Hilda C. Landers Library & Archives

Maryland’s Black History

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Spaces in Maryland dedicated to preserving and showcasing Black History

Did you know that there are many spaces within the state of Maryland that are dedicated to preserving and highlighting Black and African American History. This month into March, the library will be displaying a list of spaces within the state of Maryland that are markers of Black History, as well as related books and DVDs. The display is located on the 1st floor of the library right across from the circulation desk and above the DVD collection.

Our research team for this project consisted of student interns Elisia Lewis, Brynn Desmond, and librarian, Haley Galloway. They worked to research the history and stories behind the monuments, spaces, and museums dedicated to African American heritage within the state of Maryland.

This map showcases places within the state of Maryland that have been built, curated, and highlight Black History:

map of Maryland with location icons notated through the state. A key of numbers and names of locations to the right of the image.

*note that this is not a complete list of spaces – we hope to continue to grow this list. If you have a space you would like to share please email slreyes@smcm.edu*

Full list of spaces are at the end of this post with additional links and information.

Our research team selected and researched 5 spaces out of the list to highlight:

United States Colored Troops Memorial Monument
Location: Lexington Park, MD

The United States Colored Troops Memorial Monument is dedicated to the Colored Troops, soldiers, and sailors from St. Mary’s County who served the Union during the Civil War. More than 700 enslaved and free Black men from St. Mary’s County joined the Colored Troops to fight for the emancipation of all enslaved people. The statue depicts a confidently posed Black soldier, symbolizing the personal autonomy granted to Black men by joining the United States Colored Troops—an autonomy which had historically been stripped from Black people. The memorial commemorates the lasting legacy of the United States Colored Troop Soldiers and their triumphant bravery in fighting a war against racial oppression.

Honoring the 38th Colored Infantry Regiment, with more than 700 Black soldiers being from St. Mary’s County. This monument also honors “medal of honor recipients, all Union Soldiers, and Sailors from Saint Mary’s County who served during the Civil War” per inscription. Its founders are Idolia Shubrooks (resident and veteran’s granddaughter), United Committee for Afro-American Contributions (UCAC), Sons of Union Veterans. With funding by the community and bond bills by representatives Roy Dyson and John Bohanan.

  • Depiction of monument: A Black man wearing a Union army uniform with a rifle slung over his shoulder, posing strongly.
  • Important Historical Figures: Pvt. William H. Barnes and Sgt. James H. Harris who earned the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of New Market Heights, Va.
  • Sculptor: Gary Casteel
  • Inscriptions: “United States Colored Troops (USCT)
    This monument is dedicated in grateful tribute to the United States Colored Troops of St. Mary’s County. It honors medal of honor recipients, all Union Soldiers, and Sailors from Saint Mary’s County who served during the Civil War (1861-1865) Dedicated June 16, 2012. All honor and all glory to the emaciated slaves, freedmen, and all noble sons of St. Mary’s County who fought during the Civil War to save the Union and secure the heritage of human freedom.”

Sources: Visit St. Mary’s, SoMD News, SoMD Equity in History Coalition, Historical Marker Database

Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial
Location; Historic Annapolis, MD

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial in Annapolis, Maryland, stands as a powerful tribute to the resilience of family heritage and the legacy of those who endured the transatlantic slave trade. Inspired by Alex Haley’s groundbreaking research and his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family, the memorial honors the journey of Kunta Kinte, an enslaved African who arrived in Annapolis in 1767, and Alex Haley’s relentless quest to uncover his family’s history. This memorial holds profound significance as the only site in the United States that commemorates the name and documented arrival point of an enslaved African. It serves as a poignant reminder of the struggles and triumphs of Black Americans and the importance of preserving ancestral stories. Located at the Annapolis City Dock, the memorial invites visitors to reflect on the enduring impact of history and the power of reclaiming one’s roots.

