Skip to Main Content

HIST 491C / LAS 450/ AMS 490 / Africana 406: Race and Racism in the Americas (Spring 2025)

Finding Books at Swem

The W&M Library looks small from outside, but the collection of books is massive (part of the library is underground, and we use high-density shelving).

Getting Started

  1. Write out your topic
  2. Identify key terms
  3. Consider synonyms
  4. Use BOOLEAN to make a search command
  5. Search. Pay attention to subject headings & keywords used by other authors.
  6. Revise and try again!

TIPS

  • Keep it simple. Try basic searches 
  • Pay attention to Chapters.
  • Remember to Limit to books and ebooks
  • Use Boolean!
  • When you find a useful search in our catalog, use it in WorldCat too!

Synonyms and Boolean

  • The experiences of people of color on the Titanic
    • titanic AND ("persons of color" OR "Black people" OR Laroche OR Indian*)
      • No results in our catalog, some in WorldCat if you search Titanic as a Subject
      • Probably an article level topic
      • May need to be broader to  
      • (steamship* OR "ocean liners") AND ("persons of color" OR Blacks OR African* OR racism)

 

  • Role of Irish Immigrants and Black Americans in the 1863 Draft Riots in NY
    • "Irish" AND (black* OR "African americans") AND "draft riots" AND ("Civil war" OR 1863)
      • This search doesn't work in our catalog but works excellently in Worldcat
      • In our catalog, try
        • (Irish OR black* OR "African americans") AND "draft riots" AND ("Civil war" OR 1863)

 

  • Use of lyrics in the trial of Jeffrey Williams (Young Thug)
    • ("Jeffrey Williams" OR "Young Thug")
      • ​​​​​​​no results in worldcat or catalog -- probably too specific and too recent.
      • Broaden to:
      • (rap OR rapper*) AND lyrics AND (trial* OR court OR "legal proceedings")
        • ​​​​​​​there are actually books in our catalog and in worldcat

 

  • Intentional misrepresentation and devaluation of Caribbean Music by Europeans, and later acceptance and incorporation by white artists
    • ​​​​​​​"Caribbean Music"  brings up no results in Worldcat. May need to be more specific and focus on one genre.
      • ​​​​​​​(mambo OR calypso) AND (white* OR american OR european) AND appropriation
      • May may need to start with broader searches like
      • Calypso AND history AND music

 

 

  • superhumanization of Black people in rhetoric, possibly related to Nat Turner
    • ​​​​​​​superhumaniz* AND (black* OR "African americans")
      • ​​​​​​​no results on catalog, some in worldcat
      • Looks like a new topic, many be an article length topic
      • possibly broaden to 
        • (fetishiz* OR dehumanize) AND (body OR bodies) AND (black* OR "african americans")

 

  • Racism and Medicine, as reflected by exploitation and experimentation on Black and/or enslaved persons
    • ​​​​​​​(blacks OR enslaved OR "African americans") AND (medicine OR medical) AND (exploit* OR experiment*)
      • ​​​​​​​will need to narrow focus
    • Example: a few years ago One of Dr. Turits' studied  "utilization of black bodies specifically in the context of graverobbing by medical institutions in need of cadavers". That search was:

      • (Black* OR "African-american*" OR "African american*") AND (graverobb* OR "grave robb*" OR cadav*)

 

  • Race relations at William & Mary, possibly related to fraternities and sororities
    • (​​​​​​​Race OR racism) AND ("william and mary" OR "William & Mary") AND (fraternit* OR sororit* OR "Greek life")
      • ​​​​​​​There are a lot of dissertations coming up a false hits, but books of interest too
      • Suggest broadening beyond WM with
      • (​​​​​​​Race OR racism) AND ("higher education" OR "Education, higher" OR "universities") AND (fraternit* OR sororit* OR "Greek life")
      • Look at books about WM itself, in the catalog as a Subject  search try 
        • College of William & Mary -- History
        • College of William & Mary -- Students

 

  • Linguistic racism
    • Will need to be more specific
    • As a starting point:
      • "Linguistic racism" OR "language racism" OR (sociolinguistics AND racism)

 

  • Race, class, and politics as represented through Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter)
    • ​​​​​​​("Jay-Z" OR "Jay Z" OR "shawn Corey Carter" OR "shawn carter") AND (Race OR class OR politic*)
    • you can also search Jay-Z, 1969-   as a subject

