Research Guides : African-American Studies

This guide lists basic English language reference sources both print and electronic on African-American Studies available in North Carolina Central University libraries.


BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Bibliographies are used to answer a wide variety of questions and to further research by identifying sources on various subjects and/or types. They are lists of works arranged on the basis of authorship, subject, place of publication, or the time (year, month, etc.) of publication. They are usually arranged alphabetically, but sometimes a system of subject classification is used. Some bibliographies are annotated, meaning that each entry includes a brief description of the cited work. Bibliographies can also be complete or selective.

Abajian, James T. Blacks and Their Contributions to the American West: A Bibliography and Union List of Library Holdings Through 1970. Boston: G.K.Hall, 1974.
[Shepard Ref. Z1361 .N39]

Black-Jewish Relations in the United States, 1752-1984: A Selected Bibliography Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1984.
[Shepard Ref. Z1361 .N39 H47]

Bridnano, Russell C. Black Americans in Autobiography: An Annotated Bibliography of Autobiographies and Autobiographical Books Written Since the Civil War. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1984.
[Shepard Ref. Z1361 .N39 B67]

Davis, Lenwood G. A Bibliographical Guide to Black Studies Programs in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1985.
[Shepard Ref. Z1361 .N39 D353]

Davis, Lenwood G. The Black Family in the United States; A Revised, Updated, Selectively Annotated Bibliography. New York: Greenwood, 1986.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 D355]

Meyers, Hector F. Black Child Development in America, 1927-1977: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1979.
[Shepard and Law Ref. Z1361 .N39 M94]

Miller, Elizabeth W. The Negro in America: A Bibliography. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970.
[Shepard and Law Ref. Z1361 .N39 M5]

Newman, Richard. Black Access: A Bibliography of Afro-American Bibliographies. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1984.
[SLIS Ref. 016.01693 N5546]

Obudho, Constance E. Black-White Racial Attitudes: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1976.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39028]

Obudho, Robert A. Afro-American Demography and Urban Issues: A Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1985.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39029]

Smith, John David. Black Slavery in the Americas: An Interdisciplinary Bibliography, 1865-1980. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1982.
[Ref. Z7164 .S6 S63]

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BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Biographical sources, in general, provide information on the lives and/or achievements of individuals. They are works which both address specific fields or subjects and tend to concentrate on the professional achievements, personal life, and background of those prominent figures of the field or subject.

Estell, Kenneth. African American: A Portrait of a People. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1994.
[Ref. E185.96 .E87]

Franklin, V.P. Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths: Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press.
[Ref. E185.96 .F74]

Hawkins, Walter L. African American Biographies 2: Profiles of 332 Current Men and Women. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1994.
[Law Ref. E185.96 .H38]

Ingham, John N. African-American Business Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994.
[Ref. HG102.5 .A2152]

Kessler, James H. Distinguished African American Scientists of the 20th Century. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 1996.
[Ref. Q141 .D535]

LaBlanc, Michael L. Contemporary Black Biography: Profiles from the International Black Community. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992.
[Ref. E185.96 .C66]

Page, James A., and Jae Min Roh.Selected Black American, African, and Caribbean Authors: A Bio-Bibliography. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries, 1985.
[SLIS Ref. 016.8109 P132s]

Porter, David. African-American Sports Greats: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995.
[Ref. GV697 .A1 F37]

Potter, Joan. African American First: Famous Little-Known and Unsung Triumph of Blacks in America. Elizabeth Town, N.Y.: Pinto Press, 1994.
[Ref. E185.96 .P67]

Salem, Dorothy. African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. New York, N.Y.: Garland, 1993.
[Shepard and Law Ref. E185.96 .A45]

Salley, Columbus. The Black 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential African-Americans, Past and Present. Secauscus, N.J.: Carol Pub., 1994.
[Ref. E185.96 .S225]

Sammons, Vivian Ovelton. Blacks in Science and Medicine. New York, N.Y.: Hemisphere Publishing, 1990.
[Ref. Q141 .B58 and SLIS Ref. 509.22 .B631]

Smith, Jessie Carney. Notable Black American Women: Book II. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996.
[SLIS Ref. 920.72 N899 and Law Ref. E185.96 .N68]

Smith, Valerie, Lea Baechler, and A. Walton Litz (eds.). African American Writers. New York, N.Y.: Collier Books, 1993.
[Ref. PS153 .N5 A344]

Southern, Eileen. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982.
[Ref. ML105 .S67]

Who's Who Among African Americans. New York, N.Y.: Gale Research,1996/1997.
[Shepard Ref. and Law Ref. E185.96 .W527]

