Slavery in the United States
- The 1619 ProjectThe 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
- North American Slave NarrativesIncludes all existing autobiographical narratives of fugitive and former slaves published as broadsides, pamphlets, or books in English up to 1920
Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery by Call Number: Alkek General, Floor 5 E441 .D53 1997ISBN: 0275957993Publication Date: 1997Alphabetical list and signed entries, terms, concepts, associations, and people important to an understanding of African American slavery in the United States. Includes maps, tables, chronology, brief bibliographies.
Barracoon by Call Number: Alkek General, Floor 5 E444.L49 H87 2018ISBN: 9780062864369Publication Date: 2018Brilliantly illuminates the horror and injustices of slavery as it tells the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade--abducted from Africa on the last "Black Cargo" ship to arrive in the United States. In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama, just outside Mobile, to interview eighty-six-year-old Cudjo Lewis. Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America as slaves, Cudjo was then the only person alive to tell the story of this integral part of the nation's history. Hurston was there to record Cudjo's firsthand account of the raid that led to his capture and bondage fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed in the United States. In 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, the African-centric community three miles from Mobile founded by Cudjo and other former slaves from his ship. Spending more than three months there, she talked in depth with Cudjo about the details of his life.
Abolitionist Movement
- Black Abolitionists ArchiveA collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials.
Harriet Tubman by Call Number: Alkek General, Floor 5 E444.T82 C57 2004ISBN: 9780316155946Publication Date: 2005The definitive biography of one of the most courageous women in American history "reveals Harriet Tubman to be even more remarkable than her legend" (Newsday). Celebrated for her exploits as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman has entered history as one of nineteenth-century America's most enduring and important figures. But just who was this remarkable woman? To John Brown, leader of the Harper's Ferry slave uprising, she was General Tubman. For the many slaves she led north to freedom, she was Moses. To the slaveholders who sought her capture, she was a thief and a trickster. To abolitionists, she was a prophet. Now, in a biography widely praised for its impeccable research and its compelling narrative, Harriet Tubman is revealed for the first time as a singular and complex character, a woman who defied simple categorization. "A thrilling reading experience. It expands outward from Tubman's individual story to give a sweeping, historical vision of slavery." --NPR's Fresh Air
- Library of Congress: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents in American HistoryRatified in 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. This guide provides access to digital collections at the Library of Congress, external websites, and print materials related to the amendment.
- Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830-1865 This link opens in a new window
Primary source collection detailing the efforts of African Americans to abolish slavery in the U.S. prior to the Civil War. 1830-1865.