Research Guides: History Research Guide: U. S. Civil Rights History

Research Librarian

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Contact:

Prof. James Tasato Mellone
Historical Cultural and Social Sciences Librarian
Rosenthal 326

718-997-3623

Subjects: Africana Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology, Diversity Resources, Geography, History, Native American Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies

Introduction

This guide will help you find published scholarship (essays, books, chapters, journal articles, etc.) and primary sources on a topic.

Choose a topic that interests you and fits within your assignment's parameters.
Read good summaries of the topic in subject encyclopedias, like those listed below, to gain a basic overview of your topic.
Search for published scholarship in library discovery systems, catalogs, databases, research organization websites, etc.
Identify primary source material (e. g. documents, records, artifacts, surveys, data, etc.) through your scholarly readings, and by searching or browsing the digital collections of libraries, archives, museums, and other scholarly organizations.

Remember to evaluate the accuracy of your sources, and think critically about their content and arguments.

For remote login to the Library's electronic resources, see our instructions for Off-Campus Access.

Remember to consult with your instructor in the History Department about your project!

Reference Essays (from Encyclopedias & Dictionaries)

Subject encyclopedias and other reference guides can provide good background information on a topic. Many reference books are in printed format, while others are available in electronic resource collections such as:

Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)

Oxford Reference

African American Religious Cultures by Anthony B. Pinn (Editor); Stephen C. Finley; Torin Alexander
ISBN: 9781576074701
Publication Date: 2009-09-10
"Captures the full scope of African American religious identity, tracing the long history of African American engagement with spiritual practice while exploring the origins and complexities of current religious traditions...Offers alphabetically organized entries on every major spiritual belief system as it has evolved among African American communities, covering its beginnings, development, major doctrinal points, rituals, important figures, and defining moments."
American Decades, 1960-1969 by Matthew J. Bruccoli; Richard Layman
ISBN: 0810388839
Publication Date: 1994-12-12
"Includes: a chronology of the decade; subject chapters with background essays; subject-specific chronologies and alphabetically arranged items depicting the people, ideas, and facts important during that period."
Civil Rights Movement by Jamie J. Wilson
ISBN: 9781440804267
Publication Date: 2013-01-24
"Provides a comprehensive reference guide to this momentous cultural evolution that starts in the 1930s. By beginning the story of how African Americans have long attempted to improve their lives while facing severe legislative, judicial, and political constraints, the author dispels the common misconception that black people only started their struggle to achieve equality in the mid 1950s. The book discusses all of the major campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s within the deep southern states, border states, and northern urban areas, thereby demonstrating that the African American struggle for equality was not solely in the South..Provides a chronology that traces the unfolding of the subject of movement over time Features biographical profiles of the people and organizations central to the movement Contains a selection of primary documents that provide readers with a fuller understanding of the subject."
Encyclopaedia of Civil Rights in America by Shelley Fisher Fishkin; Samuel D. Bradley
ISBN: 9780765680006
Publication Date: 1997-10-31
"Comprehensive reference source on the human rights and civil liberties that are legally recognized in the US. The US Consitution and the Bill of Rights define individual rights for Americans. The successive amendments to the Constitution and Supreme Court decisions further define these rights...presents students with lucid, enlightening essays on these fundamental documents, court decisions and laws, while examining the aspects of public and private life they serve to protect, and highlighting those individuals who are and have been influential in defining and interpreting civil rights".
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History by Colin A. Palmer; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Staff (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9780028658162
Publication Date: 2005-12-16
"This second edition is an expansion of the 1996 classic and its 2000 supplement...this new set identifies and addresses broad themes critical to understanding the texture of the cultures, achievements, challenges, and promise of the 150 million people of African descent who live in North America, Central and South America, and the Caribbean."
Encyclopedia of African American Education ( by Kofi Lomotey (Editor); Robert S. Cohen (Editor)
ISBN: 9781412940504
Publication Date: 2009-10-21
"The entries provide a comprehensive overview of educational institutions at every level, from preschool through graduate and professional training, with special attention to historically and predominantly Black colleges and universities."
Encyclopedia of African American Music (3 vols.) by Emmett G. Price (Editor); Tammy L. Kernodle (Editor); Horace Maxille (Editor)
ISBN: 9780313341991
Publication Date: 2010-12-17
"African Americans' historical roots are encapsulated in the lyrics, melodies, and rhythms of their music. In the 18th and 19th centuries, African slaves, longing for emancipation, expressed their hopes and dreams through spirituals. Inspired by African civilization and culture, as well as religion, art, literature, and social issues, this influential, joyous, tragic, uplifting, challenging, and enduring music evolved into many diverse genres, including jazz, blues, rock and roll, soul, swing, and hip hop."
Encyclopedia of African American Society by Gerald D. Jaynes (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. E185 .E546 2005
ISBN: 9780761927648
Publication Date: 2005-02-01
"Approaching the field from a "street level" perspective, these two volumes cover topics of universal interest in America: rap music, sports, television, cinema, racism, religion, literature, and much more...The first...reference set in this field to give voice to the turbulent historical trends-slavery, segregation, "separate but equal"-that are often ignored in favor of mere facts."
Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World by Junius Rodriguez
ISBN: 9780765612571
Publication Date: 2007-11-15
"The struggle to abolish slavery is one of the grandest quests - and central themes - of modern history...Every emancipation movement - whether in Europe, Africa, or the Americas - has profoundly transformed the country and society in which it existed. This unique A-Z encyclopedia examines every effort to end slavery in the United States and the transatlantic world."
Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450
ISBN: 9780028658438
Publication Date: 2006-08-25
"The overseas empires of Western Europe, including the US first as colony then as colonizer, is deemed here to have ended in the middle to late 20th century. ... Articles [on] economic concepts and ideas, explorations and migrations, industries, organizations and institutions, people and peoples, religions,"
International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest: 1500 to the Present by Ness, Immanuel, ed.
Call Number: Ref. JC491 .I58 2009
ISBN: 9781405184649
Publication Date: 2009
"Covers the history of protest and revolution over the past 500 years. Provides scholars and teachers and students with the information needed to understand the role and significance and origin of protest and revolution from 1500 to the present."
Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History - An Encyclopedia by Steven L. Danver (Editor)
ISBN: 9781598842210
Publication Date: 2010-12-17
"Traces the history of revolts and rebellions from the colonial era to the 20th century...Revolts have taken place because of economic hard times, the denial of civil rights, racism, sexism, and classism. Studying the reasons for and results of these uprisings provides a window into the life of the American body politic--and what moves the American people to action...Each entry includes an overview essay, followed by entries on related people, groups, organizations, ideas, and places, along with select primary sources...One volume is comprised entirely of primary source documents Illustrations and photographs show events discussed."