While living in Tennessee with his grandparents, Alex Haley learned the story of his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte. Motivated by his desire to find out more about his family’s history, Mr. Haley began a years-long research endeavor to find the true story of his ancestor. His efforts took him from oral historians in his ancestral village in Gambia to the Maryland State Archives, where he found historical records recounting the movements of a British merchant ship arriving from Gambia to Annapolis, holding 98 captured Africans. It is believed that Kunta Kinte was among this group of enslaved individuals advertised for auction in 1767. (Kunta Kinte – Alex Haley Foundation.)

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial honors the tireless efforts of Alex Haley to uncover the history of his family, something that is often difficult to accomplish for the descendants of enslaved Africans. The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial remains the only memorial in the United States that commemorates the actual name and place of arrival of an enslaved African.

  • Depiction: Three separate installations that consist of a compass rose, depicting a globe centered on Annapolis, MD; a sculpture group that shows Alex Haley recounting the tale of Kunta Kinte to a group of children; and a story wall the incorporates quotes and themes from Alex Haley’s award-winning novel, Roots.
  • Dedicated: June 12, 2002
  • Founders: Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley foundation under the direction of President Leonard A. Blackshear.
  • Funding: Local citizens & the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation
  • Important Historical Figures: Kunta Kinte, Alex Haley
  • Artists: Site Designer: Gary S. Schwerzler, Sculpture Group: Ed Dwight, Story Wall & Information Stand: Peter D. Tasi & Patricia Fisher McHold, Story Wall Narrative: Wiley A. Hall, Construction: Joe Baker
  • Inscriptions: “Alex Haley, in his family’s story, Roots, shows how the strength of the human spirit to overcome challenges comes from maintaining strong family connections and pride in one’s heritage. Here, Alex shares heritage stories with children of diverse ethnic groups.
    Take time to share heritage stories with children so they can pass on their proud heritage and learn respect for the heritage of others”

Sources: Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation;  Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial Annapolis; Alex Haley

Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum
Location: Baltimore, MD

The Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum opened its doors in 1978 when Virginia Jackson-Kiah turned her mother’s home into a museum. The museum’s original owner and namesake, Dr. Lillie Carroll Jackson was a staunch civil rights activist in the Baltimore region. Jackson was the Baltimore NAACP chapter’s president for 35 years during which the NAACP won several civil rights cases against segregated public and private institutions, including the University of Maryland. Under Jackson, the NAACP orchestrated boycotts, funded Black education, and held voter registration drives.

The Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum not only honors Jackson’s legacy, but the legacy of civil rights in Maryland. The museum features several galleries ranging from personal information about the Jackson family and the Baltimore NAACP chapter to the earliest freedom fighters like Frederick Douglass.

Sources: Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum Official Website; Maryland State Archives;  Baltimore Heritage

Josiah Henson Museum & Park
Location: Bethesda, MD

The Riley/Bolton House, located in Montgomery County, Maryland, is a historic site tied to the life of Josiah Henson, an author, abolitionist, and minister who was enslaved on the Riley Plantation. Henson’s 1849 autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, vividly detailed his experiences in slavery and escape to freedom, inspiring Harriet Beecher Stowe’s groundbreaking novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

While Henson’s story became a cornerstone of the abolitionist movement, the actual cabin he lived in no longer exists, having been demolished in the 1950s. This property, once part of the plantation where Henson toiled as a field laborer and overseer, now serves as a museum and educational center dedicated to his legacy, the broader history of slavery in Maryland, and the ongoing struggle for racial equality.

Sources: National Park Service-Josiah Henson; Washington Post- Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ZigerSnead Architects- The Planning of Josiah Henson Park; Josiah Henson Museum Park Official Site;  Montgomery County Planning Board- Josiah Henson Park

Camp Stanton
Location: Hughsville, MD

Camp Stanton, located on the west side of the Patuxent River in Charles County, Southern Maryland, was established in October 1863 as a recruitment and training camp for Black soldiers during the Civil War. Named for Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, it trained the 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th Regiments of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), who played a pivotal role in the Union’s final campaigns in Virginia.

The camp’s establishment marked a turning point in the fight for freedom, as it provided enslaved and free Black men the opportunity to enlist and fight for emancipation. Today, the site is commemorated by a historic roadside marker near the village of Benedict, honoring the bravery and contributions of the USCT soldiers who trained there and helped secure Union victory.

