Research Guides: HIST 490C-05: The Education of African Americans (Fall 2022): Primary Source Databases

Good Starting Places

The History Makers
"The Nation's Largest African American Video Oral History Collection."
By recording, preserving and sharing the life stories of thousands of African Americans, from President Barack Obama to the oldest living black cowboy, The HistoryMakers is a leader in helping to educate and enlighten millions worldwide through refashioning a more inclusive record of American history.

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Historic and current congressional information. Includes Committee Prints, Congressional Record 1789-2009, CRS Reports, Hearings 1824-present, Unpublished Hearings 1973-1992, House & Senate Documents and Reports, Legislative Histories, Executive Branch Documents 1789-1952, and the Serial Set. Coverage: 1789-present.
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Broad coverage of African American history, culture, and daily life. Newspapers from over 35 states. Coverage: 1827-1998.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
This database allows you to search and view public domain newspaper pages (1690-1963) and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window
This collection searches a unique set of primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States between 1830 and 1865.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Black Thought and Culture contains 1,303 sources with 1,210 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters and other fugitive material.
American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I This link opens in a new window
Fully searchable facsimile images that capture daily life in America. Wide variety of items, including clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, theater and music programs, stock certificates, advertisements, menus, and social invitations. Coverage: 1760-1900.
Black Life in America This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive coverage of the African American experience from the early 18th century to the present. Sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources.

Keyword Searching

Unlike databases used for secondary sources, it is helpful to keep searches simple in primary source databases.
Use only 2 or 3 keywords.
Remember, language changes over time, so be sure to use terminology from the time period. Example:
- - “secondary education opportunities for African Americans in the antebellum period”
  - All three nouns in that sentence would not be used by someone in the 1840s.

Using the Catalog

For published primary sources, you can also use HathiTrust, Googlebook, and the library catalog.

Search for books on your topic, as you normally might, then limit the publication date to your time period.

Example Search in catalog
Please note: due to the nature of the topic, you'll sometimes need to use offensive and harmful terminology while looking for primary sources