AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES 

America: History & Life - Contains abstracts of articles and citations to book/media reviews and dissertations of interest to students and scholars of United States and Canadian history.

Dissertation Abstracts-  Ph. D. dissertations and selected masters theses accepted in the US

Dissertations Full-Text - University of Mississippi dissertations online, 1997-

ERIC (EBSCOhost) - Provides citations and abstract information from over 750 educational journals and related documents from the Educational Resource Information Center and educational symposium report literature dating back to 1967.

Ethnic NewsWatch - Ethnic NewsWatch is a full text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journal of the ethnic, minority and native press.

Historical Abstracts - Contains abstracts of articles and citations to books and dissertations of interest to researchers of the history of the world from 1450 to the present.

International Index to Black Periodicals -   The database draws from more than 150 international scholarly and popular periodicals in black studies.  It includes cultural, economic, historical, religious, social and political issues.  Full text is from 1998 to the present.

MLA International Bibliography - (EBSCOhost).   Covers journal articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on literature, language linguistics and folklore.

PAIS International - Includes citations and summaries to journal articles, book chapters, and etc. on economic issues, governmental documents, political issues, public affairs and social issues.

PsycINFO - (EBSCOhost) -  Provides indexing and abstracts for over one million articles in 1,500 journals from over 50 countries provided by the American Psychological Association.  Also includes abstracts for dissertations, books and book chapters ranging in date from 1984 to the present.

SocINDEX with Full Text   (EBSCOhost ) - A sociology research database.  The Database contains abstracts for 640 core journals dating back to 1895.  1,420 journals are selectively covered with 547 books and monographs as well as 6,711 conference papers.

GENERAL OR RELATED INDEXES

Academic Search Premier - (EBSCOhost).  A full-text database spanning academic disciplines with coverage of popular press and scholarly publications, including peer-reviewed journals.

Lexis Nexis - Provides access to a wide range of business, news, legal, and reference information.

World Cat - Over 36 million records of any type of material (mostly books) cataloged by OCLC member libraries.  Includes manuscripts written as early as the 11th century.

ELECTRONIC JOURNALS

Electronic Journals are available through many of the databases listed above.  They can also be found by searching the UM  Catalog or "Journal Finder"

MICROFORM GUIDE

Guide to Primary Source Material... A guide to primary source materials on microform for African Americans,  Mississippi, and southern history in the JD Williams Library, University of Mississippi.

PRINTED RESOURCES

African-American Political Leaders. 2004.  E 185.96 C18 2004  REF.

Each alphabetically arranged entry provides a one- to two-page biography with cross-references, and photo.  The entries profile 185 individuals from Ethel Allen (Pennsylvania secretary of state) to Coleman Young (mayor of Detroit).  

Atlas of African American History. 2001. E 185 C55 2001 REF

 This atlas offers a detailed overview of the experiences and important events surrounding Americans of African descent. The atlas provides a comprehensive historical overview of the spread of African people and culture throughout the Americas.  Photographs, line graphs, charts, chronologies, box features, and maps help explore the cultural, historical, political, and social history of African Americans. Coverage also profiles key events and issues in their homeland, especially those factors that influenced their movement to the United States. 

Black Firsts: 4000 Ground Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events.  2003.  E185 .B574 2003 REF.

 The chapters survey broad fields such as "Arts and Entertainment," "Government: Local," and "Science and Medicine" and are broken down into more specific subject headings. "Arts and Entertainment," for example, encompasses "Architecture," "Dance," "Music," and "Television," among others. Under each of these headings, firsts are arranged chronologically. Each is described in an entry ranging from a line or two to half a page, and sources are always cited.

The Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions .  2001.   BL2462.5 .E53 2001 REF.

This volume treats religious movements, churches, and the place of religion in African and African American societies. Special attention is given to African-derived religion.  There are about 145 signed articles were written by more than 70 scholars from all over the world. Many of the contributors are anthropologists with a background in ethnographic research.

  Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Civil Rights .  2003.  E185.61 .E54 2003 Ref.

 This is a scholarly resource that chronicles a good deal of African-American history. Volume two contains 120 primary documents that played a role in the Civil Rights Movement.  Included are:   a poem about Thurgood Marshall that touts his impact on civil rights, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and the Emancipation Proclamation.  This encyclopedia explores the struggle's successes and setbacks, from emancipation to the beginning of the 21st century.

One Hundred Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. 2002.   E185.96 A83 2002 REF.

 The 100 people who are included range from former slaves such as Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley to more contemporary individuals such as Amiri Baraka and Toni Morrison. Among others are sports figures Jesse Owens and Tiger Woods, performers Marian Anderson and Bill Cosby, and political activists Marcus Garvey and Jesse Jackson. Each portrait covers two to four pages that summarize the person's life, work, and importance and is accompanied by a black-and-white photograph or illustration.

Organizing Black America: An Encyclopedia of African American Associations.  2001.  E185.5 O74 2001 REF.

 One of the most comprehensive reference works on black associations and their leaders that has been published. The entries are alphabetically arranged by association name, and range in length from one paragraph to several pages.   Each entry traces the "origins, goals, founders, membership, staff, activities, achievements, failures, and demise of " the featured association. Both historical and contemporary organizations established by African Americans are included in this book, as are interracial organizations and groups working in the interest of African Americans.

HOW TO FIND:

 Journals

Once you have your article citations, you can use one of two tools to help locate the journal you need in the library.

Journal Finder is recommended as the place to start. Enter the name of the journal in the search box to see if the journal is available in paper or online.

The Library Catalog can also tell you what journals are available in paper and online, but it does not contain as comprehensive a list of online resources as Journal Finder.

 Books

The Library Catalog can be searched by keyword, author, title, or subject heading to find books, dissertations done at UM, and other library materials.

 

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WEBSITES

African American History. 

Developed as a part of About.com.  The site contains biographies, photographs, black codes for Mississippi, Louisiana and Washington.  Also included are the writings of Frederick Douglass, slave laws, the Emancipation Proclamation, personal correspondences and speeches, Jim crow laws, and lynchings in Georgia as well as America in general.

African American Odyssey. 

Thanks to a major gift from the Citigroup Foundation, the Library of Congress launched a five-year effort to add rare and unique items from the Library's vast African-American collections to the National Digital Library. The site contains the papers of Frederick Douglass, slave narrative, Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860. Jackie Robinson and other baseball highlights 1860-1960.

African American Studies:  Documenting the African American Experience at the University of Mississippi

The African-American Studies program grew out of demands from African-American students who were attending the University of Mississippi. On February 25, 1970, over 80 of these students demonstrated at the university for the establishment of a Black Studies program and the hiring of black faculty and administrators. After the protest, a number of students were arrested. Protesters were housed in Lafayette County jail, and over forty were sent to Parchman prison until they were bonded out. Eventually, eight students were expelled from the university, but in the fall of that year, the university hired Ms. Jeanette Jennings as the first black faculty member. Also during that year, the first classes were offered under the Black Studies Program. During its history, the program has published three newsletters, developed the Afro-American Novel project, and organized conferences on Richard Wright, Black Language, Archeology, and the Annual Experience of Black Mississippians.

Brown v. Board of Education.

This site is made available by the Washburn University School of Law.  It has the full text  decisions related to the Brown case from the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts, and citations to related state court cases.  Also included are oral histories and a bibliography of books related to Brown.

Civil Rights Documentation Project. 

This site is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Tougaloo College Archives, the Mississippi Legislature and the USA's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. The resource is divided into three main sections:  1.  Civil Rights Oral History Bibliography.  2.  Civil right History Transcripts.  3.  Civil Rights Timeline.

Civil Rights Oral History Interviews.

