LibGuides: African American & Diaspora Studies: Primary and Historical Documents

Primary Documents Collections

African Diaspora, 1860 - Present This link opens in a new window
Database contains primary and secondary documents concerning African communities in countries worldwide. With content from partners like The National Archives and Records Administration (US), National Archives at Kew (UK), Royal Anthropological Institute, and Senate House Library (University of London), this first release of African Diaspora, 1860-Present offers a view into the experiences and contributions of individuals in the Diaspora, as told through their own accounts. On the Alexander Street Press platform.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Black Thought and Culture contains 1,303 sources with 1,210 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamplets, letters, and other fugitive material.
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
Archive of speeches, reports, surveys, and analyses produced by the Race Relations Department and its annual Institute at Fisk University from 1943-1970.
Sixties, The: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary full-text archives that reproduces diaries, letters, autobiographies, oral histories, government documents, memorabilia and scholarly commentary on the American sixties. On the Alexander Street Press platform.
Colonial State Papers This link opens in a new window
History indexing/full-text database that covers primary sources on British colonial activities in the western hemisphere from 1574 to 1739. On the Chadwyck-Healey platform.
History Vault This link opens in a new window
Searchable database of primary source materials. Has different modules including American Indians and the American West, American Politics and Society from Kennedy to Watergate, American Politics in the Early Cold War, Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century, Confederate Military Manuscripts and Records, Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files, Law and Society since the Civil War, Margaret Sanger Papers, NAACP Papers, New Deal and World War II, Office of Strategic Services (OSS)-State Department Intelligence and Research Reports, Pinkerton's National Detective Agency Records,

Irene L. Kettunen Schubett Black 14 Collection | AHC
"This collection contains materials collected by former University of Wyoming employee Irene Schubert regarding the dismissal of 14 black players from the University of Wyoming’s football team in October 1969. The players wanted to wear black armbands to protest the alleged racial policies of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, which operates Brigham Young University." Through the American Heritage Center.

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Newspapers Research Guide

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Historical Newspapers Research Guide

Historical Documents Collections

Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Historic full-text archive that reproduces manuscripts, pamphlets, books, paintings and maps between 1490 and 2007. On the Adam Matthew platform.
American Pamphlets, Series 1, 1820-1922 This link opens in a new window
Key to the study of race, ethnicity, and gender in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these pamphlets span 100 years of American life, from the Jacksonian Era through the dawn of the Jazz Age. Researchers will find outstanding coverage of contentious topics related to politics and government, religion and religious movements, art and entertainment, business and economics, health and medicine, education, immigrants and ethnic groups, American Indians, slavery and the Civil War, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, and science and technology. Content includes speeches, orations, debates, sermons, treatises, tracts, narratives, poems, songs, memoirs, announcements, legal notices, and more.
HeritageQuest Online This link opens in a new window
Genealogy indexing/full-text database that covers census, books, family histories, magazines, government documents, military records and other historic records. On the ProQuest platform.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Group of digital collections of historical documents covering a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. On a Gale platform.

African American Perspectives: Materials Selected from the Rare Books Collection

"The 800 + titles in the collection include sermons on racial pride and political activism; annual reports of charitable, educational, and political organizations; and college catalogs and graduation orations from the Hampton Institute, Morgan College, and Wilberforce University. Also included are biographies, slave narratives, speeches by members of Congress, legal documents, poetry, playbills, dramas, and librettos. Other materials focus on segregation, voting rights, violence against African Americans, the colonization of Africa by freed slaves, anti-slavery organizations and investigative reports. Several of the items are illustrated with portraits of the authors." On the Library of Congress site.

FBI Files

The Vault | FBI.gov
The FBI's FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) library, "The Vault" contains approximately 6,700 files and other media accessible for public viewing.

FBI Case Files This link opens in a new window
Full-text collection of original military records, photos, stories and historical primary texts of interest to historians and genealogists.

African American & Diaspora Studies: Primary and Historical Documents

Primary and Historical Documents and African American and Diaspora Studies

Primary Documents Collections

Newspapers - Helpful Guides

Historical Documents Collections

FBI Files