Q. Where can I find research resources for Black History?

The following list is representative of the library collection, but is not comprehensive.

Topics

Catalog

Searching on subject headings in the library catalog can be tricky. "African American history" as a search is too broad. Try these searches to get you started:

• African American abolitionists
• African American activists
• African American scientists
• African American pilots
• African American businesspeople
• African American judges
• African American art
• African American folktales
• Primary sources in Black history

Reference books

• Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration 
• The Encyclopedia of African American Military History
• African Americans at War: an Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia of African American business
• Encyclopedia of African American Business History
• Black women in America (online)
• Encyclopedia of Black Comics
• Great Lives from History: African Americans  (access in Salem Online)

Knoxville and Tennessee

• The History of Blacks in Knoxville, Tennessee: the first one hundred years, 1791-1891
• Two hundred years of Black culture in Knoxville, Tennessee: 1791 to 1991
• Diary of a sit-in (rare book collection, does not circulate)
• Trial and triumph: essays in Tennessee's African American history
• Anatomy of four race riots: racial conflict in Knoxville, Elaine (Arkansas), Tulsa, and Chicago, 1919-1921
• With all deliberate speed: the story of school desegregation in Knoxville, Tennessee

See even more on the subject African Americans -- Tennessee -- History.

Documentary and data sources

Online collections

• The Chicago Defender (1909–1975) is an important source of primary documentation; find it in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database.
• African American Historical Serials Collection (1829–1922) documents religious life and culture; primary sources include newspapers and magazines, plus reports and annuals from African American religious organizations, including churches and social service agencies.

Reference books

• Historical statistics of Black America
• African American history in the press, 1851-1899
• Slavery in America: from colonial times to the Civil War

Circulating books

• Freedom on my mind: the Columbia documentary history of the African American experience
• Legacy : treasures of Black history
• Women and slavery in America : a documentary history
• The African American experience : Black history and culture through speeches, letters, editorials, poems, songs and stories
• The long walk to freedom : runaway slave narratives
• The Black Panthers : portraits from an unfinished revolution
• Letters from Black America
• Black Ink: literary legends on the peril, power, and pleasure of reading and writing
• A renaissance in Harlem : lost voices of an American community
• The face of our past : images of Black women from colonial America to the present
• Historic speeches of African Americans
• The Black military experience
• The Invisible soldier : the experience of the Black soldier, World War II

Websites

• Black Freedom Struggle in the U.S. –  Expertly selected open primary source documents include historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more from specific time periods in U.S. history, supporting a wide range of students.
• BlackPast.org – Covers Black history with a vast array of resources such as encyclopedia entries, full text primary documents, major speeches of black activists and leaders, historical timelines, research guides and lesson plans.
• Digital Schomburg (Center for Research in Black Culture) – Exhibitions, books, articles, photographs, prints, audio and video streams, and selected external links for research in the history and cultures of the peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora.