Subject Research Guides   University of West Florida Libraries

African-American Studies

Reference Guides & Bibliographies Indexes & Abstracts Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Handbooks & Directories Biographies

Primary Sources Statistical Resources Journals Internet Sites

Traditionally, African-American Studies has focused on the history of Black people in the United States. However, as reflected in the following sources, African-American Studies is highly interdisciplinary, and seeks to acquaint students with trends, issues, and forces that have shaped the Black experience in America. At the same time, such factors as cultural adaptation, institutional development, and group self-definition are examined, while surveying the contemporary status and condition of African-Americans. Many of the following indexes and abstracts, although they are multidisciplinary in scope, contain a wealth of information germane to African-Americans.

Reference Guides & Bibliographies

African-American Book of Lists. 1997. (Ref E 185 A2524)

This book contains a compendium of facts and information related to history and culture of African-Americans.

African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture. 1994. (U.S. Doc. LC 1.6/4:AF 8)

http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html

Bibliographical Guide to African-American Women Writers. 1993. (Ref PS 153 N5 J67)

This work provides a concise and thorough overview of the writings and other literary contributions of over 50 prominent African-American women. It is an excellent source for tracing the writings of many authors both past and present.

Black American Reference Book. 1976. (Ref E 185 D25)

Historical, economic, educational, and demographic information pertaining to Black Americans are just a few of the areas discussed in this guide. Each chapter is followed by an extensive bibliography to both scholarly and popular research.

Black Access: A Bibliography of Afro-American Bibliographies. 1984. (Ref E 185 N43)

Black History: A Guide to Civilian Records in the National Archives. 1984. (Ref E 185 N576)

Black Resource Guide. 1993/1994. (Ref E 185 .5 B565)

Global Voices, Global Visions: A Core Collection of Multicultural Books. 1995. (Ref Z 5579 .6 M56)

Multicultural Bibliography: African
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulafrican.htm

This bibliography of African folktales, biographies, poetry, picture books, fiction, and nonfiction books includes a number of Caldecott Award and Honor books.

Multicultural Bibliography: African-American
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulafro.htm

This selected bibliography of books concerning the Black experience contains annotations which are reprinted from the Library of Congress.

New York Public Library African American Desk Reference. 1999. (Ref E 185 N425)

Edited by members of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, this reference guide provides the user with a concise yet thorough overview of topics germane to the study of the African-American community. Information is provided discussing the Civil Rights Movement, Slavery, the Black family, health issues, literature, religion, and education.

Spirited Minds: African-American Books for Our Sons and Our Brothers. 1997. (Ref PS 153 N5 S67)

Indexes & Abstracts

Databases index journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports, and other materials. Databases may be searched individually or in categorized groups via Metalib.

Academic Index ASAP. 1980-

This multidisciplinary database contains over 24,000 individual references concerning African-Americans. Many of these articles are full-text and appear in both popular magazines and refereed journals.

America: History & Life. 1964-

This bibliographic database covers scholarly, historical literature in the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present. Articles are abstracted from more than 2,100 journals. Thousands of cited references in the area of African-American Studies are provided. Articles dealing with the Civil Rights Movement, slavery, Black Americans in the military, Black migration to the Northern States are just a few topics easily searched through this database.

Ethnic Newswatch. 1994-

Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. Major African-American newspapers and newsletters are also indexed. The database can be especially helpful in tracking regional issues affecting Black Americans in various cities throughout the United States.

Humanities Index. 1974-1983 (Ref. AI 3 H85 & FWB)
Humanities Full-Text. 1984-

This comprehensive, scholarly database covers the diverse subject areas of the humanities. Critiques on the writings of various African-American authors, religion in the Black community, African American history, art, and more are all covered in this index.

JSTOR.

This full-text database offers archival holdings of scholarly journals in several academic disciplines, including African-American Studies. African American Review, Black American Literature Forum, Callaloo, Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Negro History, and the Journal of Negro Education are just a few of the journals included in JStor.

MLA International Bibliography. 1921-1962. (Ref. P 1 M6)
MLA International Bibliography. 1963-

Long recognized as the major research index for topics in the area of literature, folklore, and linguistics, the MLA database is an excellent source for accessing journal articles, chapters in books, and other research genre of the language arts. Scholary analysis of the writings of various African-American literary artists, such as Zora Neal Huston, Alice Walker, Richard Wright, and many others are indexed.

Social Sciences Full-Text. 1983-

This multidisciplinary database provides citations and selected full-text for journal articles in the social sciences, including those related to African-American Studies.

Wilson OmniFile Full-Text.

This multidisciplinary database provides thousands of full-text articles concerning current issues, multiple disciplines, and African-American Studies.

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Dictionary of American Negro Biography. 1982. (Ref E 185 .96 L6 1982)

This comprehensive, biographical dictionary is based on scholarly research and presents overviews of historically significant African-Americans. Each signed article is followed by a selective bibliography of sources.

Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the Present. 1992. (Ref E 185 .61 E54 1992)

This encyclopedia provides an excellent overview of major historical events, people, and legislation in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Each article is followed by a selected bibliography of sources in order for the researcher to further research a particular aspect of the history of Civil Rights.

