This page is designed to help everyone celebrate Black History.   Whether you need quotations, speeches, photos, research information, biographies, genealogy tips or Harlem Renaissance highlights, you can begin your search here.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Martin Luther King, Jr. - Created by the Seattle Times, this site has information about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, work and legacy. You will find timelines, pictures, news stories and activities related to Dr. King. There is also information about his impact on American society, the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the civil rights movement, and more. There is a great deal for teachers and students to discuss both online and off.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Trinity University, San Antonio - This site is Trinity University's tribute to MLK, Jr. It includes information about Trinity's "day of reflection" on January 17th as well as Derrick Bell, the keynote speaker at this event.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site -  Did you ever wonder what Dr. King's childhood was like? Even if you can't get to Atlanta, you can take a look at his boyhood home, spiritual home and final home. There is a great deal to see and learn here, so take a tour and enjoy.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project - The Project at Stanford University has created a site that contains documents written about Dr. King as well as many written by him.  When looking for primary or secondary documents concerning Martin Luther King, Jr., this is the site to consult.  There are letters, sermons, speeches, a chronology, an autobiography and articles to help anyone interested in the life and work of Dr. King.

National Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Calendar of Events -  Locate celebrations all over the country. Simply choose the state, click "GO" and scroll down to find the city you need. There is contact information for the events as well as links to websites about the events.

HISTORY
General | Specific | Slavery/Diaspora | Civil Rights

General History

African-American History - Housed at Mississippi State University, this site is comprehensive. Beginning with general sites on African American history, the links include historical resources from various states and regions around the country. You can also research individual persons as well as the issue of slavery, or link to museums, arts, literature and other resources.

The African American Journey - The World Book Encyclopedia presents this well-illustrated, comprehensive look at the history of African Americans through the modern civil rights movement.   There are links to biographical sketches of notable participants, and to specific issues and events.

The African-American Mosaic - This Library of Congress site surveys the library’s collection on Black History and Culture and concentrates on four areas: Colonization, Abolition, Migrations, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The LC collection, covering nearly 500 years of the black experience in the Western hemisphere, includes books, periodicals, prints, photographs, music, film, and recorded sound.

Black History Month Resource Center - This site from Gale provides nearly all the information students might need to complete homework assignments on Black History topics. With a daily "Who Am I?" quiz, biographies, a timeline and activities, this site should appeal to librarians, students, educators, parents and anyone else interested in African American history.

Black Facts Online! - With this site you can search for particular facts on African American history. Search either by month and day, or by single word to find out facts and dates of specific happenings. This site also allows you to search on a particular day and discover what happened in African American history that specific day.

Black Quest Power Resources - Links to African-American culture, art, history, women, Harlem history, and general resources.   There are also links to information about Africa and Black people in other countries.

Internet Resources for Students of Afro-American History - Use this site to locate reference sources, such as documents or bibliographies, etc., or to access numerous collections and other special resources on African American history throughout the country. Also included are various links to text collections, or other special resources, dealing with African American history from the 1700’s to the present century.

Smithsonian FAQs: American Social and Cultural History - From this site choose African American History and Culture and link to numerous resources at the Smithsonian. For example, there are links to information celebrating the contributions African-Americans have made in aviation, and the African Voices Hall of the National Museum of Natural History.

Teaching African-American History - For those teaching African American history, this site could be very useful. It consists of several lessons, student exercises, and reviews of special materials to introduce African American history to the classroom. Links include research exercises, lessons, and a unique resource that utilizes music to explore African American history. Also, included are numerous supplementary items for teaching African American Studies, and a lengthy list of African American history links.

Specific Histories

African-American Women Writers of the 19^th Century - The New York Public Library offers full texts of fiction and poetry of the featured authors on this site.  Author biographies and general information about the material are also provided.

The Buffalo Soldiers on the Western Frontier - Sponsored by The International Museum of the Horse, this site provides historical information on the Buffalo Soldiers, two cavalry and four infantry regiments (later consolidated to two) whose enlisted composition was made up of African Americans. The site also includes the list of Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients, and a bibliography for further research on this topic.

Legends of Tuskegee - Biographies of Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver are provided in addition to information about the Tuskegee Airmen.  The National Park Service has created this colorful, informative site.

The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys - The Scottsboro Boys site provides an overview of this extremely complicated trial in the southern United States of the 1930’s. For original reporting of this case, click on Afro-American Newspapers. Read about reactions to the convictions, or support for the Scottsboro Boys overseas.