Sources: Camp Stanton | VisitMaryland.org; Camp Stanton | Charles County Tourism

Full list of spaces notated on the image of the map:

  1. Charles Albert Tindley Memorial Bruder Hill Building
  2. Edythe M. Jolley Museum and Cultural Center
  3. Doleman Black Heritage Museum
  4. United States Colored Troops Memorial Monument
  5. African-American Monument and Freedom Park
  6. Commemorative to Enslaved People of Southern Maryland
  7. Historic Sotterley:
  8. Reginald F. Lewis Museum
  9. Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial
  10. Banneker-Douglass-Tubman Museum
  11. Frederick Douglass bronze statue & Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park
  12. Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum
  13. Josiah Henson Museum & Park
  14. Black Arts District
  15. Camp Stanton
  16. Columbia Air Center
  17. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center
  18. Sugarland – historic Sugarland church

 

Resources for Black History Month

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February is Black History Month, and we have many library resources to honor the achievements and experiences of African-Americans.

Learn about the figures that loom large in history like Malcolm X and James Baldwin, as well as the unsung heroes sending astronauts to the moon and fighting for the empowerment of gay black men. The library collection can help you learn about contemporary perspectives on #BlackLivesMatter and reflections on being a black woman in the U.S.

Maybe you prefer a story? Read tales of the spider trickster Anansi, Haitian immigrants encountering culture shock, or a novel by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about Sherlock Holmes’s brother Mycroft.

Keep reading for Black History Month recommendations from the library collection.

Non-fiction

The Annotated African American Folktales edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatarcover art for the book The Annotated African American Folktales
Stacks; Call number: GR111.A47 A55 2018
A treasury of dozens of African-American folktales discusses their role in a broader cultural heritage, sharing such classics as the Brer Rabbit stories, the African trickster Anansi, and tales from the late nineteenth-century’s “Southern Workman.”

Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X by J. R. Roberts and Johnny Smith
Stacks; Call number: GV1132.A44 R64 2016
In 1962, no one believed that the obnoxious Cassius Clay would ever become the heavyweight champion of the world. But Malcolm X saw the potential in Clay, not just for boxing greatness, but as a means of spreading the Nation of Islam’s radical message. Malcolm secretly molded Clay into Muhammad Ali–a patriotic boxing star in public, and a radical reformer behind the scenes. Soon, however, their friendship would sour, with disastrous and far-reaching consequences.

cover art for the book Not Straight, Not WhiteNot Straight, Not White: Black Gay Men from the March on Washington to the AIDS Crisis by Kevin J. Mumford
Ebook; read it here
This compelling book recounts the history of black gay men from the 1950s to the 1990s, tracing how the major movements of the times–from civil rights to black power to gay liberation to AIDS activism–helped shape the cultural stigmas that surrounded race and homosexuality. Drawing on an extensive archive of newspapers, pornography, and film, as well as government documents, organizational records, and personal papers, Mumford sheds new light on four volatile decades in the protracted battle of black gay men for affirmation and empowerment in the face of pervasive racism and homophobia.

This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America by Morgan Jerkins
New Books Collection; Call number: PS3610.E693 A6 2018
In her collection of linked essays, Jerkins takes on perhaps one of the most provocative contemporary topics: What does it mean to “be”– to live as, to exist as– a black woman today? Doubly disenfranchised by race and gender, often deprived of a place within the mostly white mainstream feminist movement, black women are objectified, silenced, and marginalized with devastating consequences, in ways both obvious and subtle, that are rarely acknowledged in our country’s larger discussion about inequality. Jerkins exposes the social, cultural, and historical story of black female oppression that influences the black community as well as the white, male-dominated world at large.

Fiction

All the Right Stuff by Walter Dean Myers
Stacks; Call number: PZ7.M992 Al 2012
The summer after his absentee father is killed in a random shooting, Paul works at a Harlem soup kitchen, where he listens to lessons about “the social contract” from an elderly African American man and mentors a seventeen-year-old unwed mother who wants to make it to college on a basketball scholarship.