Scholarly Books

OneSearch; Search for printed and electronic scholarly books at QC and other CUNY libraries.
WorldCat: Search for scholarly books in the national catalog for the United States and Canada. Includes holdings from libraries in other parts of the world, primarily European or English-speaking

Scholarly Journal Articles (Search Databases)

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: EBSCO
Description: Definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Abstracts
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: Google
Description: Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Please sign to QC Library when prompted to browse articles within the Queens College Library collections.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
NOTE: Remote access to Google Scholar may not always work. In such cases we advise that you follow the steps below or review the FAQ on Google Scholar
Format: Articles
How to access QC subscribed articles via Google Scholar:
1.Access Google Scholar via the un-proxied version: Google Scholar
2. From the Menu Icon on the Top Left select Settings then Library Links
3. In Library Links, search for Queens College then select "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC"
4. SAVE and return to the Google Scholar Homepage
5. You should be able to search for articles. When you see the "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC", select to either be re-directed to the Library Catalogue, OneSearch or asked to login to the library proxy in order to access articles.
6. Please review the FAQ on logging into the library proxy.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact our Electronic Resources Librarian by completing the Electronic Resources Access Form.
Humanities Source This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: EBSCO
Description: Humanities Source is a valuable full-text database covering literary, scholarly, and creative thought.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Journals
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: ITHAKA
Description: JSTOR is a multi-disciplinary collection of scholarly journals and e-books that include primary sources, images, and more.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Note: JSTOR has expanded access to some of its resources until June 30th 2023.
Format: Articles, E-Books, Journals
Expanded access includes:
1. Full archive expanded access program (all Arts & Science Collections, Thematic Collections, Primary Source Collections).
2. Freely accessible Public Health journals
3. Freely accessible coronavirus related books and journal articles
4. Free online reading expanded to 100 articles/month
5. ArtStor Core Collection
Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: EBSCO
Description: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W.Wilson) covers the latest concepts, theories, and methods from both applied and theoretical aspects of the social sciences.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Journals
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: EBSCO
Description: Provides full-text, Peer-Reviewed sociology journals covering many studies including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, racial studies, religion, and social work.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Journals
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: ProQuest, Part of Clarivate
Description: Indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences (1952-current).
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Abstracts
Urban Studies Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: EBSCO
Description: This bibliographic research database is essential to the study of cities and regions. It covers subjects of key relevance to the discipline including urban affairs, community development, and urban history.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Journals

What is a scholarly journal article?