The Tuskegee Airmen - This site features the history of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II. Links to more in-depth information are available; for example, additional sites dealing with racial segregation of the armed forces; and the 66^th Air Force Flying School at the Tuskegee Institute. From this site you can also find out details of the Tuskegee Airmen of WW II in action.

Slavery/Diaspora

Underground Railroad - Interactive site from National Geographic lets you participate in the escape journey from Maryland to Canada, making choices along the way.  There are also classroom ideas for grades K-12, a timeline, and biographies of prominent people in the Underground Railroad.

Civil Rights Movement

The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation - At this site you will find a useful essay concerning the legacy of the Black Panther Party. It puts the actions of the Party and its members in a useful historical context. There is also a description of the Panthers Ten-Point Program.

Little Rock Central High 40^th Anniversary - This site describes the initial stages of desegregation at the Little Rock High School. You can find out information on the nine African American students as well as read a copy of the student newspaper of 40 years ago to see how the majority of students really saw the situation.

National Civil Rights Museum Virtual Tour - This tour gives you a quick glance at the major events in the Civil Rights Movement. It is arranged chronologically but you can easily move to any topic covered. Some topics include the Freedom Summer, Student Sit-Ins, and the Chicago Freedom Movement.

BIOGRAPHY
Cumulative | Specific

Cumulative Biographies

African American History Challenge - Biographical sketches are presented here for: Alexander Crummell, Frederick Douglas, Henry Highland Garnet, Harriet Tubman, Henry McNeal Turner, John Mercer Langston, Mary Elizabeth Boswer, Mary Church Terrell, Mary Ann Shadd, Nat Turner, Richard Allen and Sojourner Truth.

Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences - Biographical sketches are presented here of famous African American men and women who made their mark in the sciences. You can either search an alphabetical listing by the person's name or you can search by scientific category such as: Biologists, Geneticists, Mathematicians and Computer Scientists.

Making Strides:  African-American Women to Know - Shireen Dodson, Maisha Gibson, Karen Robert Jackson, and Stacey Davis Steed are featured.

Prominent African Americans - A list of more than 50 prominent African Americans with at least one annotated link is given here. Many of the individuals have numerous links covering both biographical and informative subjects related to the person.

Trailblazers for the Next Generation: Contemporary African-American History Makers - Brief biographies of Arthur Ashe, Carol Moseley-Braun, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Mae Jemison, Bishop Leontine Kelly, Robert C. Maynard, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Clifton Wharton, and L. Douglas Wilder are presented.  This site also includes a list of other contemporary African American firsts and a bibliography.

GENEALOGY

African-American Resources - For those researching African American family histories, or just interested in African American genealogy, this site offers multiple genealogy resources on the Internet.

Afrigeneas - For those researching African American family histories, or just interested in African American genealogy, this site offers the opportunity to share your findings with other researchers. AfriGeneas was created as a place on the Internet to discuss and promote African American family research.

Christine’s Genealogy Website - For African American genealogical research, this is also a good place to begin. The site offers selected lists of African Americans in U.S. census records, as well as Freedmen’s Bureau records, and links to museums, libraries and historical societies that have African American collections.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System - This is a computerized database containing basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War. Use this site to locate the unit in which a particular soldier of African descent served. For more common names, the search could be difficult, but it is a good starting place. Also, this database includes histories of 180 United States Colored Troops units/regiments.

Family Tree Maker’s Genealogy Site - This site is a "genealogy how-to" and could be very helpful for those just beginning to research family histories. Special references are made to early colonial newspapers that published slave advertisements. As explained, these could be helpful for those researching ancestors back to their original arrival in America prior to 1864. The site also explains basic procedures for researching ancestors who lived after 1864. Listed are additional genealogical contacts, sources and web sites.

ARTS, CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT
Writings & Narratives | Music & Dance | Culture | Museums & Archives | Entertainment | Holidays

African-Americans in the Visual Arts - A reliable source for information on African American visual arts, this site's offerings are like nothing else on the Web. Discover the many influences on African American art from African images to the Harlem Renaissance to the WPA. Many hard-to-find biographical sketches of artists can also be found here.

Writings and Narratives

Writing Black - Comprehensive and easy to use, this site from a British university has links to texts and resources for literature written by and about African Americans. Looking for Maya Angelou’s poem from the presidential inauguration, resources on Rita Dove, or the works of Langston Hughes? You’ll find them here.

