African Americans: Kennedy Primary Source Databases
- Gale Archives Unbound This link opens in a new windowA primary source digital archive hosting a variety of collections. The Kennedy Library has access to the following collections: Asian American Studies, focusing on the experience of Japanese Americans during WWII; African American Studies, focusing on 20th century activism, civil rights, and race relations; Radical Studies, focusing on 20th century political movements on the far right and far left; and National Farm Worker Ministry: Mobilizing Support for Migrant Workers, 1939-1985, focusing on programs and services provided to migrant workers during these years.
- Black Thought and Culture (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowBlack Thought and Culture is a collection of non-fiction writings by major American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history. In addition to the most familiar works, Black Thought and Culture presents previously inaccessible material, including letters, speeches, prefatory essays, political leaflets, interviews, periodicals, and trial transcripts.
- Los Angeles Sentinel (Historical Archive) This link opens in a new windowDigital archive offering full-text and full-image articles from the Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2010). The Los Angeles Sentinel is one of the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspapers in the Western United States.
- African American Communities (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new windowFocusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories, revealing the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity.
- NAACP Papers (ProQuest History Vault) This link opens in a new window
Primary source database drawn from the records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1909 to 1970. The files included are internal memos, legal briefings, and organizational records related to various topics, including anti-lynching campaigns, civil rights actions, desegregation, discrimination in the military, the criminal justice system, employment, housing, and legislative initiatives.
- Race Relations in America (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new windowDocumenting three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights, this resource showcases the speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Fisk University Race Relations Department and its annual institute from 1943-1970.
- Black Abolitionist Papers (ProQuest) 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 international impact of African American activism against slavery, in the writings of the activists themselves.
- HeinOnline Civil Rights and Social Justice This link opens in a new windowHeinOnline’s Civil Rights and Social Justice database offers a diverse array of publications covering civil rights in the United States, including hearings and committee prints, legislative histories on landmark legislation, CRS and GAO reports, briefs from major Supreme Court cases, and publications from the Commission on Civil Rights,
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new windowSlavery, Abolition and Social Justice is a digitized collection of primary source documents from 1490 to 2007, from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. In addition to the primary source documents there is a wealth of useful secondary sources including an interactive map, scholarly essays, tutorials, a visual sources gallery, chronology and bibliography.
- Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new windowBrings together legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world, and includes historical pamphlets and books as well as modern histories of slavery.
- African Diaspora, 1860-Present (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowAfrican Diaspora, 1860-present includes digitized primary source documents, secondary sources and videos from around the world with a focus on communities in the Caribbean, Brazil, India, United Kingdom, and France.
- Africa and the New Imperialism: European Borders on the African Continent, 1870-1914 (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new windowPrimary sources related to the history of European colonization and exploitation across the African continent, including printed works, diaries and journals, correspondence, maps, photographs, and film footage.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new windowSlavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is a primary source collection supporting the study and understanding of the history of slavery in America and the rest of the world from the 17th century to the late 19th century. The archive includes four parts: Debates over Slavery and Abolition; Slave Trade in the Atlantic World; The Institution of Slavery; and Age of Emancipation.
Find Digitized Images and Materials From the Online Archive of California (OAC)
- Calisphere This link opens in a new windowCalisphere provides free access to California collections of photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, and musical recordings, digitized and contributed by California universities, libraries, and museums. The content is publicly available for research, teaching, and private study.
