Research Guides: History Research Guide: American Experience

American Experience

Research resources that focus primarily on the impact, influence, and events related to various people groups in the United States. Some resources may be a bit more broad, but are included because of their extensive coverage. As we grow our resources in this area, we hope to be able to expand the list and groups beyond what's currently shown.

People Groups

We've highlighted resources that have a certain focus in the adjoining tabs, but want to stress the importance of also searching some of our more general collections.

For archival material, please be aware of the need to potentially use certain words, phrases, or expressions that while common then, are considered highly inappropriate or offensive today.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Single-search of the full-text of The New York Times (1851-2014), The Washington Post (1877-2002), The Baltimore Sun (1837-1993), The Guardian ‎(1791-2003), The Observer‎ (1791-2003), and Chicago Defender (1909-2010), including full page and article images

For more information, view this brief tutorial on using ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new window
Scans of documents providing firsthand accounts of history in the Americas
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Extensive collection of digitized works from leading research libraries worldwide, providing access to rare, out-of-print, and public domain materials
Biography (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
Full-text biographies and primary sources detailing the lives and accomplishments of the world’s most influential people such as American presidents, artists, business leaders, military figures, scientists, and more

Kanopy
The Kanopy platform has a number of films / documentaries under the subject heading Race, Ethnicity, and Identity. These titles are leased for a year at a time, and the collection will expand and contract over time.
Films on Demand
There are a number of good streaming documentaries from Films on Demand. One commonly requested is:

Eyes on the Prize

Produced by Blackside, Eyes on the Prize tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America.

General Studies

African American Experience: The American Mosaic This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed articles, biographies, and primary sources on the African American experience from its African origins to the present day
African American Historical Serials Collection This link opens in a new window
Letters and poems covering the history of African American religious life and culture between 1829 and 1922
African Americans and Jim Crow: Repression and Protest, 1883-1922 This link opens in a new window
Primary source materials from the beginning of the Jim Crow period through World War I, including works by African-American writers; the portrayal of African Americans in art and literature; religion; race; early histories of slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction; and related topics
Black Short Fiction and Folklore: African, African American, and Diaspora This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles, poems, and short fiction from African authors

For more information, view this brief tutorial on using Black Short Fiction and Folklore.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles and primary sources on events that have shaped African American history and culture

African American Communities -- AM Explorer
Focuses predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina
African American Perspectives -- Library of Congress
"African American Perspectives" gives a panoramic and eclectic review of African American history and culture and is primarily comprised of the African American Pamphlet Collection and the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection with a date range of 1822 through 1909.
Race Relations in America -- AM Explorer
Documenting three pivotal decades in the fight for civil rights, this resource showcases the speeches, reports, surveys and analyses produced by the Department’s staff and Institute participants, including Charles S. Johnson, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thurgood Marshall.
African American Studies -- Gale Primary Sources
This is a collection of thirteen focused collections on the African American Experience.
Papers of Fannie Lou Hamer
The Fannie Lou Hamer papers contain more than three thousand pieces of correspondence plus financial records, programs, photographs, newspaper articles, invitations, and other printed items. The papers are arranged in the following series: Personal, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, Freedom Farms Corporation, Delta Ministry, Mississippians United to Elect Negro Candidates, Delta Opportunities Corporation, and Collected Materials.
Papers of Booker T. Washington
The Rotunda Digital Edition includes the full contents of the 14-volume letterpress edition, including speeches, correspondence, major autobiographical writing, and cumulative index.
William A. Gladstone Afro-American Military Collection
The William A. Gladstone Afro-American Military Collection (ca. 500 items) spans the years 1773 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the Civil War period, 1861-1865. This collection documents African Americans in military service, especially the United States Corps d'Afrique and the United States Colored Troops, which were organized during the Civil War.
NAACP
Our work and our activists carrying the civil rights torch forward are our legacy. Since our founding in 1909, we have been, and continue to be, on the front lines of the fight for civil rights and social justice.

Slavery and Reconstruction

African Americans and Reconstruction: Hope and Struggle, 1865-1883 This link opens in a new window
Primary source materials from the end of the American Civil War to the end of Reconstruction, including works by African-American writers on race, slavery, and civil rights; the portrayal of African Americans in the arts; early histories of the Civil War and slavery; and related topics

Slavery in America (Hein Online)
This HeinOnline collection brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. This includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery. Our cases go into the 20th century, because long after slavery was ended, there were still court cases based on issues emanating from slavery.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive is devoted to the study and understanding of the history of slavery in America and the rest of the world from the 17th century to the late 19th century
Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice -- AM Explorer
Bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice.

