- University Libraries Databases
- WMU Research Guides
- Primary Documents in History
- African American Sources
Primary Documents in History
African American Primary Sources
- African American Newspapers: The 19th Century (Accessible Archives) This link opens in a new window
Eventually this database will contain the full-text of major 19th century African-American newspapers providing first-hand stories by way of biographies as well as statistics, essays, editorials, and advertisements serving as primary source historical documentation. Search individual newspapers or group them together.
- Black Thought and Culture (Alexander Street) This link opens in a new window
A digital collection of monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews by leaders within the black community.
- Historical Newspapers -- Black Newspapers This link opens in a new window
These six African-American newspapers provide research tools for studying American history and African-American culture, history, politics, and art.
Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003)
Chicago Defender (1905-1975)
Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005)
Michigan Chronicle (1939-2010)
New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993)
Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002) - Liberator, The This link opens in a new window
Search The Liberator, a weekly newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison in Boston, Massachusetts. This newspaper was known for its anti-slavery views and importance in the development of the abolitionist movement. Coverage from 1831 to 1865.
- Black Studies Center (formerly Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
This multimedia database contains essays and articles, a timeline, videos, and images of the African experience throughout the Americas. This database is cross-searchable with journals, newspapers, dissertations, and other relevant content including the International Index to Black Periodicals Full-Text, the Black Literature Index, and the Chicago Defender.
African American History in American Memory
The American Memory collection of the Library of Congress is especially rich in primary documents about the African American experience. They have 17 different collections, including sheet music, slave narratives, broadsides, Frederick Douglass papers, personal narratives from the South, baseball and Jackie Robinson.
One of the most useful is this collection of African American pamphlets from 1824 to 1909.
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