Research Guides: Black History Month 2023: Web Resources

Web Resources

African American History Month
Pays tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Biography Channel
A website from A&E Television Network. Features biographies, fast facts, a quiz, information about the Harlem Renaissance and an interactive tour of the legendary Apollo Theater.
Freedom: a history of U.S.
I Have a Dream, from PBS. Includes learning activities and teacher guides.
Guide to Black History
Examine the entirety of the African American experience, and celebrates the achievements of many individual African Americans. From the Encyclopedia Britannica.
NAACP
In tracing its 100-year history, the NAACP reflects on the impact of the Civil Rights Movement, the Voting Rights Act and the Anti-Lynching Bill.
National Park Service
We take the opportunity of African American History Month to highlight just some of the

National African-American History Month
Reference to the black population in this publication is to single-race black people (“black alone”)

10 Facts About Black History Month
Website from BestColleges, provides 10 facts regarding Black History.

Protest History

Historical Content and Related Resources

Protest Legislation

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. Source: Library of Congress.

“And for those who have been talking about protests, just remember, this country was founded on protest. It is called the American Revolution. And every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals, has been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable. And we should all be thankful for folks who are willing in a peaceful, disciplined way to be out there making a difference.” President Barack Obama, June 3, 2020 town hall on policing, at 1:22:53

Civil Rights History Project

Oral histories (with interview transcripts) and digital photographs of people who participated in the Civil Rights Movement.

Civil Rights Digital Library

Primary sources and digital video archive of historical news films on the Civil Rights Movement.

Emma Goldman Papers

A sampling of photographs and primary historical documents from the Emma Goldman Papers, plus finding aids and links to other resources. Goldman (1869-1940) was a major figure in the history of radical movements in the U.S.

The Empty Closet

One of the oldest continuously published LGBT papers in the United States. Full text of issues from 1971.

Farmworker Movement

Primary source accounts from those who worked with Cesar Chavez to build the Farmworker Movement (1962-1993).

Occupy Archive

Documenting and saving the digital evidence and stories from worldwide Occupy protests that began in September 2011.

African Activist Archive Project

Records of activism in the United States to support the struggles of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Protests, Marches and Movements - Library of Congress

Protests, Marches and Movements - The Civil Rights History Project: Survey of Collections and Repositories (American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress.

Eight States Enact Anti-Protest Laws
Informational article from Pew Charitable Trusts. (pewtrusts.org)
US Protest Law Tracker
The US Protest Law Tracker, part of ICNL's US Program, follows initiatives at the state and federal level since January 2017 that restrict the right to peaceful assembly.
Fact Sheet: Anti-Protest Legislation and Demonstration Activity in the US
Downloadable PDF courtesy of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. (ACLED)

The Black Freedom Struggle in the United States

The site features over 2,000 curated primary-source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.

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Historical Newspapers editied by Frederick Douglass

The collection is comprised of 568 issues of three weekly newspaper titles dating between 1847 and 1874: The North Star in Rochester, New York, Frederick Douglass' Paper in Rochester, New York, and New National Era in Washington, D.C

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Origins of Black History Month

A history of the month from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)

The 1619 Project

The project illuminates the legacy of slavery in the contemporary United States, and highlights the contributions of Black Americans to every aspect of American society

African American Historical Serials Collection (AAHSC)

FREE Access to this collection for the Month of February 2019, Black History Month. After you login to this resource (AAHSC) to using your public library card, click on the Black History Month link.

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An exclusive peek at photos from Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s compendium, Life Upon These Shores.

Free digital platform that brings together content documenting African American history and culture in order to enable the creation of new works—research projects, scholarship, curricula, art of all kinds—that illuminate parts of our history that have not been enough broadly accessible.

Hutchins Center for African and African American Research
The Hutchins Center for African & African American Research supports research on the history and culture of people of African descent the world over and provides a forum for collaboration and the ongoing exchange of ideas.
King Center
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
Museum of African American History
The Museum of African American History is dedicated to preserving, conserving and accurately interpreting the contributions of African Americans in New England from the colonial period through the 19th century.
Museum of African American Music
The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) will showcase over 50 music genres created or impacted by African Americans, honor the legacy and legends of this diverse music and detail the impact this music has on musicians and consumers around the world.
National Archives
From the Archives Library Information Center.
• National Museum of African American History & Culture
The only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Serves to inspire modern abolition through connecting the lessons of the Underground Railroad with today’s freedom fighters.
Separate is not equal: Brown v. board of Education

Local Community Resources

National Organizations

African American Planning Commission (AAPC)
The African American Planning Commission (AAPC) Inc. is a New York City-based nonprofit organization committed to reducing homelessness and addressing the related issues of domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, substance abuse, shortage of affordable housing, and unemployment in the communities in which we live and serve.
The Executive Leadership Council
The Executive Leadership Council is the preeminent member organization for the development of global black leaders. The mission is to increase the number of successful black executives — both domestically and internationally — by adding value to their development, leadership, and philanthropic endeavors throughout the life-cycle of their careers thereby strengthening their companies, organizations, and communities.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.
National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW)
The National Council of Negro Women is an assembly of national African-American women’s organizations and community-based sections. Founded in 1935, the NCNW’s mission is to lead, develop and advocate for women of African descent as they support their families and communities. NCNW fulfills this purpose through research, advocacy and national and community-based services and programs on issues of health, education and economic empowerment in the United States and Africa.
U.S. Black Chambers, Inc
The U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC) provides committed, visionary leadership and advocacy in the realization of economic empowerment. Through the creation of resources and initiatives, we support African-American Chambers of Commerce and business organizations in their work of developing and growing Black enterprises. The USBC is an association of more than 100 self-sustaining Black Chambers and small business associations nationwide and serves close to 250,000 small businesses.
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
Black Voters Matter
Black Voters Matter goal is to increase power in marginalized, predominantly Black communities. Effective voting allows a community to determine its own destiny.
National Urban League
The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment in order to elevate the standard of living in historically underserved urban communities.
The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
The National Coalition strives to create an enlightened community by building institutional capacity at both the national and local levels that provides and develops African American leadership. By educating, organizing and mobilizing citizens in our communities, the Coalition seeks to encourage full participation in a barrier-free democracy.
Color of Change
We design campaigns powerful enough to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back, and champion solutions that move us all forward. Until justice is real.