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CHRONOLOGIES

Christian, Charles M., and Bennett J. Sari. Black Saga: The African American Experience. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.
[Ref. E185 .C519]

Cowan, Tom and Jack Macguire. Timelines of African-American History: 500 Years of Black Achievement. New York, N.Y.: Perigee Books/Berkley Pub. Group, 1994.
[Ref. E185 .C85]

Diggs, Ellen Irene. Black Chronology: From 4000 B.C. to the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall, 1983.
[Ref. E185 .D5]

Harley, Sharon. The Timetables of African-American History: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in African-American History. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
[Ref. E185 .H295]

Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale, 1991.
[Shepard and Law Ref. E185 .H64]

Sloan, Irving J. The American Negro: A Chronology and Fact Book. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, 1968.
[Ref. E185 .S57]

Smith, Jessie Carney, Casper L. Jordan, and Robert L. Johns. Black Firsts: 2,000 Years of Extraordinary Achievement. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.
[Ref. E185 .B574]

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DICTIONARIES

Dictionaries define words for the user, provide their correct spellings and often explain usage. Some dictionaries even provide the history and origins of the words defined. Specialized dictionaries addressing a specific subject may provide only brief definitions of the usage of the related terms, or they may provide longer definitions that are on the order of a short entry in an encyclopedia. They may also provide biographical entries on selected members of the community. The dictionaries listed below vary in scope from the general to those that are quite specific and address only a narrow, particular area of study and research within the field of African-American Studies.

Baskin, Wade. Dictionary of Black Culture. New York : Philosophical Library, 1973.
[Ref. E185.96 .B33]

Estell, Kenneth. The African-American Almanac. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.
[Shepard and Law Ref. E185 .A2515]

Miller, Randall M., and John D. Smith. Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988.
[Ref. E441 .D53]

Nunez, Benjamin. Dictionary of Afro-Latin American Civilization. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1980.
[Ref. F1408.3 .N86]

Phillips, Claude S. The African Political Dictionary. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio Information Services, 1984.
[Ref. DT30.5 .P47]

Ploski, Harry A., and James Williams. The Negro Almanac: A Reference Work on the African-American. Detroit : Gale, 1989.
[Ref. E185 .P55]

Smitherman-Donaldson, Geneva. Black Talk: Words and Phrases From the Hood to the Amen Corner. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.
[Ref. PE3102 .N4 S65 ]

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DIRECTORIES & YEARBOOKS

Directories are organized lists of persons or organizations. They provide mailing addresses for the members of the fields and/organizations addressed by the directory, as well as the addresses and functions of the organizations and institutions themselves, and the goods or services provided by them. The directory can be used to check the names and spellings of individuals and organizations, or to obtain telephone numbers and credentials. Some directories even contain very brief biographical information on the individuals listed. Yearbooks present facts and statistics for a single year, usually a chronology of the year, biographies of news makers, obituaries, sports news, current statistical data and articles about the events of the year.

Black American Colleges & Universities. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.
[Ref. LC2781 .H54]

Black Americans Information Directory 1994-95. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.
[Shepard and Law Ref. E185.5 .B513]

Crayton, Tabatha. The African-American Address Book. New York: Berkeley Publishing Group, 1995.
[Ref. E185 .C877]

Curtis, Nancy C. Black Heritage Sites: An African American Odyssey and Finder's Guide. Chicago: American Library Association, 1996.
[SLIS Ref. 973.0496073 C979b]

Directory of African American Religious Bodies: A Compendium by the Howard University School of Divinity. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1995.
[SLIS Ref. BR563 .N4 D57]

Hill, Levirn. Black American Colleges &: Universities: Profiles of Two-Year, Four-Year &: Professional Schools. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.

[Shepard and Law Ref. LC2781 .H54]

Kennard, Toni Hodge. The Handbook of Historically Black Colleges & Universities: Comprehensive Profiles and Photos of Black Colleges and Universities. Wilmington, Del.: Jireh & Associates, 1995.
[Ref. LC2781 .K45]

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ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Encyclopedias provide a good starting point for beginning research assignments. Encyclopedias are often broad, general sources of basic information on a variety of subjects, but they can also be highly specialized and aimed at specific fields of interest. They may even be so specialized that they address only a specific area within a field. A few of the encyclopedias listed below have biographical entries as well.

