Collins Memorial Library: African American Studies: Primary Sources

Black Thought and Culture

Black Thought and Culture
A collection of approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history. Includes letters, speeches, prefatory essays, political leaflets, interviews, periodicals, and trial transcripts.

Websites of Primary Sources

American Memory: African American Odyssey (Library of Congress)
This online archive showcases the Library of Congress's African-American collections. Includes rare books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films, and recordings.
Civil Rights Digital Library (CRDL)
A digital library promoting an enhanced understanding of the Civil Rights Movement by providing historical news films and connecting related digital collections on a national scale.
The Crisis
The Crisis is the official newspaper of the NAACP and has been in publication since 1910.
Digital Schomburg
Digital Schomburg provides access to trusted information, interpretation, and scholarship on the global Black experience through online materials at the Schomburg Center created and curated by our staff and librarians.
Enslaved.org
Enslaved.org is a discovery hub that helps users to search and find information from a large and growing number of datasets and digital project about the people of the historical slave trade.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project has made the writings and spoken words of one of the twentieth century's most influential figures widely available through the publication of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., a projected fourteen-volume edition of King's most historically significant speeches, sermons, correspondence, published writings, and unpublished manuscripts.
The Protests Against Racism Web Archive
A new web archive collection from the Library of Congress documents the civil unrest sparked by the police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. The Protests Against Racism Web Archive contains a selection of websites documenting protests against racism and police brutality against Black people, as well as grass roots movements and activism calling for police reform.
SlaveVoyages
The SlaveVoyages website is a collaborative digital initiative that compiles and makes publicly accessible records of the largest slave trades in history. Search these records to learn about the broad origins and forced relocations of more than 12 million African people who were sent across the Atlantic in slave ships, and hundreds of thousands more who were trafficked within the Americas. Explore where they were taken, the numerous rebellions that occurred, the horrific loss of life during the voyages, the identities and nationalities of the perpetrators, and much more.
Opinions Regarding Slavery: Slave Narratives
The Opinions Regarding Slavery: Slave Narrative collection consists of an original manuscript collection compiled by John Brother Cade, Sr., who was the Dean of Southern University. The slave narrative collection is arranged by series.
Umbra Search African American History
Umbra Search African American History makes African American history more broadly accessible through a freely available widget and search tool, umbrasearch.org; digitization of African American materials across University of Minnesota collections; and support of students, educators, artists, and the public through residencies, workshops, and events locally and around the country.

Puget Sound Archives & Special Collections, African American Studies

The Archives & Special Collections collects, preserves, and makes available primary source material documenting life at the University as well as collections representing regional, national and international issues.

A small selection of material is listed below.

United States Commission on Civil Rights, School desegregation in Tacoma, Washington: a staff report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1979.

The Black Panther, vol. III, no. 21, September 13, 1969: Black community news service.

Racist Stereotypes of African Americans (1902) - A chromolithographic embossed die cut print.

Sligh, Clarissa T., It wasn't Little Rock, 2005. (artist book)

Meador, Clifton, Long slow march, 1996. (artist book)

Bills of Sale for the Purchase of Slaves, 1835, 1837, 1845.

The Abby Williams Hill papers, 1880s-1930s, document the life and work of this female painter and social activist in the early 20th century. Hill was especially interested in early education and documented her visit to the Tuskegee Institute and her interactions with Booker T. Washington (1901-1902).

The Archives & Special Collections holds a wide range of material documenting life at the University of Puget Sound; including photographs, Trail articles, and student and administrative papers. A small selection of digitized material is available online.

Photo Credit: Regester and students in Johnston's Negro in U.S. History class, 1949 from A Sound Past

Featured Archives Source: African American Communist Party Pamphlets

COMMUNIST PARTY. An extraordinary collection of 54 African American Communist Party pamphlets on Emmet Till, Angelo Herndon, and more. New York: American Communist Party, 1940's-1960's.

The African American communist party played a large role in the early civil rights movement and were prominent in advocating for African American workers’ rights in the North during a period when the black population resided largely in the South and was actively migrating out of this region in search of better living conditions and treatment.

Archives & Special Collections Hours

The Archives & Special Collections is located on the second floor of the Collins Memorial Library.

Set up an appointment: We are open to researchers by appointment Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. To make an appointment, email archives@pugetsound.edu.

We look forward to assisting you!

Newspapers & Magazines

Chicago Defender Historical Newspaper (1909-1975)
Founded in 1905, the oldest and most respected African-American newspaper in Chicago.

Ebony Magazine Archive - Google Books
EBONY is the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing. Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.
The Crisis - Google Books
The Crisis, founded iin 1910 by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP, is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color.
Jet Magazine - Google Books
The weekly source of African American political and entertainment news.

Collins Memorial Library

African American Studies

What's a primary source?

Primary Sources in African American Studies