 

  • Criminalization of rap and hip-hop, as reflected in trail of Jeffrey Williams (Young Thug)
    • As noted above, no books about Williams specifically. Suggest broadening to
    • ​​​​​​​(rap OR rapper* OR "hip-hop" OR "hip hop") AND (criminalization OR demanization)
      • ​​​​​​​Some interesting and recent material in WorldCat

 

  • Relationship and rift between W.E.B. Du Bois and the NAACP
    • ​​​​​​​(NAACP OR "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People") AND "du bois"
      • ​​​​​​​no results in the catalog but a LOT in worldcat.
        • ​​​​​​​pay attention to chapters, not book titles

​​​​​​​

  • Haitian migration the US 1992-4 and American racialization of Haitian immigrants
    • ​​​​​​​haitian* AND (immigration OR immigrant* OR migration OR migrant* OR refugees) AND racialization

Examples

  • social impact of the Black Greek Letter organizations on the campus of William & Mary.
    • Black greek letters
    • African American Fraternities 
    • William and Mary
    • American Higher education
      • (black OR "African American" OR "African americans") AND ("Greek life" OR "Greek Letters" OR "Greek Letters" OR fraternit* OR sororit*) AND ("william and mary" OR "william & mary")
      • (black OR "African American" OR "African americans") AND ("Greek life" OR "Greek Letters" OR "Greek Letters" OR fraternit* OR sororit*) AND ("education, higher" OR "higher education") AND history
  • Formation of the ideas of race in Colonial America
    • race 
    • colonial america
      • "colonial period" AND "history" AND "united states" AND race
      • "colonial period" AND "history" AND "united states" AND race AND (development OR creation)
      • racism AND "north america" AND history
  • Somerset v. Stewart Case
    • slavery AND abolition* AND (england OR britain OR "united kingdom")
    • Abolitionists -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
    • Antislavery movements -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
    • Somerset AND slavery 
  • Skills of enslaved Africans in Colonial America
    • (slaves OR enslaved) AND (skill* OR trade*) AND "colonial period"
  • Runaway slaves in Colonial America, showcasing autonomy
    • (runaway* OR "run away" OR "run aways") AND (slave* OR enslaved) AND ("united states" OR "colonial period" OR "colonial america")
    • agency AND (runaway* OR "run away" OR "run aways") AND (slave* OR enslaved) AND ("united states" OR "colonial period" OR "colonial america")
    • "fugitive slaves" AND "united states"
  • Tuskegee Airmen
    • "Tuskegee Airmen"
    • African American air pilots -- History
    • ("world war" AND 1945) AND ("African americans" OR "African american") AND (pilot* OR enlist* OR particip*)
  • military desegregation
    • (military OR "armed forces") AND desegregation AND "united states" AND history
  • Frank E. Petersen Jr
    • "Frank E. Petersen" OR "Frank Petersen"
      • search in worldcat -- includes primary sources too!

Examples

 

  •  American Protestant Christianity and its development alongside slavery
    • (america* OR "united states") AND (protestantism OR protestant*) AND slavery
  • enslaved people were followers of the Christian message,
    • (america* OR "united states") AND (slaves OR enslaved) AND christian*
  • race within William & Mary during the civil rights movement in the mid 1950’s,
  • Black radical entertainers were suppressed by both the U.S. government and the entertainment industry, looking at how surveillance, blacklisting, and industry exclusion were used to silence them.
    • ("black" OR "African american"  OR "African americans") AND (entertainer* OR artist* OR perform* OR musician* OR singer*) AND (supress* OR surveillance OR blacklist* OR observ*)
  • Paul Robeson
    • "Paul Robeson"
    • "Paul Robeson" AND (FBI OR "black listed" OR "black list" OR surveillance OR observat*)
  • Nina Simone
    • Nina Simone AND (FBI OR "black listed" OR "black list" OR surveillance OR observat*)
    • Nina Simone
  • black face by white students at the College of William and Mary
    • (blackface OR "black face" OR racism OR racist) AND ("william and mary" OR "william & mary")
    • College of William & Mary -- History
    • (blackface OR "black face" OR racism OR racist) AND history AND "united states" AND ("higher education" OR "education, higher")
    • (blackface OR "black face") AND history AND "united states" AND ("higher education" OR "education, higher")

    White Fraternities and Sororities at the College of William and Mary

important note: use these same searches in worldcat to find even more books!