Research Guides: African American Studies: Library Resources

Article Databases

Summon
Summon is a Discovery Tool that searches across many (although not all!) databases at once. It's a good place to start your research!

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Articles on many topics in the humanities and social sciences.
Search Proquest All This link opens in a new window
Searches materials in over 35 disciplinary databases in one search.
EbscoHost online databases This link opens in a new window
Select All to search all databases at once, or choose from over 15 topical databases.

AFRICAN AMERICAN DATABASES (SPECIFIC TOPICS, GEOGRAPHIC AREAS, OR TIME PERIODS)

African American Experience This link opens in a new window
Gives voice to the Black experience from its African origins to the present day through a wealth of primary sources and authorities in the field.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
With more than 10,000 articles by top scholars in the field, this database focuses on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is Editor-in-Chief.

HISTORY DATABASES

Historical abstracts This link opens in a new window
Historical coverage of the world from 1450 to the present.
America: history and life This link opens in a new window
The history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
Making of America (University of Michigan) This link opens in a new window
Primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

CURRENT ISSUES

Pew Research Center (Race and Ethnicity)
Data-driven social science research about current issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world; nonprofit, nonpartisan and nonadvocacy.

NEWSPAPERS

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
America's Historical Newspapers: African American Newspapers, 1827-1998. (This link will sunset at the end of 2021. Please visit the “Readex Primary Sources” link on the A&D list.)
Readex Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Primary sources including books, pamphlets, newspapers, and government documents. Includes African-American Newspapers 1827-1998, and the Black Life in America Series 1 & 2.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from newspapers and periodicals published by ethnic and minority presses in the United States
Alternative Press Index This link opens in a new window
Journal, newspaper and magazine articles from hundreds of international alternative, radical and left periodicals, from 1991 to the present.

Michigan Chronicle (1939-2010)
Michigan Chronicle in Ethnic Newswatch (2006-present)
Please Note: The Michigan Chronicle can also be searched by issue/date in these two ProQuest databases by clicking on "Publications," and then locating the Michigan Chronicle, selecting the year, and then issue to browse through.

Detroit Free Press (1999-Present) This link opens in a new window
Full text of the Detroit Free Press.
Detroit Free Press Backfile (1923-1999) This link opens in a new window
Full page digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Detroit Free Press Historical Full-Text (1831-1922) This link opens in a new window
Includes full page digital reproductions providing searchable access to every page from every available issue.
Detroit News Historical and Current Collection This link opens in a new window
Coverage from 1873 through today. Includes full-color newspaper pages and individual articles.

CITES AND URBAN STUDIES

Urban studies abstracts This link opens in a new window
Includes urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other areas of key relevance to the urban studies discipline. NOTE: If no link to full text, you can search for journal title in Catalog or use Interlibrary Services.
African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Focuses predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, Brooklyn, and towns and cities in North Carolina.