Mosaicbooks.com: Black Literary Showcase - Need to find the latest information on Black literature? You’ll see everything from children’s books, fiction and non-fiction here. There are also lists of book clubs and Black-owned bookstores by state.

Powerful African-American Images in Picture Books - For teachers, parents, librarians and other picture book fans, it has often been difficult to find picture books with African American themes and characters. This site is a bibliography of dozens of books featuring African American children. Click on this site for the first half of the list; at the end of the page you will find the link to the second half.

American Slave Narratives - This web site provides interviews with over 2,300 former slaves. These interviews were carried out and documented by writers and journalists under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1938. This is primary research material, and remains a very important resource for understanding the lives of America’s four million slaves. Read excerpts from these interviews, and also view some of the photographs taken at the time.

African-American Pamphlets - This site makes available the Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection. Among the authors represented in the collection are Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Alexander Crummel and Emanuel Love. This pamphlet collection presents a view of African American history and culture from the nineteenth century through the early twentieth century with the bulk of the material published between 1875 and 1900.

Items from Special Collections - Featuring African American historical resource material from Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, this site allows you to read personal letters, family correspondence, petitions, public hearings, broadsides for the recovery of slaves, and slave bills of sales. These primary source documents range chronologically from 1796 to 1864.

Music & Dance

Archives of African American Music and Culture - Created by Indiana University, this is the most comprehensive African American music site on the Web. With sections such as Black radio, blues, classical, jazz, gospel, hip hop and more, you’re sure to find what you need here.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - This site from the incredible modern dance ensemble has information on its history, the founder, the artistic director, performances, and the classes offered at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

Culture

Melanet - This site has a little bit of everything. Need information on how to have a wedding with an African touch? Kwanzaa information? It’s here. Check out the "Universal Afrocentric Calendar" and the "Watoto World," which was created for children, parents and educators.

Stamp on Black History - The U.S. Postal Service has issued a number stamps commemorating African American achievement. Divided into easy-to-use sections, this award-winning site is great for educators and parents. Find the stamps listed alphabetically or by curriculum areas, information on stamp collecting, a quiz, games and activities.

The Name Site - Lists of African personal names are difficult to find, so this site is a real treasure. Names from all over the continent have been listed alphabetically along with the pronunciation and meaning.

Museums, Archives & Research Centers

Anacostia Museum - Located in Washington, D. C., the Anacostia Museum was founded to increase public awareness of the African American experience through research, programs and exhibitions. The museum focuses on African American history and culture in the District of Columbia and areas in the rural South which have been historically significant to African Americans.

Black American West Museum and Heritage Center - One of the most comprehensive sources of historic materials about African Americans in the West, the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center is located in Denver. Resulting from "one man’s search and discovery of a past not recorded in history books," today the collection includes personal artifacts, memorabilia, newspapers, legal documents, clothing, letters, photographs, and oral histories.

Black Film Center/Archive Home Page - The Black Film Center/Archive (BFC/A) is a repository of films and related materials by and about African Americans. Housed at Indiana University, Bloomington, this facility is open to scholars, students and researchers to review films, and search the BFC/A database of over 4,600 titles (not all in the collection). Visit the home page for more information on this important film archive.

The DuSable Museum of African-American History - Located in Chicago, the DuSable Museum of African American History is the only major independent institution in that city documenting and preserving the historical achievements of African Americans. Visit the home page and discover more about the museum’s history, and learn about exhibits or special events.

John Hope Franklin Research Center - The John Hope Franklin Research Center, located at Duke University, North Carolina, is a repository for both African and African American historical documentation. Founded to preserve historical material, and to make this material available to scholars and other researchers, the Center also attempts to make primary source materials available to instruction at the secondary and collegiate levels. Selected holdings and programs are outlined on this site.

The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, UCLA - This Project consists of letters, pamphlets, vital records, newspaper articles, speeches, and legal records pertaining to the life and career of Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) and his leadership of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Archival organization of the material is by Series: American Series, African Series, Caribbean Series, and Marcus Garvey: Life & Lessons, plus a Photo Gallery and Sound Library.

Moorland-Spingarn Research Center - The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center is located at Howard University in Washington, D.C. This site traces the Center’s history, and documents the lives of many individuals who made it possible, such as Dr. Jesse E. Moorland and Arthur Barnette Spingarn. Also featured is Dorothy Burnett Porter, the first Black American woman to be awarded a master’s degree in library science from Columbia University (1932). Over many years, she developed a modern research library to serve the needs of the university community, and the library eventually became part of the Research Center. This site is reprinted from Library Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 143-163.

