Black History Month Library Guide

Government resources (Library of Congress, Nat'l Endowment for the Arts, Nat'l Gallery of Art, et al.) pay tribute to African Americans.

A Library of Congress resource guide for the study of Black History & Culture.

The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University in New Orleans has developed and housed archives that document the modern Civil Rights Movement. Highlights include over 3,000 digitized photographs from 1887 to 1952 of the American Missionary Association, documenting the lives of Americans and various ethnic groups in urban and rural communities domestically and abroad. The archive also contains the hour-long documentary "Black Natchez."

Established in 1915 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, ASALH creates and disseminates information about Black History for the global public.

A selection of 100 recorded oral history interviews from Duke University documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South, 1890s to the 1950s.

This newly-available ProQuest resource features 2,000 expertly selected primary source documents – historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more – from pivotal eras in African American history. These reliable, easily discoverable materials are ideal for Black History Month projects, assignments and inspiration.

Throughout U.S. History, African Americans have played an integral part in the development and achievement of this country. Fold3 is now revealing a side of the African American story that few have seen before. View more than a million rare photos and documents.

This online collection presents newspapers edited by Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the African American abolitionist who escaped slavery and became one of the most famous orators, authors, and journalists of the 19th century. Douglass believed in the importance of the black press and in his leadership role within it, despite the struggles of earlier black newspaper enterprises.

Since 1999, The HistoryMakers has been recording African American oral histories to refashion a more inclusive record of American history and to educate and enlighten millions worldwide.

The King Research and Education Institute provides an institutional home for a broad range of activities illuminating King's life and the movements he inspired.

The nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

A Smithsonian Institution affiliate and educational resource for American and African American history.

A historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment.

A detailed source about the segregated game.

The papers of Rosa Parks (1913-2005) span the years 1866-2006, with the bulk of the material dating from 1955 to 2000. The collection, which contains approximately 7,500 items in the Manuscript Division, as well as 2,500 photographs in the Prints and Photographs Division, documents many aspects of Parks's private life and public activism on behalf of civil rights for African Americans. The collection is on loan to the Library for ten years through the generosity of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The Library received the materials in late 2014, formally opened them to researchers in the Library’s reading rooms in February 2015, and now has digitized them for optimal access by the public.

The following facts are made possible by the invaluable responses to the U.S. Census Bureau’s surveys. We appreciate the public’s cooperation as we continuously measure America’s people, places and economy.

Michelle Darrisaw, The Oprah Magazine, January 8, 2021.

Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, February 1, 2021.

DeNeen L. Brown, The Washington Post, October 6, 2017.

Michelle Duster, Time Magazine, August 17, 2020.

Karma Allen, ABC News, February 8, 2020.