Research Guides: AAAS 157a: African American Political Thought: Primary Sources

Suggested Resources

Explore these resources to find materials by some of the prominent African American leaders who have written or spoken about your topic.

OneSearch Advanced Search
Select Author/Creator from the drop-down menu and try searching for the names of political thinkers, such as Malcolm X or W.E.B. Du Bois.

Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Covers the non-fiction published works by major American black leaders, including Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X. Where possible, the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamplets, and letters. Available through at least July 1, 2021, as part of ProQuest's Evidence-Based Acquisition Program.
Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle This link opens in a new window
Includes records of major civil rights organizations and personal papers of leaders and observers of the 20th century Black freedom struggle, such as Mary McLeod Bethune.

W.E.B. Du Bois Papers
"Includes over 100,000 items of correspondence (more than three quarters of the papers), speeches, articles, newspaper columns, nonfiction books, research materials, book reviews, pamphlets and leaflets, petitions, novels, essays, forewords, student papers, manuscripts of pageants, plays, short stories and fables, poetry, photographs, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, videotapes, audiotapes, and miscellaneous materials. Scholar, writer, editor of The Crisis and other journals, co-founder of the Niagara Movement, the NAACP, and the Pan African Congresses, international spokesperson for peace and for the rights of oppressed minorities, W.E.B. Du Bois was a son of Massachusetts who articulated the strivings of African Americans and developed a trenchant analysis of the problem of the color line in the twentieth century." (UMASS Amherst Special Collections)