American Street by Ibi Zoboicover art for the book American Street
New Books Collection; Call number: PZ7.1.Z64 Am 2017
On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie — a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s West Side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost. Trapped at the crossroads of an impossible choice, will she pay the price for the American dream?

Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
Popular Reading; Call number: F Abdul-Jabbar
Fresh out of university, the young Mycroft Holmes is already making a name for himself in government. Yet this most British of civil servants has strong ties to Trinidad, the birthplace of his best friend, Cyrus Douglas, and where his fiancee Georgiana Sutton was raised. Mycroft’s comfortable existence is overturned when Douglas receives troubling reports from home, rumors of spirits enticing children to their deaths. cover art for the book OreoUpon hearing the news, Georgiana abruptly departs for the island. Mycroft convinces Douglas that they should follow her, drawing the two men into a web of dark secrets that grows more treacherous with each step they take.

Oreo by Fran Ross
Popular Reading; Call number: F Ross
Oreo, a biracial black girl from Philadelphia, searches for her Jewish father in New York City, navigating the labyrinth of sound studios, brothels, and subway tunnels of Manhattan in a journey of self-discovery.

Film

I Am Not Your Negroposter promoting the film I Am Not Your Negro
DVD Collection; Call number: E185.61 .I266 2017
I Am Not Your Negro is an examination of racism in America through the lens of James Baldwin’s unfinished book, Remember This House. Intended as an account of the lives of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., each of whom James Baldwin personally knew, only a 30-page manuscript of the book was ever completed. Combining Baldwin’s manuscript with footage of depictions of African-Americans throughout American history, I Am Not Your Negro uses Baldwin’s words to illuminate the pervasiveness of American racism and the efforts to curtail it, from the civil rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter.

Whose Streets?
DVD Collection; Call number: HV6483.F47 W467 2017
Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, Whose Streets? is an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy. As the national guard descends on Ferguson with military grade weaponry, young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance. For this generation, the battle is not for civil rights, but for the right to live.

poster promoting the film Dear White PeopleDear White People
DVD Collection; Call number: PN1997 .D437 2015
A sharp and funny comedy about a group of African-American students as they navigate campus life and racial boundaries at a predominantly white college. A sly, provocative satire about being a black face in a white place.  (Also adapted into a great series on Netflix.)

Hidden Figures
DVD Collection; Call number: PN1997 .H522 2017
As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.

Need help finding these or other titles about African-American experiences?  We’re here for you at the 1st floor reference desk Monday-Thursday, 10:00am-12:00pm & 1:00-5:00pm.

Featured image (raised fist) in the public domain from Wikimedia

Black History Month: A Mini-Bib of Children’s Books

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Black History Month Children's Books

For our last Black History Month post, we’ve got a mini bibliography (what we’re calling a mini-bib) of children’s books in the SMCM Library collection. Grab one (or a stack) and take a break from those scholarly sources!

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, call number: PZ7.K2253 Sn

The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy, call number: PZ7.F667 Pat 1985

Aunt Martha and the Golden Coin by Anita Rodriguez, call number: PZ7.R6188 Au 1993

The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, call number: PZ8.1.S227 Fai 1995

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: a West African Tale retold by Verna Aardema, pictures by Leo and Diane Dillon, call number: PZ8.1.A213 Wh 1978

Research Spotlight: Octavia Butler

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Butler signing

image by Nikolas Coukouma [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

For Black History Month, we’re shining our first ever Research Spotlight on Octavia E. Butler’s life and works. Learn more about Butler – the first science-fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation award (aka the Genius Grant) – through the reference works, books, and article databases highlighted below.

Learn about Octavia Butler’s life in Credo Reference

Looking for some background information on Butler? The Credo Reference database provides online access to a number of high quality reference encyclopedias and dictionaries with entries on Butler.

Using the entry in the Encyclopedia of African-American Writing found in Credo Reference, can you name the prestigious science-fiction writing awards Butler won during her lifetime?

Read Octavia Butler’s novels, find them with the St. Mary’s Catalog

Experience Butler’s award winning sci-fi novels, featuring African-American female protagonists, first hand by checking them out of the SMCM Library!

