LibGuides: Resources for Learning About African American History and Experience: General Resources for Awareness and Learning

General Online Reference Sources

These databases will provide lots of background information about topics related to African American History. These sources contain articles, images, primary sources, ebooks, and other reference materials.

Check the password list for any resources needing passwords for access.

Umbra Search
Umbra Search is a digital library and discovery service for resources documenting African American history.

Credo Reference
Explora Primary
Explora Middle School
Explora for Middle School is EBSCO's interface designed for middle school students. Students can browse topics of interest or search for a topic of their choice. Search results can be limited to source type (e.g., magazines, news, biographies, etc.)
Explora High school
World Book Student
World Almanac for Kids

News & Magazine Articles

Denied a Stage, She Sang for a Nation
NPR
Emmett Till's Casket Goes to the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Magazine
W. E. B. DuBois' Visonary Infographics Come Together for the First Time in Full Color
Smithsonian Magazine
The Long War Against Slavery
The New Yorker
Toni Morrison's Profound and Unrelenting Vision
The New Yorker
Richard Wright Helped Bring Mental Healthcare to Harlem
JSTOR
The Prophetic Pragmatism of Frederick Douglass
The New Yorker
Tulsa Plans to dig for Suspected Mass Graves from a 1921 Race Massacre
The Washington Post
Frederick Douglass on How Slave Owners used Food as a Weapon of Control
NPR
Hanging Trees and Hollering Ghosts: The Unsettling Art of the American Deep South
The Guardian

Podcasts/Radio Shows

The Radical Storytelling of Destination Freedom
American University Radio
Code Switch
NPR
Looking 'Beyond the Big House' and into the Lives of Slaves
NPR
The Nod
Gimlet Media

Lesson Plans & Ideas

Resources for Teachers/African American History Month
Library of Congress
Primary Sources on the Kidnapping of Free African Americans
Library of Congress
The Black Arts Movement
Smithsonian
African American Historians of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Smithsonian
Discover Buffalo Soldiers
more...less...
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Later Years
National Museum of African American History and Culture
African Americans and the Civil War
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Percy Julian: Chemistry & Civil Rights
PBS/NOVA
Black History Month: Teaching Beyond Slavery
Teaching Tolerance
Five Ways to Avoid Whitewashing the Civil Rights Movement
Teaching Tolerance
Beyond the Little Rock Nine
Teaching Tolerance
Black History Month: Teaching the Complete History
Teaching Tolerance
A Framework for Teaching American Slavery
Teaching Tolerance
Hair (Elizabeth Acevedo)
Teaching Tolerance
Gordon Parks
National Gallery of Art
Teaching America's Interwoven Histories
Teaching Tolerance
Teaching Black History Beyond Slavery and Black History Month
PBS Education
The Radical Storytelling of Destination Freedom
American University Radio
What to Watch: Black History Month Edition
PBS

National Black History Month

Black History Month
Site hosted by the Library of Congress.
Origins of Black History Month
Association for the Study of African American Life and History

Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance
Library of Congress
A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Harlem Renaissance
National Gallery of Art
An introduction to the Harlem Renaissance
Poetry Foundation
Harlem Renaissance
Oxford African American Studies Center

Resources for Discussion and Learning about Racism, Resistance, and Protests

Helping Students Make Sense of News Stories about Bias and Injustice
From the ADL
31 Children's Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance
embracerace.org
Let's Talk!: Discussing Race, Racism, and Other Difficult Topics with Students
Teaching Tolerance
Becoming Upended: Teaching and Learning about Race and Racism with Young Children and their Families
NAEYC (lots of great info here, even for those not working with young children)
Book and Film Resource List
Books, articles, and films from a variety of organizations
These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids
New York Times
embracerace
Oppression and Resistance
The history of African American struggle through art and artifacts - from smarthistory.org
How to Talk to Your Kids about Race, Racism, and Police Violence

Digital Media: Discovery Education Streaming

Discovery Education
All middle and upper school students access Discovery Education using their email as their user name. If a password reminder is needed, email Mrs. Holley.