A scholarly journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. It is written in the specialized language of a scholarly discipline (such as Philosophy). It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed.

A scholarly journal is edited by scholars, and any article published in the journal has usually been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who serve as editors or readers and critique the article before it is accepted for publication). This is why most scholarly journals are referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journals. Here is a comparison between popular and scholarly periodicals. There are usually several databases that can be used to search for journal articles on a topic.

Primary Source Database Collections at QC

American Decades Primary Sources 1930-1939 by Cynthia Rose (Editor)
ISBN: 9780787665913
Publication Date: 2003-12-05
"The United States in the 1930s was dominated by the economic difficulties of the Great Depression, which impacted life on all levels for much of the population. The Depression spurred federal programs in business and industry and investment in the arts and humanities, generating a heretofore unparalleled support for and public interest in literature, architecture, photography, and other ventures. At the same time, the countrys economic woes did not discourage crime or social debate. The 1930s was a decade rich in new cultural and social programs, as well as political debate and legal challenge."
American Decades Primary Sources 1960-1969 by Cynthia Rose (Editor)
ISBN: 0787665940
Publication Date: 2003-12-05
"The 1960s was an active decade in the United States -- politically, militarily, socially, and popularly. The 1960s saw the world come to the brink of nuclear war as the United States and Soviet Union faced off in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and U.S. advisors and troops were sent to Vietnam to combat communist forces wanting to take over that country. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he campaigned in Texas for reelection, plunging the nation into stunned mourning. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his inspiring I Have a Dream speech at the March on Washington, and the Civil Rights Act became law, but King himself was assassinated. The public demonstrated in support of civil rights and against the military draft, sometimes resulting in riots and violence..."

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new window
Former Title: Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: : Challenges and Triumphs in the Pursuit of Equality
Access Provider: ProQuest, Part of Clarivate
Description: Features select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Primary Sources, Open Access
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: Alexander Street, Part of Clarivate
Description: Black Thought and Culture is a landmark electronic 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.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Primary Sources
Ethnic Newswatch This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: ProQuest, Part of Clarivate
Description: Ethnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Journals, Newspapers
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times This link opens in a new window
Former Title: New York Times Historical
Access Provider: ProQuest, Part of Clarivate
Description: ProQuest Historical Newspapers is the definitive newspaper digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 19th Century (1851-2018).
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Newspapers, Primary Sources
Gale Primary Sources: Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Former Title: Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive
Access Provider: Gale-Cengage
Description: Gale Primary Sources: 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. Archival collections were sourced from more than 60 libraries at institutions such as the Amistad Research Center, Bibliothèque nationale de France, the National Archives, Oberlin College, Oxford University, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Yale University.
Format: Newspapers, Primary Sources
U.S. Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: ProQuest, Part of Clarivate
Description: U.S. Newsstream enables users to search current U.S. news content (The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Newsday, and Chicago Tribune), as well as archives that stretch back into the 1980s.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Newspapers
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new window
Access Provider: Alexander Street, Part of Clarivate
Description: Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 is a resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Format: Articles, Images, Primary Sources

