African American History

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General Sites (Top)

The African-American Mosaic -- A Library of Congress site that presents a thorough history of African-Americans.
African-American Odyssey -- A Library of Congress site that includes a wealth of information and graphics.
African American Perspectives -- A Library of Congress site that provides primary source documents about the African American experience. Use the search by keyword or browse by subject/author options for best results.
African American World -- A PBS site that includes sections on history, arts and culture, social issues, and biography.
The Afro-American Almanac -- A history of the African-American people from the days of the slave trade to the Civil Rights Movement.
Encyclopædia Britannica Guide to Black History -- Includes an extensive list of biographical subjects, timelines, and audio and video files.
Images of African Americans from the 19th Century -- A New York Public Library site providing images of African Americans in all walks of life.
Our Black Heritage.com -- Provides military records and original documents from the days of slavery and early freedom.

Slavery and Abolition (Top)

African American Pamphlet Collection -- A Library of Congress site that provides reproductions of such primary source documents as personal accounts, legislative and public oration, and organizational reports.
African American Voices -- Background information and primary source accounts from individuals who lived through and experienced slavery.
African American Women -- Letters and essays written by African American women slaves of the 19th century.
Africans in America -- A PBS site that studies the history of slavery in America from the 1400s to the Emancipation.
American Slave Narratives -- Includes written narratives and audiofiles of fomer slaves.
Amistad Research Center -- Hosted by Tulane University, this site offers information and resources on the slave revolt that took place on the Amistad.
Chronology on the History of Slavery and Racism -- Provides a history of slavery from 1619 to emancipation.
David Blight on the Dred Scott Decision -- An academic's view on the legacy of the decision.
Dred Scott v. Sandford -- The full text of the opinions handed down by the justices who tried the case.
The Emancipation Proclamation -- Provides images of the original document and a historical description.
History of Juneteenth -- Explains the history of the African American holiday that celebrates their emancipation from slavery. See also The Black Church and Juneteenth.
Slavery in America -- Includes articles, images, and teacher resources.
The Underground Railroad -- A National Geographic site that describes the dangers of the journey taken by African Americans escaping slavery.

Freedom and Segregation(Top)

America's Apartheid: Jim Crow Laws -- Provides the background and examples of the Jim Crow Laws.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka: 40 Years Later -- A number of essays on the effects of the Supreme Court decision that ended legal segregation in public schools.
Buffalo Soldiers & Indian Wars -- Text and images explain how the African American soldier participated in the Indians Wars of the 19th century.
Civil Rights: Brown v. Board of Education -- Chief Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren's decision on the landmark civil rights case.
The History of Jim Crow -- An award-winning site that studies the history of segregation from 1870 to the 1950's.
The Negro Leagues -- Presents the history of Negro League baseball along with biographies and additional links.
North by South: the African American Great Migration -- Difficult to navigate, but still provides good information on the migration of nearly 5 million African Americans from the South from 1900 to 1960.
The Rosewood Incident -- An account of how the African American township of Rosewood, Florida was attacked and destroyed in 1923 by a mob of white vigilantes.
U. S. Supreme Court: Plessy v. Ferguson -- Provides the full text of the majority and dissenting opinions of the 1896 decision that supported the doctrine "separate but equal.".
The Wilmington Riot (1898) -- Describes the events leading up to the attack by whites on African Americans.

Civil Rights Movement (Top)

The Black Panther Research Project -- A Stanford University site providing primary and secondary sources on the history of the 1960's organization.
Civil Rights Movement Veterans -- First-person accounts written by individuals who participated in the Civil Rights Movement.
Jackie Robinson's Letter to President Eisenhower -- The original letter written by the former baseball player urging the president to act on desegregation.
Little Rock Central High 40th Anniversary -- Presents a short history of the integration of a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott -- Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest the bus boycott is regarded as a pivotal point in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
Powerful Days in Black and White -- A collection of photographs taken by Charles Moore that chronicle the Civil Rights Movement.
The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys -- An account of the 1930's trial of nine Black youths accused of raping a white woman in Tennessee.

Culture and the Arts (Top)

African American History through the Arts -- Provides information on African art, Africans in European art, and African American art from colonial times to the present.
A Brief History of the Blues -- A short history that provides links to other sites.
Ghosts of Harlem -- Images of some of the more prominent jazz musicians of the Harlem Renaissance.
Harlem: 1900-1940 -- A New York Public Library site that includes histories, biographies, images, and timelines of the Harlem Renaissance.
Jazz History @ Harlem.org -- Provides a timeline and numerous links to biographical and historical sites.
The Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory -- An account of the African American singing group that introduced the world to African American spirituals..
The Harlem Renaissance -- A PBS discussion of the artistic importance of the era.
The Red Hot Jazz Archive -- Provides a history of jazz prior to 1930.
Rhapsodies in Black -- A visually appealing site that includes a study of the paintings of the Harlem Renaissance with brief biographies of the artists and some background information of the era..

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