Schomburg Center - The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is housed at the New York Public Library. It is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. Today, the Center contains over 5,000,000 items including art objects, audio and video tapes, books, manuscripts, motion picture films, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, prints, recorded music discs and sheet music.

Entertainment

Electronic Urban Report - Self-described as "factual, on-line infotainment," you’ll find the latest information on African Americans in the entertainment world. With daily updates on celebrities, you may discover information here that isn’t available anywhere else.

Black Film Center/Archive - This site provided by the an Indiana University repository of films by and about African Americans is a great place to start when looking for resources about Black films. By clicking on the link for a selected list of African American and film-related Internet resources, you will discover information on Black film distributors, film festivals, selected "filmographies" and much more. For more information on using the facility itself, see the link in the Museums, Archives and Reseach Centers of this page.

California Newsreel - California Newsreel, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1968, has created this excellent site. It has descriptions of dozens of African and African American films, documentaries currently available on video, listed by topic or alphabetically. There are also workplace videos, articles, study guides and program notes.

Negro Leagues Baseball - While there are many sites about the Negro Leagues on the Web, this is definitely one of the best. Not only is there an extensive history of the leagues, but each team has its own link and description. You will also find biographical information on certain players, and there are links to other sites related to the Negro Leagues.

Holidays

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. - With this excellent site you can choose Creating a Holiday to learn how Martin Luther King’s birthday, January 20th, was created as a national holiday by federal legislation in November 1983. For further information, select Timeline as it lists key dates involved in the creation of this holiday.

Juneteenth - Juneteenth is a holiday that is growing in importance and popularity every year, and it is particularly relevant to Texans. Still, information on the holiday is difficult to find, so this site will help fill gaps in the print sources. You will discover a detailed history of Juneteenth, holiday celebrations in various states, a list of Juneteenth organizations, a pictorial by artist Tom Feelings, poetry and more. This is a terrific, well-organized site that you will definitely find useful.

Kwanzaa Information Center - Celebrated on December 26th, Kwanzaa attempts to unite African Americans with their cultural heritage and identity. Here find the history and background of this holiday and its founder, an explanation of the symbols and principles of Kwanzaa, history of the Pan-African flag, and step-by-step instructions for planning your own Kwanzaa celebration.

CURRENT ISSUE & EVENTS
General | Affirmative Action | Ebonics

General

African American Issues - Articles on a variety of topics, including art, history, museums, reading lists, and interviews with African Americans, are offered.

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action Special - This site is a report on affirmative action published in the Washington Post newspaper. In addition to a subject overview, the site includes key stories, opinions, resources, and further links on the topic. There is also an area where readers share their thoughts on the subject. Choose Resources for the history and background of affirmative action and articles on both sides of the issue.

CA Secretary of State-Vote96-Proposition 209 - This comprehensive site deals with Proposition 209, an amendment to Article I of the California state constitution, known as the California Civil Rights Initiative. The proposition passed on November 5, 1996. This site includes the Text of Proposition 209; and an in-depth analysis of the Proposition. From this site you can also choose Argument in Favor of Proposition 209 or Rebuttal to Argument in Favor of Proposition 209; as well as Argument Against Proposition 209 or Rebuttal to Argument Against Proposition 209.

Supreme Court Lets 209 Stand - On November 4, 1997, the U. S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to California’s Proposition 209, thus affirming the Proposition the law of the land. This site, from the San Francisco Chronicle, provides a clear explanation of the legal complexities of Proposition 209 and predicts the future outlook of this law.

Ebonics

CAL Ebonics Information Page - This is the home page for the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). On this site you will find written material on ebonics; such as statements to the media, speeches, and policy statements by various individuals interested in the subject. The site also lists other Internet resources on ebonics, as well as print resources. The table of contents includes CAL centers, products, services, and information about the Center for Applied Linguistics.

Sunday Interview: Opening Pandora’s Box - Choose this site for an interview with Toni Cook, a principal member of the Oakland, California school board during the period of controversy over the issue of ebonics. Conducted by a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer, the interview concludes with brief biographical information on Toni Cook, as well her educational and employment history.

The links in this section were selected and evaluated by the staff of the San Antonio Public Library for their high quality content.

Updated: 09/23/2005
Report broken links to: librarywebadmin@sanantonio.gov.