African American Historical & Cultural Resources
Selected Books For Adults:
Alexander, Michelle The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
364.973 ALE
Bennett, Brit The Vanishing Half
FICTION BEN
Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
BIO DOUGLASS
Broom, Sarah M. The Yellow House
814.6 BRO
Coates, Ta-Nehisi Between the World and Me and also The Water Dancer
305.8009 COA & FICTION COA
Gyasi, Yaa Homegoing
FICTION GYA
Hurston, Zora Neale Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance
FICTION HUR
Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
305.8009 KEN
Meacham, Jon His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope
BIO LEWIS
Skloot, Rebecca The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
616.0277 SKL
Shetterly, Margot Lee Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
510.9252 LEE
Tipton-Martin, Toni Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking
641.5929 TIP
Wilkerson, Isabel The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
304.8097 WIL
Whitehead, Colson Underground Railroad
FICTION WHI
Selected Websites (including video and audio):
African American History Month
https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov
African American Odyssey, Library of Congress
https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html
Archives of African American Music & Culture, Indiana University
https://aaamc.indiana.edu/Collections
Black History Playlist, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive (scroll down to find a playlist of 20 performances)
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/playlists
Images of African Americans from the 19th Century, Digital Schomburg, NYPL
http://digital.nypl.org/schomburg/images_aa19
In Motion: the African-American Migration Experience, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL
http://www.inmotionaame.org/home.cfm
Music, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog/tag/music
StoryCorps Griot
https://storycorps.org/stories/?collection=storycorps-griot
Ten Great Talks to Celebrate Black History Month, TED Talks (includes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story”)
https://www.ted.com/playlists/230
Understanding Black Experiences, Rochester Public Library
https://roccitylibrary.org/understanding-black-experiences
Databases Available through BML
Academic OneFile
Find an article on almost any topic of African-American history.
Ancestry.com
This library edition contains census, marriage, birth, death records, and more. Learn about the roots of African-American families, maybe even your own. (The library edition of Ancestry.com is available only inside BML.)
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States
Historical newspaper articles, legal documents, and more from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom.
Democrat & Chronicle Archive
Newspapers from 1871-2011, with primary sources of historical events, including Frederick Douglass’s funeral, William Warfield’s first concerts, the 1964 Riots, and the music scene at the Pythodd Room.
Encyclopedia Britannica Academic
Comprehensive knowledge of African-Americans and their history.
Historical Newspapers of the Rochester Region
A variety of newspapers published from1806-1979.
NoveList Plus
A great source for non-fiction and historical fiction books on the African-American experience.
Rochester History
These articles cover the history of Rochester and Western New York from 1939 to the present, including slavery in the Genesee Valley, Frederick Douglass, Henry Johnson, and the Liberian experiment.
Rochester Images
Over 22,000 historical and contemporary images from Rochester and Monroe County, including photos of the Dorsey Home for Dependent Colored Children, Civil War Major F.S. Cunningham, and Civil War era political cartoons.
World Book Student
Find information for elementary and middle school students on African-Americans and their experiences.