There are a number of videos and videos clips related to Black History Month on Discovery Education. Students in each division access this site differently:

JK3-Grade 3: User name: first initial, last name, underscore, ncs (i.e. aholley_ncs) Password: raiders

Grades 4-12: User Name: Student's email Password: raiders

Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Doors

What are Mirrors and Windows?
We Are Teachers
Transcript from an interview with Rudine Sims Bishop
Reading Rockets
Why Stop at Windows and mirrors?: Children's Book Prisms
The Horn Book

Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Doors
by Rudine Sims Bishop

Other Digital Media: Video Clips & Documentaries

Online Exhibits to Explore

African American Artists
National Gallery of Art
Jackie Robinson & Other Baseball Highlights
Library of Congress
Tuskegee Airman Virtual Exhibit
National Park Service
Frederick Douglass Virtual Exhibit
National Park Service
Carter G. Woodson
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
The Black Arts Movement
Smithsonian
National History Day Exhibit: Triumph and Tragedy in History
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Harlem Renaissance
Library of Congress
We Return Fighting: The African American Experience in World War I
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow
New York Historical Society

People to Learn About

Elijah McCoy
National Inventors Hall of Fame
Garrett Morgan
PBS
George Washington Carver
National Park Service
Lonnie G. Johnson
MIT
Marian R. Craok
Women in Technology Hall of Fame
Marie Van Brittan Brown
BlackPast
Otis Boykin
MIT
Granville T. Woods
Coney Island History Project
Granville T. Woods
Ohio History Connection

Charles Drew
American Chemical Society
Dorothy Vaughan
NASA
Ernest E. Just
National Academy of Sciences
George Washington Carver
National Park Service
Katherine Johnson
NASA
Mae Jemison
National Women's History Museum
Mae Jemison
Space Center Houston
Mary Jackson
NASA
Percy Julian: Chemistry & Civil Rights
PBS/NOVA
Percy L. Julian
National Academy of Sciences
Ronald McNair
UC Berkeley
Daniel Hale Williams
Jackson State University
Daniel Hale Willaims
American College of Surgeons

Phillis Wheatley
National Portrait Gallery
Maya Angelou
National Women's History Museum
Nikki Giovanni
Academy of American Poets
Langston Hughes
Academy of American Poets
Zora Neale Hurston
National Women's History Museum
Toni Morrison
National Women's History Museum
Gwendolyn Brooks
National Women's Hall of Fame
Richard Wright
BlackPast
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Poetry Foundation
John Wesley Cromwell
Library of Virginia
Edna Lewis
National Women's History Museum
Michelle Obama
The White House
Barack Obama
Miller Center/UVA
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Vanity Fair
Vashti Harrison

Marian Anderson
Smithsonian
Chuck Berry
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Fats Domino
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Duke Ellington
Songwriters Hall of Fame
Josephine Baker
National Women's History Museum
Billie Holiday
American Masters/PBS
Dizzy Gillespie
National Endowment for the Arts
Aretha Franklin
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Quincy Jones
PBS
Scott Joplin
Library of Congress

Shirley Chisholm
National Women's History Museum
Barack Obama
Miller Center/UVA
Colin Powell
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Mary McLeod Bethune
National Women's History Museum
Mifflin Wistar Gibbs
National Humanities Center
George Washington Williams
Ohio History Central
Claudia Gordon
FlexAbility
Michelle Obama
The White House
Thurgood Marshall
National Park Service
Kamala Harris
The White House
Condoleeza Rice
Nationals Women's History Museum
John Lewis
Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress
Loretta Lynch
United States Department of Justice

Annie Lee Cooper
Digital SNCC Gateway
Dorothy Height
National Women's History Museum
Dorothy Pitman Hughes
University of North Florida
Ella Baker
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Fannie Lou Hamer
National Women's History Museum
Ida B. Wells
National Park Service
Josephine Baker
National Women's History Museum
Malcolm X
Stanford University
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Nobel Prize
Mary McLeod Bethune
National Women's History Museum
Medgar Evers
Stanford University
Percy Julian: Chemistry & Civil Rights
PBS/NOVA
Rosa Parks
National Women's History Museum
Ruby Bridges
National Women's History Museum
Septima Poinsette Clark
National Park Service
Thurgood Marshall
National Park Service
Coretta Scott King
National Women's History Museum
John Lewis
United States Civil Rights Trail

