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Resources for Colored Conventions Research: A Guide for National Affiliates and Public Use: Microform Collections

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

Black Biographical Dictionaries, 1790-1950

Black Biographical Dictionaries on microfiche reproduces information from biographical dictionaries, histories and directories of African American organizations, encyclopedias, and other publications. Some of the biographical dictionaries can be found online at HathiTrust or Google Books.

Black Biography, 1790-1950 is the print index to the microfiche set (above). In addition to brief biographical information, the book includes geographical and occupational indexes.

Using Microforms

Microforms are photographic reproductions of printed materials in reduced size. In order to be read, they must be enlarged by a machine.

Microform equipment includes digital microform scanners, reader/printers, and some manual fiche and film readers. There is equipment that allows users to view, print, and scan images. Scanned images can be adjusted, and saved or sent to email.

Newspapers on Microfilm

The microfilm set Negro Newspapers on Microfilm includes African American titles filmed by the Library of Congress (roughly 1883 to 1931, with a few dating back to 1865 and up to 1946). There are approximately 100 titles. Most are small runs; several titles may appear on one roll.

Sample titles include:
Frederick Douglass' Paper
Weekly Anglo-African