African-American History: A Research Guide
Learn about the importance of the Dred Scott case, the Civil War, the civil rights movement,
school integration, and how these past events affect the present-day African-American
community by exploring the booklists, online databases, Web sites and other resources
assembled by library staff. The terms and phrases listed in the subject headings below can be
used to search for more materials in the library’s catalog and research databases. If you need
further assistance, please ask a librarian.
Reference Books
African American Literary Criticism 1773–2000 by Hazel Arnett Ervin. New York: Twayne, 1999.
ISBN: 0805716831.
Includes major periods and themes of African-American literary criticism through more than 100
essays and articles. Also includes a chronology.
Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience edited by Kwame
Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 1999. ISBN:
0465000711.
Landmark reference includes illustrations, charts, graphs, pictures, and articles covering the
religion, arts, and cultural life of Africans and of black people everywhere.
Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religion by Stephen D. Glazier New York:
Routledge, 2001. ISBN: 0415922453.
Covers religious movements and churches of Africa, North America, South America, and the
Caribbean.
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History edited by Jack Salzman, David Lionel
Smith, and Cornel West. New York: Macmillan Library Reference, 1995. ISBN: 0028973453;
Supplement, 2000. ISBN: 0028654412.
An excellent starting point for research. Includes biographies of African-Americans and essays on
historical periods, places, cultural achievements, professions, and sports. The supplement
includes updates to articles and more than 100 new entries.
The Harvard Guide to African American History edited by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Leon F.
Litwack, and Darlene Clark Hine. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN:
0674002768.
Includes essays on historical research aids, comprehensive bibliographies, and directories of
library collections. Also features Web sites, photo archives, and film repositories.
The Oxford Companion to African American Literature edited by William L. Andrews, Frances
Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN:
0195065107.
Contains entries on African-American authors, literary works, and themes or topics addressed in
African-American literature.
Web Sites
African-American Inventors Database
www.detroit.lib.mi.us/glptc/aaid/index.asp
Published by the Detroit Public Library and searchable by invention, inventor or patent number.
The African-American Mosaic
www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Published by the Library of Congress, this Web site chronicles African-Americans in history
through colonization, abolition, migrations, and the WPA.
The African Presence in the Americas, 1492–1992.
www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Schomburg/
An exhibition portfolio from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, introduces
researchers to the dynamics and dimensions of the 500-year history of African people in the
Americas.
Black History Month
www.galegroup.com/free_resources/bhm/index.htm
Provides free resources for teachers and student including biographies, selected works of
literature and their significance, quiz, activities and time line.
Finding Records of Your African American Ancestors 1870 to Present
www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/RG/guide/36367_AfricanAmer2.asp
A guide to finding your ancestors published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Harlem, 1900–1940: An African-American Community
www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/index.html
An exhibition portfolio from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, this exhibit
offers activism, arts, business, community, sports, intellectuals, and writers.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html
The Schomburg Library is devoted to the preservation of African-American photographs and text.
Subject Headings
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African American education
African American laborers
African American music
African American organizations
African American publishers
African American railroad employees
African American soldiers
African American translators
African American writers
African Americans—autobiography
African Americans—relations with Quakers
African Americans—religious education
African Americans—satire