Afro-American Encyclopedia. North Miami, Fla. Educational Books Publishers, 1974.
[Ref. E185 .A28]

Encyclopedia of Black America. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981.
[Shepard Ref. E185 .E55 and SLIS Ref. 973.0496073]

Estell, Kenneth. Reference Library of Black America. Detroit : Gale Research, 1994.
[Ref. E185 .R435]

Hine, Darlene C., E. Brown, and R. Terborg-Pen. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Carlson Publication, 1993.
[Ref. E185.86 .B542]

Lowery, Charles D., and John F. Marszalek. Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the Present. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992.
[Ref. E185.61 .E54]

Murphy, Larry, G. Melton, and G. Ward. Encyclopedia of African American Religions. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993.

[Ref. BR563 .N4 E53]

Williams, Michael W. The African American Encyclopedia. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1993.
[Ref. E185 .A253]

World Encyclopedia of Black Peoples (6 vols.). St. Clair Shores, Mich.: Scholarly Press, 1975.
[Ref. GN645 .W64]

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GUIDES TO THE LITERATURE

Guides may contain information about places, regions, and/or subjects. Often they are guides to literature, including reference literature of one kind or another. Some guides are basic and cover a large range of reference literature while others are much narrower in scope.

Chase, Henry. In Their Footsteps: The American Visions Guide to African-American Heritage Sites. New York : H. Holt, 1994.
[Ref. E159 .C45]

Diggs, Anita Doreen. The African American Resource Guide. Baricade Books, 1994.
[Ref. E185 .D45]

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1975.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 S373a]

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HANDBOOKS

Handbooks are often similar to encyclopedias in that they provide a wide range of information on various subjects. Some of the works below are very specialized and deal with highly specific areas of African-American Studies, others are more general and probably more helpful to the student seeking basic information.

Battle, Stafford L. The African American Resource Guide to the Internet and Online Services. New York: McGraw-hill, 1996.
[Ref. E185 .B33]

Brown, William Wells. Clotelle, or, the Colored Heroine. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg, 1995.
[Ref. E185 .A8]

Cantor, George. Historic Landmarks of Black America. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991.
[Ref. E185.53 .A1 C3b]

Jones, Reginald L. Handbook of Tests and Measurements for Black Populations. Hampton, Va.: Cobb & Henry Publishers, 1996.
[Ref. BF176 .H37]

Josey, E.J., and Ann Allen Shockley. Handbook of Black Librarianship. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1997.
Ref. Z711.9 .H35]

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INDEXES & ABSTRACTS

Indexes provide the original sources of works and their authors and are usually arranged by alphabetized subject classification. The citations are bibliographic in nature. Pure indexes will present no descriptive information pertaining to the works cited. Abstracts, in comparison, are indexes which present brief summaries of the works referred to by their citations.

Index to Black Periodicals. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall & Co., 1995.
[Ref. A13 .O44]

Stevenson, Rosemary. Index to Afro-American Reference Resources. New York: Greenwood, 1988.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 S77]

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LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES

Major, Clarence. Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.
[Shepard Ref. PE3727 .N4 M34]

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LIBRARY CATALOGS

Howard University Libraries. Moorland Foundation. Dictionary Catalog of the Jesse E. Moorland Collection of Negro Life and History. Howard University Library, Washington, D.C.; Boston: G.K. Hall, 1970.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 H82]

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MAPS, ATLASES, GAZETTEERS

Maps are drawings representing the earth's surface or part of it, usually showing countries, cities, rivers, seas, lakes, and mountains. Atlases are books of plates or tables illustrating any subject. Gazetteers are lists of geographical names or physical features or both, either appended to atlases or published separately.

Ashanti, Molefi. Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans. New York: Macmillian, 1991.
[Shepard Ref. E185 .A8]

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MANUSCRIPTS & ARCHIVES

Manuscripts are books or papers written by hand or with a typewriter. Archives are places where public records or historical documents are kept.

Plunkett, Michael. Afro-American Sources in Virginia: A Guide to Manuscripts. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990.
[Ref. E185.93 V8]

Printed & Manuscript African-Americana: Documenting the Black Experience in Americas. New York: Swann Galleries, 1996.
[Ref. E185.53 .A1 P75]

Sinnette, Elinor Des Verney, and others. Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1990.
[Ref. Z688 .A55 B53]

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NEWSPAPERS CURRENTLY RECIEVED (PRINT)

Newspaper Place of Publication
Atlanta Daily World Atlanta, GA
Call Kansas City, MO
Carolina Peacemaker Greensboro, NC
Carolinian Raleigh, NC
Chicago Defender Chicago, IL
Greensboro News & Record Greensboro, NC
New Journal and Guide Norfolk, VA
New York Amsterdam News New York, NY
Washington Afro-American Washington, DC
Washington Tribune Washington, DC

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PERIODOCALS (BIBLIOGRAPHIES & GUIDES)

Daniel, Walter C. Black Journals of the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
[SLIS Ref. 051 D184b]

Guide to Scholarly Journals in Black Studies. Chicago: Center for Afro-American Studies and Research, 1981.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 G83]

The Newspapers and Periodicals by and about Black People: Southeastern Library Holdings. North Carolina Central University, School of Library Science, African-American Materials Project. Boston: G.K., 1978.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 N67]
[SLIS Ref. 016.30145196 N864n]

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PERIODICALS (SELECTED)

Below are the basic periodicals that address a wide range of concerns and topics in the area of African-American Studies.

