LibGuides: Resources for Colored Conventions Research: A Guide for National Affiliates and Public Use: Letters/Papers/Books

Search Google Books and HathiTrust for Digitized Books and Other Materials

Find information about African Americans by searching the full text of millions of books in Google Books and the HathiTrust Digital Library. Note the name of the library that provided the book as well as the book's title, author(s), publisher name and location, date, and the page(s) where the information can be found.

If there are no options for printing or downloading, try to take a screenshot of the page that you need and/or check your library catalog to see if your library has a copy of the book.

In some cases, you will find your search terms highlighted in the text but won't be able to view the book. If there are copyright restrictions, the entire book will not be displayed.

Encyclopedias

Dictionaries

Your library may have these resources. Check WorldCat or your library catalog for availability.

The Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a historical dictionary of English, covering the language from the earliest times to the present day. It is available in print and electronic formats.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference is an online collection of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other ready-reference books.

Letters and Papers

Researchers often find important information in the letters and papers of abolitionists. Black Boston activist William Cooper Nell's papers are particularly helpful, as are the Black Abolitionist Papers and the Letters of William Lloyd Garrison.

Your library may have these books. Check WorldCat or your library catalog for availability.

The Black Abolitionist Papers by C. Peter Ripley and Jeffrey S. Rossbach, eds.
Also available is the Black Abolitionist Papers database. The database offers primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States (1830-1865).
The Frederick Douglass Papers by Frederick Douglass; John W. Blassingame, ed.
The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers by Harriet Jacobs; Jean Fagan Yellin, ed.
The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison by William Lloyd Garrison; Walter M. Merrill, ed.
The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass; Philip S. Foner, ed.
Selected Letters of Lucretia Coffin Mott by Lucretia Mott; Beverly Wilson Palmer, ed.
William Cooper Nell: Nineteenth-Century African American Abolitionist, Historian, Integrationist; Selected Writings 1832-1874 by Constance Porter Uzelac and Dorothy Porter Wesley, eds.

Biographical Directories

Black Biography, 1790-1950: A Cumulative Index by Edited by Randall K. Burkett, Nancy Hall Burkett and Henry Louis Gates Jr., eds.
This is an index to 350 historical black biographical dictionaries. In addition to brief biographical information, the book includes geographical and occupational indexes. Additional dictionaries covered by this index are available on microfiche and some can also be found online at HathiTrust or Google Books. The invaluable indexing provided by this publication is not available online.
Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders during Reconstruction by Eric Foner
Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising by William J. Simmons

African American Women

Black Women in America (2nd ed.) by Darlene Clark Hine, ed. in chief
Black Women in Nineteenth-Century American Life: Their Words, Their Thoughts, Their Feelings by Bert James Loewenberg and Ruth Bogin, eds.
Call Number: 920.7 B561 Main Stacks
Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities by Monroe Alphus Majors
We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century by Dorothy Sterling
Call Number: 973.0496 W369 Main Stacks
The Work of the Afro-American Woman by Mrs. N. F. Mossell
Call Number: 301.43 M85W 1988 Main Stacks

Guides to African American Newspapers

The African American Newspaper: Voice of Freedom by Patrick S. Washburn
Call Number: 071.3089 W274a Communications
African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography by James P. Danky, ed.; Maureen E. Hady, assoc. ed.
Call Number: Q. 015.73035 Af83 History, Philosophy & Newspaper Afri Am Ref/Main Stacks Ref

Geographic Places

Search for these and other geographic-specific books in WorldCat or your library catalog. Use keywords or Library of Congress Subject Headings such as African Americans--California or Slavery--Tennessee.

The African-American History of Nashville, Tennessee, 1780-1930: Elites and Dilemmas by Bobby L. Lovett
Call Number: 976.85500496 L947a History, Philosophy, Newspaper Library
Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City by Carla L. Peterson
Call Number: 305.896073 P4426b Main Stacks
Blacks in Gold Rush California by Rudolph M. Lapp
The Negro Trail Blazers of California by Delilah Leontium Beasley