Skip to Main Content

University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Resources for Colored Conventions Research: A Guide for National Affiliates and Public Use: History/Biography Databases

ColoredConventions.org endeavors to transform teaching and learning about this historic collective organizing effort—and about the many leaders and places involved in it—bringing them to digital life for a new generation of students and scholars across di

America: History and Life

America: History and Life
America: History & Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.

Historical Statistics

Historical Statistics of the United States
The database is a standard source for the quantitative facts of American history.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
There are statistical tables and charts covering various aspects of social, political, and economic life.

19th-Century Journals and Magazines

APS (American Periodicals Series) Online
American Periodicals provides access to two separate collections, American Periodicals Series Online (APS Online) and American Periodicals from the Center for Research (APCRL). APS Online contains digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals. APCRL includes full-color scans of original printed documents.

HarpWeek
Digitized images of Harper's Weekly, the leading illustrated American periodical of the last half of the nineteenth century.

Specialized Biography Databases

African American Biographical Database
The African American Biographical Database (AABD) brings together the biographies of thousands of African Americans. Covers 1790 to 1950.

Black Abolitionist Papers
Primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States. The approximately 15,000 articles, documents, correspondence, proceedings, manuscripts, and literary works of almost 300 Black abolitionists. Covers 1830-1865.

Black Thought and Culture: African Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
"When complete, Black Thought and Culture will provide approximately 100,000 pages of monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the black community from the earliest times to the present."

General Biography Databases

American National Biography
A source of historical American biography.

Biography in Context
Biography in Context is a comprehensive database of biographical information.

Biography Reference Bank
Full-text biographical profiles of people from antiquity to the present. Currently unavailable at UIUC.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
This is an online index to sources that contain multiple biographies. Use the database to identify a publication that includes the biographical information needed, and then check your library catalog for the call number.

Find Biographical Information in Digitized Book Collections

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 DELCAT Discovery to see if the UD Library holds the book. Books not held by the Library may be borrowed from other libraries through interlibrary loan.

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.