Booker T. Washington
National Park Service
Nannie Helen Burroughs
National Park Service
Mary McLeod Bethune
National Women's History Museum
Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune
American Experience/PBS
Carter G. Woodson
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Fanny Jackson Coppin
Coppin State University
John Wesley Cromwell
Library of Virginia
Charity Adams Earley
National Women's History Museum
Septima Clark
Stanford University: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

Satchel Paige
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Wilma Rudolph
ESPN Sorts Century
Jackie Robinson
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Jesse Owens
Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
Althea Gibson
International Tennis Hall of Fame
Arthur Ashe
International Tennis Hall of Fame
Michael Jordan
Basketball Hall of Fame
Hank Aaron
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Joe Louis
National Museum of African American History and Culture

Charlotte Forten Grimke
National Park Service
Sojourner Truth
National Women's History Museum
Harriet Tubman
National Park Service
Sarah Parker Redmond
Wellesley Centers for Women
Prince Hall
PBS
Henry Highland Garnet
PBS
James Forten
Explore PA History
Paul Cuffe
New Bedford Whaling Museum
Frederick Douglass
National Park Service

Madam C. J. Walker
National Women's History Museum
Charles Clinton Spaulding
UNC
Annie Turnbo Malone
The State Historical Society of Missouri
Alonzo Herndon
National Park Service
Paul Cuffe
New Bedford Whaling Museum
James Forten
Explore PA History
Charles Richard Patterson
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Oprah Winfrey
American Academy of Achievement
Maggie L. Walker
National Park Service
Maggie L. Walker
National Women's History Museum

Jean-Michel Basquiat
Brooklyn Museum
Horace Pippin
The Phillips Collection
Vashti Harrison
Faith Ringgold
Guggenheim
Alma Thomas
Smithsonian American Art Musuem
Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley Studio
Charles White
Museum of Modern Art
Edmonia Lewis
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Kadir Nelson
Gordon Parks
National Gallery of Art
Jacob Lawrence
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Sarah Grimke
Brooklyn Museum

Solomon G. Brown: Smithsonian Pioneer
Smithsonian
Bessie Coleman
National Women's History Museum
Charity Adams Earley
National Women's History Museum
Elizabeth Freeman
National Women's History Museum
Edna Lewis
National Women's History Museum
Mari Copeny
Today
Henrietta Lacks
Smithsonian Magazine
Gabrielle Union
IMDb
Yara Shahidi
Business of Fashion
Matthew Hensen
National Geographic
Matthew Hensen
Arlington National Cemetery

Civil Rights

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
Library of Congress
Five Ways to Avoid Whitewashing the Civil Rights Movement
Teaching Tolerance
Beyond the Little Rock Nine
Teaching Tolerance
The Murder of Emmett Till: Articles and Essays
Library of Congress
Civil Rights History Project
Library of Congress
Brown Vs. Board of Education National Historic Site
National Park Service
Resistance Means More than Rebellion
Teaching Tolerance
What Was the Civil Rights Movement?
Brown University Choices Program
Freedom Now: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi
Brown University Choices Program

Art

Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Gordon Parks
National Gallery of Art
African American Artists
National Gallery of Art
The Black Arts Movement
Smithsonian

Primary Sources

American History
"American History is a comprehensive resource that spans our nation’s history, with a user-friendly interface and award-winning content. The home page offers many ways to begin exploring the material, from the videos, slideshow overviews, and Topic Centers to the lists of key content handpicked by our editors to help users find a starting point for research."
Modern World History
"Modern World History offers a comprehensive look at world history from the mid-15th century to the present. Thousands of subject entries, biographies, images, videos and slideshows, maps and graphs, primary sources, and timelines combine to provide a detailed and comparative view of the people, places, events, and ideas that have defined modern world history. "

Documents Related to the Establishment of African American History Month
Library of Congress
Brown Vs. Board of Education
Cornell Law School - Legal Information Institute
W. E. B. Du Bois Papers
University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Your Librarian

Amy Holley