Media

Featured

Eyes on the Prize
Eyes on the Prize tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America. The 14-part series recounts the fight to end decades of discrimination and segregation
King: A Filmed Record from Montgomery to Memphis Part 1
1970 Academy Award Nominee Best Documentary
Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, KING: A FILMED RECORD...MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS is a monumental documentary that follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1955 to 1968, in his rise from regional activist to world-renowned leader of the Civil Rights movement.
King: A Filmed Record from Montgomery to Memphis, Part 2
1970 Academy Award Nominee Best Documentary
Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, KING: A FILMED RECORD...MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS is a monumental documentary that follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1955 to 1968, in his rise from regional activist to world-renowned leader of the Civil Rights movement.

Additional Titles

Martin Luther King Mountaintop Speech (Partial)
This video features Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Mountaintop' speech from 1968.
African Americans -- Films on Demand
A selection of some of the titles from Films on Demand that focus on the people and events relating to the African American experience.
Shadow Ball -- From Ken Burns Series on Baseball
Although previous episodes of Ken Burns’ Baseball series also deal with African-American contributions to the game, much of this program is devoted to the Negro Leagues and the vast number of talented black players barred from competing in the Majors. The film’s title refers to a common pre-game feature in which players staged a mock game with an imaginary ball—an unintended yet apt metaphor for the discriminatory policies of the era.

Music Online: African American Music Reference This link opens in a new window
Full-text of reference works, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies chronicling the history and culture of the African American experience through music, including blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrels, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression

For more information, view this brief tutorial on using Music Online: African American Music Reference.

Jackie Robinson -- Part 1, Ken Burns
Robinson rises from humble origins to integrate Major League Baseball, performing brilliantly despite the threats and abuse he faces on and off the field and, in the process, challenges the prejudiced notions of what a black man can achieve.
Jackie Robinson -- Part 2, Ken Burns
Robinson uses his fame to speak out against injustice, alienating many who had once lauded him for “turning the other cheek.” After baseball, he seeks ways to fight inequality, but as he faces a crippling illness, he struggles to remain relevant.
A Promised Land -- Barack Obama
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.
Frederick Douglass
"Extraordinary...a great American biography" (The New Yorker) of the most important African-American of the nineteenth century: Frederick Douglass, the escaped slave who became the greatest orator of his day and one of the leading abolitionists and writers of the era.
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches -- HBO
Inspired by David Blight’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography, this documentary brings to life the words of our country’s most famous anti-slavery activist.
The Souls of Black Folks -- W. E. B. DuBois
"The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line," writes Du Bois, in one of the most prophetic works in all of American literature. First published in 1903, this collection of fifteen essays dared to describe the racism that prevailed at that time in America—and to demand an end to it. Du Bois' writing draws on his early experiences, from teaching in the hills of Tennessee, to the death of his infant son, to his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.
Devil in the Grove
Arguably the most important American lawyer of the twentieth century, Thurgood Marshall was on the verge of bringing the landmark suit Brown v. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court when he became embroiled in a case that threatened to change the course of the civil rights movement and cost him his life.
Becoming -- Michelle Obama
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.
Eyes on the Prize Interviews
The Eyes on the Prize I Interviews Collection consists of 127 raw interviews conducted with participants in the American Civil Rights movement, covering the years from the mid-1950s through to 1965. The interviews were recorded by Henry Hampton and the Blackside production company as part of the acclaimed documentary series Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965.
Malcom X: A Life of Reinvention
Manning Marable's biography of Malcolm is a stunning achievement. Filled with new information and shocking revelations that go beyond the Autobiography, Malcolm X unfolds a sweeping story of race and class in America, from the rise of Marcus Garvey and the Ku Klux Klan to the struggles of the civil rights movement in the fifties and sixties.
All That She Carried
A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft a “deeply layered and insightful” (The Washington Post) testament to people who are left out of the archives.
Wilmington's Lie
From Pulitzer Prize winner David Zucchino comes a searing account of the Wilmington riot and coup of 1898, an extraordinary event unknown to most Americans By the 1890s, In Wilmington's Lie, Pulitzer Prize winner David Zucchino uses contemporary newspaper accounts, diaries, letters, and official communications to create a gripping and compelling narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate and fear and brutality. This is a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history.
Parting the Waters
Taylor Branch provides an unsurpassed portrait of Martin Luther King's rise to greatness and illuminates the stunning courage and private conflict, the deals, maneuvers, betrayals, and rivalries that determined history behind closed doors, at boycotts and sit-ins, on bloody freedom rides, and through siege and murder.
Voice of Freedom
Follow the story of singer Marian Anderson, whose talent broke down barriers around the world. Narrated by Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton), Voice of Freedom explores questions about talent, race, fame, democracy and the American soul.
Making Black America -- PBS Documentary
This four-hour series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicles the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people-beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” Gates takes viewers into an extraordinary world that showcases Black people’s ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself.

