Database Highlight #29: We've got the Black History for That
Not sure where to start researching our country’s African-American past? This week’s highlight, African-American History Online, is the perfect place to start. Here you’ll find primary sources, images, videos, biographies and much more. All content is easily searched and browsed. It's perfect for school reports or anyone wanting to learn more about a topic.
Covering more than 500 years of the African-American experience, African-American History offers a fresh way to explore the full spectrum of African-American history and culture. Users can start their investigation of a topic with a video or slideshow overview, use the key content called out on the home page to find an entryway into the database, or dig deep into an era through the Topic Centers. Read about key figures and events, examine famous speeches and other primary sources, and get context from the in-depth timelines. – from the vendor
Looking for a local source? The Oklahoma Historical Society has digitized 10 African-American Oklahoman newspapers and added them to The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Spanning state history from 1890 – 1929, the gateway grants open access to The Oklahoma Guide, The Black Dispatch, The Tulsa Star, The Langston City Herald and others.
Action Steps
- Using African-American History Online, choose a Featured Map or Graph and share something you learned
OR
- Using African-American History Online, run a keyword search and share an article you found interesting
- Explore the newspapers in The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Are any of these from your hometown?
Notebooks for all commenters!
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Comments
I chose to explore the newspapers and I could spend all day here! I clicked on the 1800 something newspaper listings and then randomly clicked on a link. It's from February of 1904. It's amazing to see the ads. They just pop right out at you. I read an article about Langston University. They were accepting students at 14 years of age, all studies free the only charge was for board (including lights) $6 in advance and washing $1 in advance. Can you imagine? I bet this was a hardship at the time as well! I'm going to have to come back to this when I'm at home.
http://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/ImageDetails/5?imageId=57944
I took a look at the graph for US Population by race (2006). It was about what I suspected, save for the fact that there were slightly more people that identified has Hispanic (14.8%) than Black (13.5%). I would definitely like to see some updated numbers.
Very interesting maps and graphs!
My hometown is really small, and its paper is not included in The Gateway to Oklahoma History database.
I looked up the time around the Tulsa race riots in the The Black Dispatch. The change between May 27, 1921, when the paper's main headline celebrated Langston's 30 graduates, and the June issues, which had headlines like 'Loot, Arson, Murder!,' was especially jarring.
I'm also currently reading a novella by Nella Larsen, so I looked her up in the African-American History Online database. I didn't realize that she was a nurse and a librarian before she became a novelist.
Goode, Vaughnette. “Larsen, Nella.” Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, Facts On File, 2003. African-American History, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/160861?q=nella larsen. Accessed 5 Feb. 2018.