Contained in one volume, Parable of the Sower; Parable of the Talents; and Kindred, three of Butler’s most well known works are available for check out. The first two works, which make up the Parable series, are set in California in the 2020s and present a dystopian future where corporate greed and lack of environmental stewardship lead to political and social collapse. The stand alone novel Kindred follows a 20th-century African-American woman who travels back in time to 19th century Maryland, where she meets her ancestors.

Find this collection under call number PS 3552. U827 P37 1999 in the second floor Stacks.

Want more? Search the USMAI catalog to borrow other Butler books from other Maryland libraries!

Research the scholarly response to Octavia Butler’s works in MLA International Bibliography and Project Muse

Maybe now you’ve learned a little about Octavia Butler’s life, read a couple of her novels, and are interested in doing research in the literature for a paper or project. While you might start you research using OneSearch (or *cough*googlescholar*cough*), how about giving a more targeted subject specific database like MLA International Bibliography or Project Muse a try?

Produced by the Modern Language Association (of MLA citation style fame) the MLA International Bibliography contains over 1.8 MILLION citations for books, journals, dissertations and theses, dating back to 1926! A search for “Octavia Butler and Kindred” turned up 38 highly relevant results. As the name suggests, results the MLA International Bibliography are mainly citations, but you can access the full text – if available – in one of the library’s other databases, or through Interlibrary Loan.

Looking to get your hands on full-text sources right away? The Project Muse database has full-text sources from over 400 titles. A search for “Octavia Butler and Kindred” turned up 117 full-text articles from journals ranging from literary criticism to women’s studies!

 

Homepage image credit: Containment Zone by L.E. Spry (CC BY 2.0) via flic.kr/p/3d9TcK

Contemporary Black Artists in ARTstor

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ARTstor is a library database containing nearly one-million high quality images. A perfect place to research art and architecture, ARTstor is also a great place to explore works by both well known and new artists.

Search by artist name, artwork title, and keyword or browse images by geographic location or type of art.

By creating an account, you can save images to specific folders and download images individual, in groups, or directly to PowerPoint presentations!

In honor of Black History Month, use ARTstore to explore more works by the four contemporary Black artists highlighted below.

Off the Dome by Iona Rozeal Brown

Iona Rozeal Brown‘s painting combine Japanese and hi-hop iconography as a commentary on race and culture.

image: Off the Dome: don’t front, you know we got you open, by Iona Rozeal Brown; photo by Cliff via https://flic.kr/p/5vx9P8

 

 

 

 

Kehinde Wiley, A New RepublicKehinde Wiley‘s larger than life portraits combine old and new by referencing or recreating Old Masters paintings with contemporary figures as a way to address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture.

image: Kehinde Wiley, A New Republic, Brooklyn Museum; photo by Garrett Ziegler via https://flic.kr/p/r2VqeD
 

Nick Cave SoundsuitNick Cave is a sculptor, dancer, and performance artist most well know for his “Soundsuits” – wearable sculptures made of fabric and other materials.

image: Nick Cave, Soundsuit, 2010; photo by Sharon Mollerus via https://flic.kr/p/ocTio6

 

 

 

 

 

Work by Kara Walker; photo by Phillip Merritt via https://flic.kr/p/4gVDka

Kara Walker is best known for her large scale silhouette installations through which she explores themes of race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity.

image: work by Kara Walker; photo by Phillip Merritt via https://flic.kr/p/4gVDka

 

 

 

Black History Month Research Resources

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Photograph of several Tuskegee airmen attending a briefing in Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945 - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Photograph of several Tuskegee airmen attending a briefing in Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945 – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

As we near the end of Black History Month it’s important to keep in mind that there are a wealth of free research materials on African American history. So whether you’re researching for a scholarly publication, a class assignment, or just personal interest, keep in mind some of the resources available to you through the St. Mary’s Library and through various digital archives and libraries across the country.

Our Patron Services Librarian, Conrad Helms has an excellent blog post about the new Rosa Parks archival collection at the Library of Congress. We’re also featuring just a few of the many St. Mary’s Library resources on Africa & African Diaspora Studies in our In The Collection feature this week.

