LibGuides: African American Literature: Primary Sources

Web Resources

The African American Research Center has compiled a list of web links on African American history and culture that might also be of interest.

Outside Resources

There are a number of outside resources that provide rich digital archives of primary source material. Notable ones include:

Digital Schomburg
Features a variety of online resources, including a full-text collection of books by 19th Century African American female writers, as well as photo and audiovisual collections pertaining to African American history and the African diaspora.
Callaloo
Includes fiction, poetry, plays, critical essays, cultural studies, interviews, and visual arts that pertain to the entire African Diaspora.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are original literary texts and other materials produced during the time period being studied. These can include manuscripts, editions of books, newspaper articles, book reviews, and other materials produced during the time period that document events.

UIUC provides a number of resources for finding primary sources that will be useful to you.

Databases

The Library has a number of databases that contain primary source material for African-American literatures:

Archive of Americana This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive historical collections, containing books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, government documents and ephemera. Collections include: American broadsides and ephemera, series I; Early American imprints, series I: Evans, 1639-1800; Early American imprints, series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819; America's historical newspapers; and government publications including American state papers, 1789-1838; and U.S. Congressional serial set, 1817-1980.
This link directs you to Readex AllSearch. You can search within the Archives of Americana databases by selecting those in the drop-down on the left side of the search bar. Archives of Americana databases include: African American Newspapers; American Business: Agricultural Newspapers; Caribbean Newspapers; Ethnic American Newspapers from Balch Collection; and Hispanic American Newspapers.
Black Drama This link opens in a new window
This edition of Black Drama, Second Edition contains approximately 1,462 plays by 233 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. The database also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Black Studies Center combines invaluable resources for research and teaching in Black studies: Schomburg studies on the Black experience, International index of Black periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago defender, and Black literature index. This fully cross-searchable gateway to Black studies includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Searchable and browsable database of non-fiction works by African-American leaders and others who have dealt substantially with issues of race in America. Includes books, essays, articles, speeches, letters, interviews, and other materials, some of which have not previously been published. Includes brief biographical information for all authors.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search all 46 ProQuest Historical Newspaper titles owned by the University of Illinois, representing 19 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, as well as titles from Canada, the UK, and India. Coverage spans the 18th century to the 2010s and includes important publications like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Globe and Mail, and Chicago Tribune.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers is the definitive newspaper digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 18th century. Every issue of each title includes the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format. The full collection of ProQuest Historical Newspapers contains over 30 million digitized pages.
Twentieth-Century African American Poetry This link opens in a new window
A collection of poetry written by the most important and influential African-American poets of the 20th century. Includes the complete text of each poem and any integral textual images or illustrations, as well as any accompanying text, such as dedications, notes, acknowledgements, prefaces, introductions, epigraphs.

Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture-- a multimedia archive at the University of Virginia