Research Guides: African American History: Overview

Recommended Secondary Resources

Background Information

African American Biographical Database This link opens in a new window
Biographical information on African Americans, 1790-1950
Oxford Bibliographies: African American Studies This link opens in a new window
Overviews & annotated bibliographies on African American Studies

Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History by Jack Salzman (Editor); David L. Smith (Editor); Cornel West (Editor)
Call Number: E185 .E54 1996
Publication Date: 1995
An authoritative, five volume work dealing with all aspects of the African-American experience from 1619 to the present day.
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History: The Black Experience in the Americas by Colin Palmer (Editor)
Publication Date: 2006
Identifies and addresses broad themes critical to understanding the texture of the cultures, achievements, and challenges across North America, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Search Terms

Think about what search terms you are going to use.

You can search generally for African American, or Black as keywords
Example search: African American identity OR Black identity
- You can narrow your search by adding more specific or regional terms
  - e.g. African American Churches or Black Churches
  - e.g Somali-American or Somali AND immigration AND America
Remember: Terms change over time, so you may need to adjust search terms when using primary resource databases.

Need More Help?

Pam Pagels

Contact:

ppagels@smu.edu
214 768-1857

Subjects: Classical Studies, History, International Studies, Medieval Studies, Music and Music Education, Theatre, Writing & Reasoning

Related Guide

This guide highlights resources focusing specifically on African American History. However, when researching African American History, general American History resources will also be of use.