Title Holdings Frequency
American Visions vol.1 (1986)- bi-monthly
African American Review vol. 26 (1992)- quarterly
Black Enterprise vol. 1 (1970)- monthly
Black Collegian vol.1, (1971)- 2/yr.
Black Diaspora vol. 17 - 7/yr.
Black Issues in Higher Education (Virginia) vol.1 no.1 quarterly
CA (1916)- quarterly
Callaloo no.1 (1976)- quarterly
Challenge vol.1 (1964)- bi-monthly
CLA Journal vol. 1 (1957) - quarterly
Crisis vol. 1 (1910) - monthly
Ebony vol. 1 (1945) - monthly
Emerge vol. 1 (1989) - 10/yr.
Essence vol.1 (1970) - monthly
Journal of Black Studies vol 22 bi-monthly
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education vol. 1 quarterly
Journal of Negro Education vol. 1 (1932) quarterly
Journal of Negro History (Spring 1960) quarterly
Phylon (Spring 1960) quarterly
Western Journal of Black Studies quarterly

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QUOTATIONS

Quotations are sayings attributed to a person. These statements could have been quoted from a book or speech.

Dinwiddle-Boyd, Elza. In Our Own Words: A Treasury of Quotations from the African-American Community. New York: Avon Books, 1996.
[Ref. PN6081.3 I5]

Jewell, Terri L. The Black Woman's Gumbo Ya-Ya: Quotations by Black Women. Freedom, Calif.: Crossing Press, 1993.
[Ref. E185.86 .B5415]

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STATISTICS

Statistical sources offer numerical and quantitative facts about peoples, the weather, business conditions, etc. Statistics are collected and classified systematically.

Garwood, Alfred N. Black Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1995.
[Ref. E185 .B52]

Smith, Jessie Carney and Carrell Horton. Historical Statistics of Black America. New York: Gale Research, 1995.
[Shepard and Law Ref. E185 .B52]

Smith, Jessie Carney. Statistical Record of Black America. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995, 1997.

[Shepard and Law Ref. E185.6 .S7]

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WOMEN - BIBLIOGRAPHIES

American Black Women in the Arts and Social Sciences: A Bibliographic Survey. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1973.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 W56]

Sims, Janet L. The Progress of Afro-American Women: A Selected Bibliography and Resource Guide. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1980.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 R53]

Williams, Ora. American Black Women in the Arts and Social Sciences. 3rd Edition. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1994.
[Ref. Z1361 .N39 W56]

Yellin, Jean F. and Cynthia Bond D. The Pen is Ours: A Listing of Writings By and About African-American Women Before 1910 with Secondary Bibliography to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
[Ref. Z1229 .N39 Y44]

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INTERNET RESOURCES

The following websites offer information and additional links to locating online information about African-Americans.

African American Census Data & Culture. This site contains selected tables and graphs reflecting the latest available census data and information regarding the African American population of the United States.
[http://www.thuban.com/census/index.html]
[http://www.census.gov:80/population/www/socdemo/race/black.html]

The African American Mosaic. This site is a Library of Congress Resource Guide for the study of Black history.
[http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html]

African Studies World Wide Web Server. This gives access to virtually every aspect of the African American.
[http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/AS.html]

Black Cultural Web Site. This is an experimental Black cultural studies site, set up because of a lack of resources on the Internet..It address questions of ethnicity, race, and gender among the members of the African diaspora.
[http://www.tiac.net/users/thaslett]

Encyclopedia Smithsonian: African American History and Culture. This contains selected links to sites hosted by Smithsonian Institution museums and organizations, including online interivews, bibliographies and exhibits.
[http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmah/afroam.htm]

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. This is the site for the research center of the NY Public library. Many exhibits and collections are featured.
[http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html]


This guide was compiled by Juanita Midgette, April 1997, with updates by Tracy Bell and and coding by Rebecca Olson, Research Help Librarian.


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