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African American Studies

Links and resources focused on African American history

Online Resources

African American Heritage Research Guide
Provides archival resources, blog posts and articles, featured records, public programs, and subject portals,e.g., Black Power, Voting Rights, and World War I.
Black History: Guide to Black History
Here you will find updated content along with tools and other resources that can be used while conducting research relating to African American History at the National Archives (NARA).

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Cover image for African American History Month 2023 displaying artwork: Three Wisemen Greeting Entry into Lagos by Kehinde Wiley

Test your knowledge of African American History by taking one of these quizzes.

Black Culture Connection - PBS
Test your knowledge of Black History & Culture with a Quiz! Pick from the list below to check out some of our favorite quizzes across PBS.
Black History Trivia Quiz
Part of the World History Project
Black Music History
Test your knowledge of iconic moments in black music history.
Trivia Quest: Black History
Hosted by AARP, this quiz tests how much you know about African American leaders and event.
Who said that?
MLK, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson. Can you guess who said what in this Famous Quotes quiz?

Lists of Local Events Celebrating Black History

Nashville Public Library (NPL) events
Every February, NPL celebrates African American History Month with a full schedule of art, music, dance, history events at all 21 library locations.
Black History Events - Eventbrite
Events hosted through Eventbrite. Music, theater, walking tours, and more!
Visit Nashvile, Events for Black History Month
Follow in the steps of those who took a stand by taking a seat. The Civil Rights Sit-Ins tour was written and narrated by Fisk University professor Linda Wynn. The Downtown Civil Rights Sit-Ins tour begins at Chuch Street and Sixth Avenue North and ends at Rosa L. Parks Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
National Archives online resources
The National Archives holds a wealth of materials documenting the African American experience. We invite you to learn more about the extraordinary contributions of African Americans to United States history and culture through online resources, research guides, and upcoming events and programs.

African American Artists in the Collection (National Gallery of Art)
Explore works from Black artists across centuries, mediums, and geographies.
African American Craft Initiative (Smithsonian Folklife Magazine)
African Americans have played an important role as makers since the dawn of the American experiment. Since emancipation, in the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries, African American artisans have continued to produce, often with scant recognition of their participation or equal access to the craft establishment in the United States.
How Urban Corridos Became the Soundtrack to South Central L.A.
Urban corridos were bound to happen. Mexican and Black hip-hop cultures live side by side in many Los Angeles neighborhoods.
March on Washington Tour from the National Archives on HistoryPin
Historypin has developed and maintained storytelling methods used by 3000+ cultural organizations to expand their communities - and bring their resources to life. Collections are groups of pins about particular places and themes gathered by Historypin members.
National Underground to Freedom (National Park Service)
The National Park Service and members of the Network to Freedom tell these stories of escape to demonstrate the significance of the Underground Railroad in the eradication of slavery as a cornerstone of the national civil rights movement. Create a free account to access the content fully.

Library Databases

African American History Online
Browse by primary source, topic and by time period—from eight historical periods relevant specifically to African-American history. Slave narratives, maps, audio and video are some of the types of resources found here.
American Slavery Collection, 1822-1922
Primary source collection from 1820-1922, providing important background and context for students studying the cultural, economic, political, religious, and social aspects of slavery, abolition, and segregation.
Where does the content come from?
The content in this database is based on the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society.
What time period does it cover?
From 1820 to 1922, from the Missouri Compromise to the Civil Rights Cases, and to the codification of segregation.
What's in it?
This database covers many topical categories such as economics and trade, government and politics, health and labor, law and crime, literature and philosophy, religion and theology, science and technology, slavery and race relations, and society, manners, and customs. This archive of more than 3,600 books, pamphlets, graphic materials, and ephemera contains varied perspectives on subjects including but not limited to:
Cotton growing and plantation life
Land reform and settlement
Private schools, school children, and the education of slaves
Proportional representation and representative government
Relocation and treatment of Native Americans
Labor movement and the working class
Legal status of African Americans
Bible stories and prohibited books
Political campaigns, crimes and offenses, and parties
Farm mechanization and railroads
Social conditions of slaves and religious aspects of slavery
Marriage and miscegenation
And on events such as:
Civil War
Haitian Revolution
John Brown's Raid
Nat Turner's Rebellion
Vesey Insurrection

Films on Demand: Black History Month
Selected titles FOD chose representative of Black history. Search other key phrases (African American or the black vote) for other videos.

Gale In Context: Global Issues
Empowers users with the tools they need to understand today’s world issues from a global perspective. Computer literacy and the digital divide are a couple topics addressed on a global scale.
Gale OneFile: Diversity Studies
Has articles on cultural differences, contributions, and influences of diverse leadership in our global community.

Video files accessed through Waggoner Library

Black History Month, FOD
Over 1,700 titles on all aspects of black history. Documentaries, interviews, and special reports from the BBC, news services, Films for the Humanities, and more.
African Americans Who Left Their Stamp on History series, FOD
African Americans Who Left their Stamp on History is a four-part series. Langston Hughes, Rosa Parks & Thurgood Marshall.
Roots, FOD
A four-night, eight-hour event series, "Roots" is a historical portrait of one family's journey through American slavery and their will to survive and preserve their legacy in the face of unimaginable hardship.
Major Historic African-American Sites from African American History online database
24 historic sites mark places where important incidents occurred in African-American history from the time of slavery to the period of the Civil Rights movement. Each site, with the exception of those marked with an asterisk, is a member of the National Register of Historic Places—a list of sites, maintained and protected by the National Park Service, which are significant in American history and culture. All sites are open to the public
First Day of School, from African American History Online database
Ruby Bridges Hall recalls Federal Marshals escorting her to a new school and sitting in the office all day because of the . (8min 45sec)

eBooks in our Collection. Click the image to access the eBook.

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