LibGuides: A Guide to American Cultures: African Americans

Finding Books

When searching the catalog, combine narrower topics with the subject heading "African Americans."

These sections may be helpful for browsing books on aspects of African American culture.

Art N6538 .N5
History E 184-18
Literature PS 153 .N5
Music ML3556
Religion BR 563 .N4
Race and racism HT 1551-1589

Primary Sources

Slavery and Anti-Slavery Part 1 : Debates over Slavery and Abolition
Includes collections from the United States and Europe on the worldwide movement for the abolition of slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Contains 1.5 million cross-searchable pages, including over 7,000 books, 79 serials, 16 manuscript collections and 377 Supreme Court records and briefs.

Reference Books

African American History in the Press, 1851-1899 - Ref E 185.2 .A25 1996 (2 vols)
Provides a chronological set of primary source materials transcribed from popular newspapers concerning African American historical events. As the introduction states, "think of this book as your own time machine."
Black Women in America - Ref E 185.86 .B542 2005 (3 vols.)
A scholarly compilation of biographical and topical articles covering key issues and the lives of women, celebrated and unknown, constituting a definitive history of African American women and their experience in America. Bibliographies are provided at the end of articles to lead the researcher to further sources, both primary and secondary.
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History: the Black Experience in the Americas - Ref E 185 .E54 2006
A wide-ranging encyclopedia covering people, places, events, concepts, and topics of all sorts. Articles are written by specialists and have useful bibliographies.
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass - Ref E185 .E545 2006
This 3-volume set documents the range of the African American experience in the 17th through 19th centuries. It covers the influence of the African American experience on culture, history, and national identity.
Encyclopedia of African American History 1996 to the Present - Ref E 185 .E5453 2009
Covers the Jim Crow era to the beginning of the 21st century.
Organizing Black America - Ref E 185.5 .O74 2001
A good source for background information on African American organizations of all kinds, including political, cultural, professional, and civic groups.