Subject Guides>>African-American Studies

 

 

 

Websites

Encyclopedia Britannica - Guide to Black History	Britannica’s Guide to Black History provides many entries on achievements of African Americans. Throughout the site are posted images of vintage photographs, charts, maps and video clips. In source documents section can be found excerpts from newspapers and magazines, laws, court decisions and speeches. Site provides also a selection of Internet websites for further research in black history.
The Underground Railroad	The site from National Geographic acts as an interactive guide through the famous Underground Railroad which once was the network of secret routes and safe houses built with the aid of abolitionists that African American slaves used to escape up to Canada, where they were finally safe and free. It shows the reader all the dangers and pitfalls which slaves had to face on their journey to freedom.
BlackPast.org	The site is provided by the University of Washington in Seattle, makes available materials on African American history in one central location on the Internet. These materials include an online encyclopedia of over 600 entries, the transcript of many speeches given between 1789 and 2004, primary text documents, bibliographies, timelines and four gateway pages with links to digital archive collections, major African American museums and research centers and other website resources on black history. These diverse resources make it a good online reference of African American history.
Our Shared History, African American Heritage	This site of National Park Service provides list and online tours of historical places, locations, publications, as well as tools for learning dedicated to African American history and culture. It covers cemeteries, Civil War battlefields, colonial historical sites, memorials, monuments, etc. that are spread throughout the country and share African American heritage. Through numerous links, it also serves as a portal to NPS online resources on this subject.
African American History and Culture	The site is a part of Smithsonian Institution online Encyclopedia, which provides in its entries information about the African American life, literature, identity, art and artists, music, religion, biographies, civil rights, etc. Black history teaching resources are also provided. The site contains links and invites visitors to visit Smithsonian’s museums and exhibitions with African American collections – especially Anacostia Community Museum and informs about the proposed National Museum of African American History and Culture, which should be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
African Canadian Online	This website started in 1996 by students at York University's Atkinson College in Toronto, Canada and was further expanded. It presents information on African Canadian artists and their work. There are links to other African Canadian resources on the web. Visitor can find also profiles of well-known African Canadians in areas of sports, the labor movement or politics. Other sections are devoted to promote the African-Canadian literature, music, film, theater, dance and visual arts. It is a good online resource for all areas of African-Canadian culture and the site is very easy to follow.
National Civil Rights Museum	The National Civil Rights Museum is located in Memphis, TN and is built around the former Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Its site offers an overview of the history of the civil rights movement in the United States. The exhibits of the museum relate the events of the assassination and tell the story of the struggle by black Americans to achieve political and civil rights, in particular it focuses on activities during the 1950s and 1960s.
Black Members of the United States Congress 1870-2004	This site provides free access to the full text of a Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report produced for the United States Congress about the representation of black Americans in both chambers of the Congress from the 1870, when first black Member of Congress was elected until 2004. The report was updated in August 2005 and it includes precise statistics, lists of names and details of their responsibilities. Report is available in pdf-format.

 

 

Print Resources 

 

 

Encyclopedia of African American society / general editor, Gerald D. Jaynes. (2005) REF E185 .E546 2005   This two-volume encyclopedia provides almost 700 well-written essays which are alphabetically arranged and cover more or less every aspect of African American culture, life, literature, entertainment, history, politics, religion and social issues. The entries are clearly and simply written and many are cross-disciplinary. Among entries are many biographical, describing lives of significant African Americans. It is definitely a reference base and starting point for those interested in African American society.   Encyclopedia of antislavery and abolition / edited by Peter Hinks and John McKivigan ; assistant editor, R. Owen Williams. (2007) REF HT1031 .E53 2007    This new two-volume encyclopedia is part of Greenwood’s Milestones in African American series and contains approximately 300 entries on antislavery, abolition and emancipation. Entries are alphabetically arranged and followed by a list of further reading suggestions that includes both print and electronic resources. The encyclopedia covers the situation from the ancient times through the 20th century and explains the various antislavery movements and summarizes their origins, structures, concepts, influential figures and historical importance.   Writing African American women : an encyclopedia of literature by and about women of color / edited by Elizabeth Ann Beaulieu. (2006) REF PS153.N5 W756 2006 This two-volume set concentrates on writings by and about African American women from the 18th century to the present. It focuses specifically on feminist and/or womanist approaches to African American literature. The encyclopedia encompasses in its approximately 400 entries also biographies of male authors who have dealt with themes from feminist perspectives. Thematic articles on stereotypes, race, violence, black feminist criticism are also included. Bibliography and comprehensive index makes this encyclopedia more accessible for the readers. Black authors & published writers directory 2006/2007 / edited by Grace Adams. (2006) REF PS153 .N5 B551 This directory serves as a marketing tool and valuable resource for black authors, writers, publishers, agents, booksellers, librarians, manufacturers and other individuals or corporations interested in black media. It lists almost all black professionals in the literary and entertainment industry, including agents, editors, consultants, poets, songwriters, reviewers, web designers, but also professional associations, radio stations, theatres, TV networks, etc. Each entry contains a profile, verified address, up-dated fax, telephone, e-mail and web addresses with a brief description of work or service provided. Encyclopedia of Black studies / editors, Molefi Kete Asante, Ama Mazama. (2005) REF E185 .E554 2005 This work is a 250-entry encyclopedia of what authors consider the black studies canon. It can be especially helpful to scholars, helping them to understand how black studies specialists define certain terms and concepts. Orientation of the text is Afrocentric. It can also provide a starting point for research. The book has an explanatory preface and introduction. The articles cover basics of the field, including theories and offer a short bibliography of further reading. Black firsts : 4,000 ground-breaking and pioneering events / [edited by] Jessie Carney Smith. (2003) REF E185 .B574 2003 It remains an important part of the reference collection, which covers major African American achievements in arts and science, business, civil rights, entertainment, education, government, sports, medicine, military, journalism, etc. The events are arranged in chapters and each entry cites the sources used to document the event. There are more than 100 illustrations and a detailed index is provided as well. The achievements cover chronologically last two thousand years, including numerous events occurring recently before the publishing of these materials in 2003.   Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance / Aberjhani and Sandra L. West ; foreword by Clement Alexander Price. (2003) REF PS153.N5 A24 2003 The Harlem Renaissance or Black Literary Renaissance refers to the culturally and literary rich period of primarily African American involvement from the 1920s to the 1940s. This is actually the first encyclopedia devoted especially to this movement and era. This alphabetical reference contains approximately 370 entries covering personalities, places, organizations and influential events and phenomenons that occured in this period. The book is also accompanied with many vintage black and white photographs, chronology of events between 1619-2003, appendices with maps, glossary of Harlem Renaissance slang and list of museums that feature works from that period. The Greenwood encyclopedia of African American literature / edited by Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, Jr. (2005) REF PS153.N5 G73 2005 This five volume encyclopedia covers in its approximately 1,000 alphabetically arranged entries written by more than 200 scholars from around the world the commencement of African American literature in the colonial period through the present day development. Readers can learn the basics on the history, richness and vitality of African American literature, its issues, events and people. Each entry is written to be accessible also to persons with no previous knowledge of the subject area. At the same time each entry provides a list of resources for further research. It is a comprehensive reference tool which gathers in one place a lot of information about African American writers and their environments.

Compiled by Jan Badura