LibGuides: African American Studies: Primary Sources

What is a Primary Source?

Primary Sources are firsthand accounts that document events, individuals, experiences, and time periods.

Examples of primary sources include: newspaper articles, interviews and transcripts, speeches, letters, diaries, photographs & research data

Here's more on Primary Sources:

Primary vs. Secondary Sources via Minnesota History Youtube Channel

AFAM Magazines & Newspapers to Know

Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2010) This link opens in a new window
Subjects: MANY
Description: Newspaper collection from ProQuest containing full text of the oldest and largest black newspaper in the western United States and the largest African-American owned newspaper in the U.S.. Includes materials from 1934-2005.
Contents: Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers; Primary Sources

Los Angeles Sentinel (2003-Present)
Weekly newspaper for L.A. area, established 1933. Search for issues printed after 2003 to present.
Chicago Defender
One of earliest daily African-American newspapers with 100,000+ circulation, established in 1905.
The Crisis Magazine (1910-1922)
NAACP Magazine created in 1910. Issues available from 1910-1922 via Modern Journals Project.
The Crisis Magazine (1911-2011)
NAACP Magazine created in 1910. Issues from April 1911 to 2011 on Google Books.

Jet Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Subjects: African American Studies
Description: Magazine archive from EBSCO containing full text articles from 1951-2014.
Contents:Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers; Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Magazines
Ebony Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Subjects: African American Studies
Description: Magazine archive from EBSCO containing full text articles from 1945-2014.
Contents:Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers; Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Magazines

Primary Source Collections

Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Subjects: MANY
Description: General research database from ProQuest containing full text. Includes materials from 1990-present. Mainly focused on the African American/Caribbean/African, Arab/Middle Eastern, Asian/Pacific Islander, European/Eastern European, Hispanic, Jewish, and Native experiences.
Contents: Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journal Articles; Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers; Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Magazines
Ancestry Library Edition This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Subjects: History
Description: General research database from Proquest containing ancestry data.
Contents: Data; Primary Sources
African Diaspora, 1860-Present This link opens in a new window
Subjects: African American Studies, History, Political Science
Description:Primary source database relevant for exploring the migrations, communities, and ideologies of the people of African descent who have dispersed around the world, focusing on communities in the Caribbean, Brazil, India, United Kingdom, and France.
Contents:Primary Sources; Newspapers
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Subjects:African American Studies, History
Description: Primary source collection from Gale containing sources on slavery abolition, emancipation, and the slavery system in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Contents: Primary Sources
Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window
Subjects: African American Studies, History
Description: Primary source collection from Adam Matthew containing full text. Sourced from the records of the Race Relations Department of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, housed at the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans. Includes materials about the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, discrimination and racial theory in America from 1943-1970.
Contents: Primary Sources
African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Subjects: African American Studies
Description: Primary source collection from Adam Matthew containing full text. Mainly focused on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and North Carolina.
Contents: Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers; Primary Sources; Streaming Video; Streaming Audio
NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window
Subjects: African American Studies, History, Sociology, Political Science
Description: Primary source collection from Proquest containing full text documents from 1909-1970s. Focused on National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) organizational documents as well as records from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the federal government's records on the Black Freedom Struggle.
Contents: Primary Sources; Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers scans
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Women's and Gender Studies, History
Description: Primary source collection from Alexander Street Press containing full text. Browse or search by movement name (e.g. Age of Consent, Temperance Movement, etc.)
Contents: Primary Sources
American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1995 This link opens in a new window
Subjects: MANY
Description: General primary source collection from Gale Cengage Learning containing full text. Includes materials from 1912-1990 in the United States.
Contents: Primary Sources
Social and Cultural History: Letters and Diaries Online This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Women's and Gender Studies, History, African American Studies
Description: Primary source collection from Alexander Street Press containing full text. Includes materials from 1550s-2005. Mainly focused on U.S., Canada, and Europe. Some restrictions on content access depending on repository, like oral histories. Browse by subject, historical event, or personal event.
Contents: Primary Sources
Civil War Primary Source Documents This link opens in a new window
Subjects: History, African American Studies
Description: Primary source collection from EBSCOhost containing full text.
Contents: Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Newspapers; Popular (Non-Scholarly) Articles - Magazines; E-books; Primary Sources