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This guide is meant to help you as you work on your research paper for HST 290. We've included some suggested books for getting started, in addition to some tips for finding additional books. We've also included some places to start looking for secondary source articles as well as places you might find primary sources.
The guide is definitely not comprehensive, so we highly encourage you to reach out to us as you go through the research process and we'd be happy to work with you individually on locating sources - it's what we're here for. Our contact information is on the top right of this page. Best of luck with your research this semester!
Finding Secondary Source Articles
Below are three databases that are useful for finding secondary source journal articles on historical topics.
America: History & Life
Provides a robust source of information focusing on the history and life of the United States and Canada. Selective indexing includes over a thousand journals dating back over 55 years.
[More details]Covers the United States & Canada. Note: Allows 6 users at a time. Please try again later if you are not able to access this resource.
JSTOR
Archive of selected scholarly journals in anthropology, art, art history, communication studies, criminology, ecology, economics, education, English, film studies, foreign languages and literatures, geography, geology, history, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, public and international affairs, religion, social work, sociology, statistics, theatre, and other humanities and social sciences.
[More details]Multidisciplinary, but contains a lot of history journals. Typically excludes the latest 3-5 years of publication.
Project MUSE
Project MUSE is a unique collaboration between libraries and publishers providing 100% full-text, to high quality humanities, arts, art history, creative writing, education, English, film studies, foreign languages and literatures, history, religion, theatre, and social sciences journals from scholarly publishers.
[More details]Includes full-text of over 300 journals (including 66 in history). Has the current issues of many titles in JSTOR.
Finding Primary Sources - Databases
The below contain a huge assortment of primary sources on a variety of topics related to Black history in the United States. Pay special attention to the collections of newspapers, as these can be a wealth of primary source information that are very accessible and easy to use.
African American Newspapers Series 1
Chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, African American Newspapers, Series 1, features 280 newspapers from 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. These titles published for or by African Americans constitute valuable primary sources for researchers exploring such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more.
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Historical Newspapers
This collection of historical newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Includes:
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Historical Black Newspapers
This collection of historical black newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Publications include:
- The Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988)
- Chicago Defender (1909-1975)
- Michigan Chronicle (1934-2010)
- New York Amsterdam News (1922 - 1993)
- Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2003)
- Pittsburgh Courier (1911 - 2002)
Historical Newspapers
This collection of historical newspapers provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Includes:
[More details]Both historical Black newspapers and "mainstream" publications.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Ethnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. The database now also contains Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.
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Federal Surveillance of African Americans
Black Americans of all political persuasions were subject to federal scrutiny, harassment, and prosecution. The FBI enlisted black "confidential special informants" to infiltrate a variety of organizations. Hundreds of documents in this collection were originated by such operatives. The reports provide a wealth of detail on "Negro" radicals and their organizations that can be found nowhere else.
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Civil Rights and Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century
Features records of NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and federal records on the black freedom struggle. Part of the History Vault database.
[More details]Finding Primary Sources - Websites
UmbraSearch
Search digitized content on African American history from over 1000 libraries and archives.
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Civil Rights Digital Library
Resource for Civil Rights Movement primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale.
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NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom
The NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom exhibition presents a retrospective of the major personalities, events, and achievements that shaped the NAACP’s history during its first 100 years.
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Voices of Civil Rights
The exhibition Voices of Civil Rights documents events during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
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Searching Beyond Randall Library
is a guide to searching beyond Randall Library for hard-to-find items.
[More details]Finding Books (Secondary and Primary Sources)
To find books, you can search the library catalog (a box to do this is below, along with some instructions). Here are a few books - electronic and print - that I found that could get you started, but as you narrow down your topic you can use more specific search terms (specific sports, specific athletes, etc.) to find ones that are even more relevant to your research.
The below are "secondary sources" - books that are not first-hand accounts of the topic. Depending on your research area, you might be able to use books as primary sources as well, especially if you are writing about someone who may have published an autobiography or memoir (just search for that person as the author).
We will win the day : the Civil Rights Movement, the black athlete, and the quest for equality
Before Jackie Robinson: the transcendent role of Black sporting pioneers
From Jack Johnson to Lebron James: sports, media, and the color line
Glory bound: Black athletes in a White America
A level playing field: African American athletes and the republic of sports
Race and sport: the struggle for equality on and off the field
Sports and the racial divide: African American and Latino experience in an era of change
The strange career of the Black athlete: African Americans and sports
Reconstructing fame: sport, race, and evolving reputationsSearch the Library Catalog
When searching the library catalog for books, you can start with a general keyword search. Then, look at the records retrieved with your keyword search and examine the Subject Heading section of the records. These will help you find more useful books!
When you click on a subject heading in a record, you are taken to a hierarchical list of headings, so you will also find related headings.
History Librarian
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