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. 1996. (Ref E 185 E54)

Biographies, statistical information, and overviews of cultural, political, and social aspects of the African-American experience, as well as extensive bibliographic references, are all covered by this five-volume set.

Encyclopedia of African-American Education. 1996. (Ref LC 2717 E53)

This concise yet thorough encyclopedia is an essential reference tool for researchers, teachers, and students researching significant issues, policies, historical events, and curriculum trends affecting African-Americans.

Encyclopedia of Black America. 1981. (Ref E 185 E55)

This encyclopedia contains over 350 articles and 1,400 biographies. Many of the articles list bibliographic references for further study.

Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage. 1997. (Ref E 185 A455)

This encyclopedia covers a wide range of topics in African American Studies, including historical events, cultural achievements, and economic and educational issues.

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. 2000. (Ref E 184 A1 G14)

This source covers a wide range of ethnic and cultural groups in America, including several excellent articles about African-Americans. Issues related to cultural diversity, affirmative action, and multiculturalism are also treated in this source.

Handbooks & Directories

African-American Almanac. 1994. (Ref E 185 A37)

African-American Historic Places: National Register of Historic Places. 1994. (Ref E 185 A2534)

African-American Quotations. 1998. (Ref PN 6081 .3 A36)

African-American Resource Directory. 1995. (Ref F 319 P4 A47)

Afromation: 366 Days of American History. 1995 (Ref E 185 .96 A524)

Black Americans Information Directory. 1994. (Ref E 185 .5 B557)

Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People From 1619 to the Present. 1991. (Ref E 185 H64)

Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. 1996. (Ref E 185 .96 F64)

Handbook of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 1999. (Ref LC 2781 H45)

Routes to Slavery: Direction, Ethnicity, and Mortality in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. 1997. (Ref HT 1322 R65)

Biographies

African American Biographical Database: 1790-1850
http://aabd.chadwyck.com

This unique and extensive database provides biographical sketches, photographs and illustrations, and other information for over 30,000 African-Americans from every walk of life - illustrating the rich cultural heritage of the African-American community. The resource includes such varied and accomplished individuals as national activists; state and local figures; prominent women; legal, medical, educational, business, and other professionals; musicians, artists and writers; church and missionary leaders; social club and fraternal order members; reform organization members; former s laves; and more. The landmark collection is searchable by name of subject of the biography, place of birth, occupation, religion, date of birth or death, gender, and by source of information.

Black Leaders of the Nineteenth Century. 1988. (Book Stacks E 185 .96 B3535)

Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century. 1982. (Ref E 185 .96 B536)

Black 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential African Americans Past and Present. 1998. (Ref E 185 .96 S255)

Biography Resource Center

This database of biographical information provides biographical and other pertinent information about prominent persons, including African-Americans.

Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: Literary Biographies of 100 Black Women Writers. 1990. (Ref PS 153 N5 R65)

Notable Black American Women. 1992. (Ref E 185 .96 N68)

Who's Who Among African Americans. 1998. (Ref E 185 .96 W52)

Primary Sources

Afican-American Women (on race and slavery)
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/collections/african-american-women.html

American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html

Black Studies Reference Page
http://origin.admin.ccny.cuny.edu/library/blacks.html

Blacks in The United States Armed Forces: Basic Documents. 13 vols. 1977. (Ref E 185.63 .B55)

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/

The Civil Rights Movement: An Eyewitness History. 1993. (Ref E 185.61 W548 1993)

From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aapchtml/aapchome.html

I Too Am America: Documents from 1619 to the Present. 1968. (Ref E 185 .R76)

The Martin Luther King Jr., Papers Project
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/

Statistical Resources

African-American Education DataBook. 1997. (Ref LC 2717 N47)

Black Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook. (Ref E 185 .5 B55)

Black Population Data
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/black.html

Statistical Record of Black America. 1997. (Ref E 185 .5 S83)

Journals

The following is a partial list of journals related to African-American Studies. Print journals are located on the second floor of the John C. Pace Library. Those journals with hyperlinked titles are also available in full-text online, though the coverage dates will differ from the dates for our print and microform holdings.

Internet Sites

American Association for Affirmative Action
http://www.affirmativeaction.org/

African-American Experience
http://www.lincolnu.edu/~diverse/pollock/afroam/afroam.htm

African-American Resources
http://www.soulsearch.net/aawr

Amistad Research Center
http://www.tulane.edu/~amistad/amfirst.htm

Archives of African American Music and Culture
http://www.indiana.edu/~aaamc/

Black Facts Online
http://www.blackfacts.com/

Black Quest: Power Resource Links
http://blackquest.com/link.htm

Census Bureau Minority Links
http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/NEWafamML1.html

Clarke Africana Library at Cornell University
http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/

Harvard University: Department of Afro-American Studies (Home of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research)
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~afroam/

Historical Text Archives: African American History
http://www.historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=listarticles&secid=8

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
http://www.naacp.org

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

Museum of Afro-American History in Boston
http://www.afroammuseum.org/

New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html

Race and Ethnicity
http://www.Trinity.Edu/~mkearl/race.html

W.E.B. DuBois Virtual University
http://members.tripod.com/~DuBois/index.html

Maintained by Melissa Finley Gonzalez, History Librarian
John C. Pace Library: University of West Florida
Last Updated: July 2006
Links Maintained by Bryan Reingruber: May 2006