Latino American Experience: The American Mosaic This link opens in a new window
Full-text essays, speeches, songs, and primary sources on the heritage and culture of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans, Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and other Hispanic groups in the United States

For more information, view this brief tutorial on using: Latino American Experience.
Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
Text, video, and images related to border and migration issues of key worldwide border areas including U.S. and Mexico, the European Union, Afghanistan, Israel, Turkey, the Congo, Argentina, China, Thailand, and more
Fuente Académica This link opens in a new window
Full-text peer-reviewed articles from Latin America, Portugal, and Spain

For more information, view this brief tutorial on using this EBSCO database.
MedicLatina This link opens in a new window
Full-text peer-reviewed articles from renowned Latin American and Spanish publishers on a variety of topics in medicine such as cancer research, cardiology, clinical pathology, clinical research, neuroscience, pediatrics, and more (Updated weekly)

For more information, view this brief tutorial on using this EBSCO database.

Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino
The Friends of the National Museum of Latinos in the United States strive to create a museum in our nation's capital in order to educate, inspire, and encourage respect and understanding of the richness and diversity of the U.S. Latino experience in the country and its territories.
Museum of Latin American Art
The Museum of Latin American Art expands knowledge and appreciation of modern and contemporary Latin American and Latino art through its Collection, ground-breaking Exhibitions, stimulating Educational Programs, and engaging Cultural Events.
Smithsonian Latino Center
The Smithsonian Latino Center unlocks dynamic U.S. Latino stories that shape our national experience and identity.
Hispanic Heritage Month -- National Park Service
More than 500 years of Hispanic and Latino history and heritage can be found in national parks or shared through National Park Service programs and partners in communities across the country.
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
We exist to unify, serve and represent the Hispanic Evangelical Community with the divine (vertical) and human (horizontal) elements of the Christian message all while advancing the Lamb’s agenda.

Final Accountability Rosters of Asian American Relocation Centers 1944-1946
This collection provides demographic information on the "evacuees" resident at the various relocation camps.
Japanese American Relocation Camp Newspapers
This collection, consisting of 25 individual titles, documents life in the internment camps.
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center is a migratory museum that brings history, art and culture to you through innovative community-focused experiences.
Japanese American National Museum
JANM is dedicated to promoting greater understanding and appreciation of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the richness and range of the Japanese American experience.
Chinese American Museum
The Chinese American Museum in Washington, DC (CAMDC) is a bold undertaking, currently underway, to establish the first and only museum in our nation’s capital dedicated to the Chinese American story – its history, culture, and voice.
Korean American National Museum
The Korean American National Museum's mission is to preserve and interpret the history, experiences, culture and achievements of Americans of Korean ancestry.
Korean American Historical Society
Founded in 1985, Korean American Historical Society (KAHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the collective memory of Korean Americans through collecting, maintaining, and transmitting the heritage and achievements of Koreans living in the United States and abroad.
Asian Americans -- Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.

American Indian Experience: The American Mosaic This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents from Native American tribes and articles by Native American authors, covering both historical and contemporary issues

For more information,view this brief tutorial on using American Indian Experience: The American Mosaic.

American Indian Histories and Cultures
Explore manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. Browse through a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals.
American Indian Newspapers
Indigenous Peoples of North Amreica
From historic pressings to contemporary periodicals, explore nearly 200 years of Indigenous print journalism from the US and Canada. With newspapers representing a huge variety in publisher, audience and era, discover how events were reported by and for Indigenous communities.
National Museum of the American Indian
The NMAI cares for one of the world's most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Audio Book)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown's classic, eloquent, meticulously documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the series of battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them and their people demoralized and decimated.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Documentary)
Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, this epic 'HBO Films' adaptation of Dee Alexander Brown's nonfiction masterpiece intertwines the unique perspectives of three characters--Charles Eastman, Sitting Bull and Senator Henry Dawes.
Native Americans -- PBS Nova Video
Native America challenges everything we thought we knew about the Americas before and since contact with Europe. It travels through 15,000-years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents. The series reveals some of the most advanced cultures in human history and the Native American people who created it and whose legacy continues, unbroken, to this day.