Also going on this week is a fantastic BSU-sponsored, student-designed Exhibit in the Boyden Gallery called Expressions of Blackness.

If you’re interested in learning more about Black History Month, take a look at the Library of Congress and all of the amazing documents, photos, and resources available to help bolster your knowledge and understanding of African American History.

Black in Latin America

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HT-66-resized

For the last in our series of “In the Collection” features related to Black History Month, the Library brings you Black in Latin America, a 2-disc, 4-episode series on DVD that explores the intersections of race, identity, and Latin American history. Narrated by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this series examines the legacy of slavery and colonialism in Latin America by specifically looking at Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba. I first caught Black in Latin America on PBS a few years ago and was hooked. It’s a fascinating glimpse of racial politics and identity in the larger “America.”

You’ll find this engaging series in our open DVD collection on the first floor of the library, call number F1419.N4 B533 2011. There is also a book to accompany the DVD, which is located on the 2nd floor of our library in the stacks (call number: F1419.N4 G38 2011) You can find out more about Black in Latin America by checking out the accompanying PBS website and the preview video below.

Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice

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Opening page of 'The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano

Opening page of ‘The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano’
© The British Library, London

Historical researchers, be they students or faculty, are always interested in primary source materials–original photos, essays, letters, legislation, newspapers, etc.–that may open a door to the past. Among the St. Mary’s Library’s digital primary source collections is Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice, a database that brings together documents from archives and libraries around the Atlantic world.

Included in this online resource are documents covering the following themes:

  • Slavery in the Early Americas
  • The African Coast
  • The Middle Passage
  • Slavery and Agriculture
  • Urban & Domestic Slavery
  • Slave Testimony
  • Resistance & Revolt
  • The Underground Railroad
  • The Abolition Movement
  • The Legacy of Slavery

This is just a sampling of the various topics covered in this truly amazing collection. Take a few minutes to explore.

19th Century African American Newspapers

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Frederick Douglass greeting

The Library has a great collection of 19th century African American Newspapers that you can access online through Accessible Archives. Primary source research has never been this easy! Included in this collection are the following historical newspapers:

  • The Christian Recorder
  • The Colored American/Weekly Advocate
  • Frederick Douglass Paper
  • Freedom’s Journal
  • The National Era
  • The North Star
  • Provincial Freeman

Take a few minutes, explore the collection, and learn more about this amazing collection of first-hand reports from the 1800s.

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks

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Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks in November 1956
Photograph: Photographer not identified/Library of Congress

February is Black History Month, and while we all take time to recognize and reflect upon our nation’s history, present, and future, we can also make Black History Month come alive thanks to the Library of Congress.  Today (February 4) would have been Rosa Parks’ 102nd birthday, and surely not by coincidence, an exhibit of her letters and photographs opens at the Library of Congress.

Selections from the 10,000 item collection will be available for public viewing on the first floor of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building from March 2 – 30, and then will be included in the current exhibition The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle For Freedom, which is open through September 12, 2015 on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building.  Both exhibits are open Monday – Saturday from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM.

Pictures of some of the items are available here from The Guardian (full article here) and just from these few pictures, the breadth of the collection is astonishing: there are images of poll tax receipts, a Presidential Medal of Honor, a pancake recipe, and even a letter complaining about not being allowed in the library.  Rosa Parks’ act of refusing to give up her seat on the bus is well-known throughout our country – it is rightfully regarded as a seminal moment in not only the civil rights movement, but the whole of U.S. history.  To be able to see her thoughts and words in her own handwriting provides a stark perspective of what led her to strike one of the first blows against Jim Crow.  Looking at and reading these documents allows us to appreciate the immense significance and courage of her actions – not just on that day in December 1955, but in the ensuing decades until her passing in 2005.

If you can’t make it up to D.C. to view the exhibit, fear not – the Library of Congress will be posting some of the collection online later this year.  And you can always check out some of the SMCM Library’s materials about Rosa Parks and the larger U.S. civil rights movement.

-Conrad Helms

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