NYPL - Schomburg Syllabus Archives
The #SchomburgSyllabus archives Black authored and Black-related online educational resources to document Black studies, movements, and experiences in the 21st century. In connecting these web-archived resources to the Schomburg Center’s own unique materials, the project honors and recognizes the source and strength of Black self-education practices, collective study, and librarianship. The #SchomburgSyllabus is curated by Schomburg Center staff and organized into 27 themes to foster a greater understanding of the Black experience.