The UGA community is invited to explore a new slate of databases that reflect the lives of Black Americans for the past two centuries, now available freely online through the UGA Libraries.
The Libraries recently completed major purchases of five full-text, searchable databases that include newspapers, periodicals, first-hand accounts, oral histories, and works of fiction, poetry and drama by and about Black Americans from as far back as the year 1825. The databases contain more than 20,000 works that chronicle experiences from slavery and the abolitionist movement to the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, disenfranchisement and segregation during the Jim Crow era, the Civil Rights movement, and more. These new databases join other resources the Libraries provide in support of inclusive research.
“At the Libraries, we are committed to growing our collections in ways that help readers and researchers gain more understanding of diverse experiences and viewpoints,” said Nan McMurry, director for collection development. “These databases include valuable research materials for a variety of fields, from history and English to politics, business, and the arts and sciences. Moreover, they can aid in our personal and collective pursuit of inclusivity and anti-racism.”
UGA Libraries also recently added a database on sexuality and gender that contains historical primary source publications on sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ+ communities, including rare books, correspondence, newspapers, periodicals, posters, and government publications from across the globe.
To gain access to these databases and more, login with your myID at libs.uga.edu and click on Databases A-Z on the homepage. You can also view databases specifically related to African-American studies at https://guides.libs.uga.edu/african-american-studies-databases
More information about the newly purchased databases is below.
African American Periodicals, 1825-1995
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=afrc-uga1&inst=uga1
This full-text database features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports and other genres. This primary-source collection is based upon James P. Danky’s monumental African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography (Harvard, 1998). The content ranges over more than 150 years of American life, from slavery during the Antebellum Period to the struggles and triumphs of the modern era. Editorial views from the pages of these periodicals include opinions on the abolitionist movement; “Jim Crow” segregation; African American achievements in literature, music, sports and science; the beginning of the Freedom Movement; the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968; and more.
African Americans and Jim Crow: Repression and Protest, 1883-1922
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=afrr-uga1&inst=uga1
This full-text database contains more than 1,000 fully searchable works by and about African Americans during the Jim Crow years of 1883 through 1922, a pivotal period of disenfranchisement and segregation. Subjects covered include the evolution of African-American identity; relationships between African Americans and peoples of other nations; race in literature; and official reports on the changing status of African Americans. Also included are eyewitness accounts of African-American life throughout the United States; important printed works of African-American individuals and organizations; and numerous works of fiction, poetry and drama. The resources in this database were digitized from the renowned Afro-Americana collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
African Americans and Reconstruction: Hope and Struggle, 1865-1883
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=afrl-uga1&inst=uga1
This full-text, searchable database provides nearly 1,400 fully searchable printed works essential for understanding the African-American experience from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of Jim Crow. The collection includes significant works by and about African Americans and covers such critically important subjects as the development of African-American identity; descriptions of African-American life, both slave and free; eyewitness accounts of African-American life in the South, the North, and
elsewhere; and official reports on the “progress” of African Americans. Also included are important works of African-American individuals and organizations and works of fiction, poetry and drama. The resources in this database were digitized from the renowned Afro-Americana collection of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Black Life in America
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=blan-uga1&inst=uga1
Full-text searchable database of primary sources documenting the African-American experience from the early days of slavery to modern times as recorded in over 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 current and historical Black publications. This collection covers many topical categories such as slavery and flights to freedom, voting rights, voter suppression and disenfranchisement, segregation and civil rights, prejudice and discrimination, and activism and protest movements.
Black Thought and Culture
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=blag-uga1&inst=uga1
This primary source database contains the non-fiction writings of major American Black leaders, teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures, from the mid-1800s through the early 2000s. Included along with more standard works are unpublished materials such as letters, speeches, prefatory essays, political leaflets, interviews, periodicals, and trial transcripts. Highlights include full runs of The Black Panther newspaper and the Artist and Influence journal, and a large number of oral histories and interviews.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=arck-uga1&inst=uga1
This full-text, searchable database spans the sixteenth to twentieth centuries and consists of historical primary source publications relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ communities around the world. The content ranges from the sciences to the humanities and includes newspapers, periodicals, government publications, correspondence, posters, and rare books. The UGA Libraries have access to segments 1-3 of this collection.