Research Guides: AAAS 5: Introduction to African and African American Studies: Primary Sources

Suggested resources

HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
An African American video oral history archive. Provides access to oral history interviews with historically significant African Americans.
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century 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, as well as federal government records. Includes the records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window
Covers records from the NAACP from 1909-1970. The papers include special reports on a wide range of issues including the Ku Klux Klan, discrimination in public employment, economic equality, the church and civil rights, equal access to education, voting, employment, and housing.
African Diaspora, 1860-present This link opens in a new window
Provides digitized primary source documents from African diasporic communities around the world, with a focus on communities in the Caribbean, Brazil, India, United Kingdom, and France. Also includes secondary sources and videos.
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new window
Contains reproductions of hundreds of FBI files documenting the federal scrutiny, harassment, and prosecution to which black Americans of all political persuasions were subjected. Covers 1920-1984.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Covers the non-fiction published works by major American Black leaders. Where possible, the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, and letters.
Women and Social Movements in the United States (1600-2000) This link opens in a new window
A collection of document projects--comprised of essays with supporting documents, images, and web links--focused on the history of women in social movements in the U.S. between 1600 and 2000
Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960-1974 This link opens in a new window
Includes diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, newspapers, press, underground press, alternative publications, and scholarly commentary. This collection includes materials digitized from collections in Brandeis University Archives & Special Collections, including materials on student activism and radical politics.

The resources listed above are subscription-based databases. Examples of freely available and open resources are listed below:

Digital Public Library of America
Digitized materials from libraries, archives and museums around the country.
W.E.B. DuBois 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)
1964 Freedom Summer Project
Freedom Summer was an effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system.
Black Panthers
Documents by and about the Black Panthers, 1968-1970s.
MLK Jr. Papers Project
African Activist Archive Project
Records of activism in the United States that support "the struggle of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s."
African American Women Writers
African American Women Writers of the 19th Century is a digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers. NYPL digital collections.

Historical Newspapers and Newspaper Databases

When looking for historical newspaper articles, remember to look for articles published during the historical time period under study.

ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search across the New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), the Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921-2003), Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005), Cleveland Call and Post (1934-1991), Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003), Michigan Chronicle‎ (1936 - 2010), and the Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988). Please note that Brandeis Library also has access to the Chicago Defender newspaper which can be searched separately
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Newspapers, magazines, and journals from American ethnic and native communities, covering 1960 to the present.
Ebony Magazine Archive (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Ebony is one of the key African American magazines of the 20th century, covering 20th and 21st-Century current events, art, design, politics and culture, literature, advertising, and more. The Ebony Magazine Archive contains the complete archive of the magazine (including Covers and Advertisements) beginning in November 1945 to June 2014.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Includes the American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger (1857-1922), American Israelite (1854-2000), Atlanta Constitution (1868-1945), Atlanta Daily World‎ (1931-2010), Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988), Baltimore Sun‎ (1837-1998), Boston Globe (1872-1993), Chicago Tribune (1849-1999), Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953), Cleveland Call and Post‎ (1934-2010), Communist Historical Newspaper Collection‎ (1919-2013), Jerusalem Post (1932-2008), Jewish Advocate (1905-1990), Jewish Exponent (1887-1990), Korea Times‎ (1956-2016), Leftist Newspapers and Periodicals (1845-2015), Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005), Los Angeles Times (1881-2000), Michigan Chronicle‎ (1939-2010), Minneapolis Star Tribune‎ (1867-2001), New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), New York Times (1851-2020), Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2010), Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2010), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2010), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1874-2003), St. Petersburg Times/Tampa Bay Times (1901-2009), Times of India (1838-2011), Wall Street Journal (1889-2012), and Washington Post (1877-2007)

Negro Digest/Black World, 1961-1976
Magazine which served as important source for individuals involved in the civil rights movement. Negro Digest was founded 1943 and later changed its name to Black World. Issues published between 1961-1976 are freely available through Google Books.
Washington Afro-American, 1938-1980 (with gaps)
Jet Magazine, 1951-2008
Covers the civil rights movement, politics, education, and other social topics with an African-American focus. It includes over 3,000 issues providing a broad view of news, culture, and entertainment from its first issue in 1951 through 2014.
Indianapolis Recorder (1899-2014)
Crisis (1910-1960)
Influential publication published by the NAACP. HathiTrust digitally preserves the first issue, from November, 1910, as well as issues published through 1998. Log in as a Brandeis user in the upper right to access all volumes.
California Eagle (1879-1964)
The oldest African American newspaper in the Western US. This Los Angeles newspaper was started to provide African Americans settling in the area with information about housing and work.
Afro Black History Archives
Portal to the Google News Archive scans of The Afro American (1902-1957); Afro American – Ledger (1906- 1917); and the Washington Afro – American (1938-1988).