Formulated at the McCain Library and Archives at the  University of Southern Mississippi, the website contains civil rights oral histories, transcripts and photographs, a timeline, bibliographies, digital collections as well as other civil rights resources.

Malcolm X Project at Columbia University.

Provided by the Center for Contemporary Black History, the Institute for Research in African American Studies, and the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning at Columbia University.  The resources contains:  a bibliography, videography, and discography of published resources about Malcolm X.  There is a biography, timeline as well as a number of articles.

Malcolm X:  A Research Site. 

Abdul Alkalimat, ed., Malcolm X: A Research Site (launched May 19, 1999: University of Toledo and Twenty-first Century Books) http://www.brothermalcolm.net.   This is a comprehensive website on the life and legacy of Malcolm X. The site is updated every every month.  It provides access to speeches, photographs, and research organization.  There is a chronology, bibliography and study guide.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. 

The King Papers Project is a major research effort to assemble and disseminate historical information concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. and the social movements in which he participated. The King Papers Project's principal mission is to publish a definitive fourteen-volume edition of King's most significant correspondence, sermons, speeches, published writings, and unpublished manuscripts.  Also included are biographies, major events, quotes, chronologies, and other documents.

New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.   

A division of the New York Public Library.t  The Schomburg Center provides access to more than 5 million documentary items.  The website provide access to archive and manuscript collections, digital collections, maps atlases, harts, exhibitions,,, and other web resources.

We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement

Included is a list of historic landmark sites of the civil rights Movement, an itinerary map, histories of the civil rights movement, autobiographies, and biographies.

General Sites

Center for the Study of Southern Culture.  University of Mississippi. 

The Center was founded in 1977.  The Center  promotes scholarship on every aspect of Southern culture, and encourages public understanding of the South through publications, media productions, lectures, performances, and exhibitions. The site map focus on academics, events and conferences, the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Southern Media Archive, publications, the southern culture catalog and Center's special projects.

The Universal Black Pages.

The main purpose of the Universal Black Pages is to have a complete and comprehensive listing of African Diaspora related Web pages pages at a central site.

African American Perspectives

Pamphlets Page from the Library of Congress. The Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection presents a panoramic and eclectic review of African-American history and culture, spanning almost one hundred years from the early nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, with the bulk of the material published between 1875 and 1900. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells.

W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research

This is the nation's oldest research center dedicated to the study of the history, culture, and social institutions of African Americans. Founded in 1975, the Institute serves as the site for research projects, fellowships for emerging and established scholars, publications, conferences, and Working Groups.

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Collections Archive

The purpose of the Archives Division of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is to collect, house and make accessible records and documents relating to events that occurred during the civil rights struggle of the 1950's and 1960's in the city of Birmingham and the United States. Inspired by the civil rights past, The Institute's  mission is to encourage communication and reconciliation of human rights issues worldwide, and to serve as a depository for civil rights archives and documents.

Civil Rights Memorial.  

The Civil Right memorial was built in 1989 by the southern Poverty Law Center as a part of an ongoing effort to educate young people about the civil rights movement and its continuing problems of racism in America.  The designer of the memorial refers to the website as a "collective memory of history".  The site covers the years 1954-1968:  the early struggles, the movement of the people, fighting for the ballot, confrontations, and days of rage.

The King Center. 

Established in 1968 by Coretta Scott Martin Luther King, The Martin Luther King Center is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther Martin Luther King, Jr., leader of Americas greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.  The Martin Luther King Center utilizes diverse communications media, including books, audio and video cassettes, film, television, CDs and web pages, to reach out far beyond its physical boundaries to educate people all over the world about Dr. Martin Luther Kings life, work and his philosophy and methods of nonviolent conflict-reconciliation and social change.

National Civil Rights Museum.

The National Civil Rights Museum was opened in 1991 at the site of the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The Museum exists to assist the public in understanding the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and its impact and influence on the human rights movement worldwide, through its collections, exhibitions, research and educational programs.

Website descriptions were taken from the website

updated 2/1/06