Core Databases
- Oxford African American Studies Center (AASC) This link opens in a new window Access articles from Africana; the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895; the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present; Black Women in America, Second Edition; the Dictionary of African Biography; the Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought; the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography; and African American National Biography, along with other key resources. Coverage: varies, contains primary sources. Full text.
- America: History & Life This link opens in a new window Explore the history and culture of North America including the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. This collection includes secondary source articles, as well as books and book reviews. Note: for world history, use Historical Abstracts. Coverage: 1935 to present. Full text.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Explore the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present, including military history, women's history, history of education, history of science, and more. This collection includes secondary source articles from journals, as well as books and book reviews. Note: for United States history, use America: History and Life; for medieval history, use Iter. Coverage: varies. Full text.
- Caribbean Search This link opens in a new window Access articles, reports, conference proceedings and reference books pertinent to the countries and people of the Caribbean region on multidisciplinary topics. Most are written in English, but some French and Spanish resources are included as well. Coverage: late 20th century to present. Full text.
College Documents - Selected Inventories
The documents listed in these inventories are a sampling of the types of primary sources found in Archives and Special Collections. To explore any of these resources or to discover more like this, visit the Archives on the lower level of the library or contact Malinda Triller Doran
Newspapers and Magazines
- African American Historical Periodicals Includes publications of National Urban League, NAACP and Colored American Magazine.
- African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new window Access newspapers and magazines, as well as reports and annuals from various African American organizations, including churches and social service agencies. This collection was developed in conjunction with the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). Coverage: 1829-1922, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of Robert J. Weinstein, Dickinson College class of 1941.
- Alternative Press Index This link opens in a new window Access citations and some full text articles from alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers, and magazines. This index is international in scope with its central focus on socialism, national liberation, labor, indigenous peoples, gays/lesbians, feminism, ecology, democracy, and anarchism. Coverage: 1969 to present. Some full text.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection, Series 1-5 This link opens in a new window Explore aspects of American society from the Colonial period through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Individual Series can be searched together or separately. Coverage: 1691-1912, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of Robert J. Weinstein, Dickinson College class of 1941.
- Ebony Magazine The Ebony archive includes more than 800 issues, providing a broad view of African-American culture from its first issue in 1945 through 2014.
- Ethnic News Watch This link opens in a new window Access news, culture and history from publications of the ethnic, minority, and native press. Coverage: 1950 to present. Mostly full text.
- Independent Voices This link opens in a new window Access magazines, journals, and newspapers of alternative press archives. Collections include Black American, Campus Underground, Feminist, GI Press, LGBT, Latino, Little (literary) Magazine, Native American and Right-Wing publications. Coverage: second half of 20th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
This link opens in a new window
- Rastafari Ephemeral Publications (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access documents that provide an historical time stamp and current affairs commentary on the transitional period in the Rastafari Movement’s development. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1971-2014, contains primary sources. Full text.
- African American Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Explore a cross-searchable collection of historical content from leading African-American Newspapers. Titles included are: Atlanta Daily World (1931-2010), Chicago Defender (1910-1975), New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2010), and Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988). Coverage: 1893-2010, but varies by title; contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was made possible in part through a bequest of Eleanor Cogan (Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts, 2003), library volunteer and longtime friend of the college.
Primary Sources
- African American Archives This link opens in a new window Explore original historical documents pertaining to the history of African Americans, mostly in the United States, but also from the Colonial era and the West Indies. Coverage: contains primary sources. This purchase was a gift of Robert J. Weinstein, Dickinson College class of 1941.
- African American Communities This link opens in a new window Access a diverse range of primary source material focusing on race relations across social, political, cultural, and religious arenas. Coverage: 1800s-2000s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century (History Vault) This link opens in a new window Explore the records of major civil rights organizations, personal papers from activists and observers, and FBI files covering pivotal civil rights leaders and events, as well as legislation from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. This collection also includes other aspects of African American life in the 20th century, like religion, sports, education, and entertainment. It is cross-searchable with other collections via History Vault. Coverage: 20th century, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Black Liberation Army & The Program of Armed Struggle (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access FBI documents about Black Liberation Army (BLA) activities. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1970-1983, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Documenting White Supremacy and Its Opponents in the 1920s This link opens in a new window Access local, regional, and national newspapers published by the Ku Klux Klan, as well as anti-KKK and pro-KKK newspapers. Coverage: December 1921-April 1932, contains primary sources. Full text.
- This link opens in a new window
- Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist & Woman (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access correspondence, financial records, programs, photographs, news articles, and invitations related to the personal life and organizations of Fannie Lou Hamer, voting rights activist and civil rights leader. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1966-1978, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt & Race Relations, 1933-1945 (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access materials for the study of the early development of the Civil Rights Movement concerned with the issues of lynching, segregation, race riots, and employment discrimination. This collection provides insight into FDR's political style and a record on civil rights. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1933-1945, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of the Walter E. Beach Library Fund.
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window Access primary materials from the Library of Congress, covering various periods of American history. This collection includes photographs, manuscripts, rare books, maps, recorded sound, and video. Special online collections include Native American history, African-American history, United States presidents, immigration, literature, and cultural history. Coverage: American history - time periods vary, contains primary sources. Full text.
This link opens in a new window
- NAACP Papers (History Vault) This link opens in a new window Access primary sources that document the organization and major campaigns of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This collection covers topics such as education, voting, court cases, lynching, segregation, employment, housing and discrimination complaints, among others. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via History Vault. Coverage: 1910s-1970s, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Race Relations in America This link opens in a new window Access documents relating to three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights. This collection includes speeches, reports, surveys, and analyses produced by the Race Relations Department's staff and Institute participants, including Charles S. Johnson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall. Coverage: 1943-1970, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access transcriptions of interviews with those who made history in the struggles for voting rights, against discrimination in housing, for the desegregation of the schools, to expose racism in hiring, in defiance of police brutality, and to address poverty in the African American communities. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1967-1973, contains primary sources. Full text.
- Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Enforcement of Federal Law in the South, 1871-1884 (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window Access documents related to the efforts of district attorneys from southern states to uphold federal laws in the states that fought in the Confederacy or were Border States. Documents include their correspondence with the attorney general as well all other letters received by the attorney general from the states in question during that period, including the correspondence of marshals, judges, convicts, and concerned or aggrieved citizens. This collection is cross-searchable with other collections via Gale Primary Sources. Coverage: 1871-1884, contains primary sources. Full text. This purchase was a gift of the Walter E. Beach Library Fund.
- Reconstruction of Southern States: Pamphlets This link opens in a new window Access openly available pamphlets that provide insights into the three major initiatives of the Reconstruction Era in American history: restoration of the Union, transformation of Southern society, and enactment of progressive legislation favoring the rights of freed slaves. These pamphlets were collected by the Department of State Library and comprise speeches, debates, political statements, legislative bills, and more. Coverage: 1865-1869 and 1877, contains primary sources. Full text.
- This link opens in a new window
- Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 This link opens in a new window Access diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary from/about 1960s America. Themes include arts, music, culture; civil rights; counter-culture; law & government; technology; student activism; the Vietnam War, and more. Coverage: 1960-1974, contains primary sources. Full text.
