Black History

Black History Links

Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 contains just over a hundred pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889) concerning the difficult and troubling experiences of African and African-American slaves in the American colonies and the United States. The documents, most from the Law Library and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, comprise an assortment of trials and cases, reports, arguments, accounts, examinations of cases and decisions, proceedings, journals, a letter, and other works of historical importance.

From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 presents 396 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1822 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. The materials range from personal accounts and public orations to organizational reports and legislative speeches. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Kelly Miller, Charles Sumner, Mary Church Terrell, and Booker T. Washington.

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves.

American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology From 1936 to 1938, over 2,300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. These former slaves, most born in the last years of the slave regime or during the Civil War, provided first-hand accounts of their experiences on plantations, in cities, and on small farms. Their narratives remain a peerless resource for understanding the lives of America's four million slaves.

Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass, great abolitionsist orator and writer, websites with links to documents and other sites.

The Frederick Douglass Papers

Portraits: Frederick Douglass

Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/

Black History Month: Activities & Resources for Children
http://fun.familyeducation.com/black-history-month/holidays/32871.html?yah



Tapestry of Freedom

Funding for this grant was awarded by the Illinois State Library (ISL), a Division of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), under the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Copyright.

Gail Borden Public Library District, 270 North Grove Avenue, Elgin, Illinois 60120
Phone: 847-742-2411 | Fax: 847-742-0485 | To Renew: 847-742-3210