Primary Sources: U. S. Civil Rights History

Civil Rights and Social Justice Collections (Queens College Library, Speical Collections & Archives)
Physical archival materials (documents, records, etc.) such as the Dean Savage Papers, J. Chester Johnson Papers, James Foreman Library Collection, Mark Levy Papers, Moshe Shur Papers, etc.
Civil Rights Digital Library (University of Georgia)
"The Civil Rights Digital Library promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement by helping users discover primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale."
Civil Rights History Project (Library of Congress)
"This site guides researchers to collections in several Library divisions that specifically focus on the movement as well as the broader topic of African American history and culture. The Civil Rights History Project Collection (AFC 2010/039) contains more than 1200 items consisting of born-digital video files, digitized videocassettes, digital photographs and full-text transcripts for all interviews."
Civil Rights Movement Archive
" Our purpose is to freely make available the history of our movement from the perspective of those whose boots were on the ground — what we refer to as "up-from-below" and "inside-out" history.For many years, the name of this site was "Civil Rights Movement Veterans." The name was changed in 2019 to "Civil Rights Movement Archive" to reflect its growing importance as a repository of up from below and inside-out history as seen and interpreted by the participants whose boots were on the ground."
Civil Rights Movement Photographs (Queens College Library, Special Collections & Archives
"These original photographs document the involvement of Queens College students and other Northerners in the Civil Rights Movement of the early to mid 1960s, including Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Virginia Student Help Project, the Summer Community Organization and Political Education (SCOPE) Project, and the Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR)."
The Crisis (NAACP)
The magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), full-image from Google Books, 1911-2011.
Digital Schomburg Selected Links (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL)
"These selected sites offer access to free, high-quality databases of books, articles, oral histories, images, maps, interviews, and television programs. Some sites are specifically devoted to Africa and/or the African Diaspora, while others are more general but include materials of interest to research in the history and cultures of the black world.
Eyes on the Prize (American Experience PBS,1986)
"Eyes on the Prize is an American television series and 14-part documentary about the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network and also aired in the United Kingdom on BBC2. Created and executive produced by Henry Hampton at the film production company Blackside and narrated by Julian Bond," - AVON
Eyes on the Prize Interviews: The Complete Series (Washington University Digital Gateway)
"Eyes on the Prize is a 14-part series...This series, which debuted on PBS stations, is considered to be the definitive documentary on the Civil Rights Movement...These interviews are part of the Henry Hampton Collection housed at the Film and Media Archive at Washington University Libraries. Each transcript represented the entire interview conducted by Blackside including sections which appeared in the final program and the outtakes."
FBI Records: The Vault (Federal Bureau of Investigation, U. S. Department of Justice)
FBI Civil Rights Files on dozens of people and organizations.
Freedom Song: Interviews from Eyes on the Prize, America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 (American Archive of Public Broadcasting)
"This curated collection features the unedited interviews conducted during the making of the landmark PBS documentary series Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954–1965 (1987)."
Freedom Summer Digital Collection (Wisconsin Historical Society)
"The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the richest collections of Civil Rights movement records in the nation, which includes more than 100 manuscript collections documenting the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964."
King Papers Project (MLK Institute, Stanford University)
"Search the documents published in the print edition of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr."
Proquest Historical African American Newspapers (New York Public Library)
Apply for a NYPL digital library card to access this database: https://www.nypl.org/library-card
Scottsboro Trials Collection (Cornell University Law Library)
"Digitized copies of briefs, motions and other trial documents concerning the Scottsboro Trials"
Sovereignty Commission Online (Mississippi Department of Archives & History)
"Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Records, 1994-2006 comprises the digitized records of the defunct Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, which functioned as the state's official counter civil rights agency from 1956-1973...The collection consists of approximately 133,000 pages of material..."
Television News of the Civil Rights Era 1950-1970 (University of Virginia)
"Aims to collect, digitize, and present in streaming video format over the World Wide Web television news footage from the period and to make these valuable materials available to scholars, teachers, and students. The current archive contains films from the nightly news from two local television stations in Virginia--WDBJ (CBS) Roanoke and WSLS (NBC) Roanoke. In this initial installment we have digitized over 230 films".
Tulsa Race Massacre Archive (Oklahoma State University Library)
"Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 Collection documents the history of the event through photographs that are all part of a rich archive of materials from the Ruth Sigler Avery Collection housed at the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa Library."
Tulsa Race Massacre Materials (African-American Resource Center, Tulsa City-County Library)
"Though resources on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre can be found throughout the Tulsa City-County Library system, TCCL's African-American Resource Center (AARC) at Rudisill Regional Library, in particular, and the Research Center at Central Library house the greatest number of resources."
Tulsa Race Massacre materials at McFarlin Library: A Listing (University of Tulsa)
"A pathfinder to gather together Race Riot and Massacre materials."
Voices from the Civil Rights Movement (American Archive of Public Broadcasting)
"presents educational and noncommercial radio programs from the 1950s and 1960s that offer historic testimonies – in interviews, speeches, and on-the-spot news reports – from many movement participants, both well-known and unknown."