Black Life in America from NewsBank
Offers primary sources from U.S. newspapers (1690–present).
Features a timeline/topic-based interface.
Includes full editions with illustrations, ads, and cartoons.
Search by era, date range, or location.
Suggested searches highlight key topics like laws, notable figures, arts, activism, and more.
Explore African American history from a variety of articles, media, and biographies. Find information on:
Black History Month and other celebrations of African American heritage, pride, and freedom
Black Nationalism and important players in the movement
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), their history, growth, and continued legacy.
Use the university-level database to explore history in a variety of ways, including through the World Atlas, by comparing countries, referencing statistics in the World Factbook, and browsing articles, biographies, and media. Learn about arts and culture such as:
African American Literature from the pre-Civil War period through the end of the 20th century
Browse the related articles on Black Theatre
Explore the music genres created and popularized by Black artists like blues, funk, hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and soul
High School In Context database offers easy access to interdisciplinary topics and covers the major subject areas, including biography, geography, history, government, literature, science and health, and social studies, allowing students to create connections between subject areas and to truly put topics into larger cultural, social, and historical context.
Browse the home page by topic or click the blue Browse All Topics button to browse by decade; states, country, or region; literary titles; and more. Find resources relating to Black History Month under topics like Biography, History, Literature & the Arts, Social Issues, and World Cultures & Religion. Or, use the search bar to return full text reference materials, essays, vetted websites, videos and audio from the NYTimes, NPR, and more.
Biography in Context hosts biographical entries on thousands of notable international figures from all time periods and areas of study, including science and technology, arts and entertainment, literature, sports and fitness, history, popular culture, politics, and more. Browse their categories by skill (such as music, art, or writing), careers (such as aviators, inventors, or politicians), identity (race, sex/gender, or sexual orientation & gender identity), or social cause (environmentalism, philanthropy, or social reform). This database has biographies on Black Americans from all eras, in all categories, including the people that are sometimes left out or glossed over when looking at complex topics like slavery and emancipation, the Civil Rights Movement, groundbreaking artists, and modern pop culture icons.
Gale's U.S. History in Context (UHIC) delivers comprehensive, contextual, media-rich search results from one of the most extensive online collections of historical information available. Providing a complete overview of U.S. history that covers the most-studied events, decades, wars and conflicts, political and cultural movements, people, and more, UHIC is aligned to state and national curriculum standards. The Topic Finder is particularly useful for students exploring a topic but unsure of what to focus on. This tool takes the titles, subjects, and approximately the first 100 words from a subset of your top results and feeds them into an algorithm. The results can display unexpected connections between topics, related terms, and people names.
Browse the topic, "African American Perspectives" from the home page, explore Dr. King's page from the Topics of Interest carousel, or perform a search for more specific terms. The advanced search allows for researchers to filter by content type, publication dates, content level, and publication.
TeachingBooks African American Collection: Browse 3,592 books with resources for all levels, including The Hate U Give, The Crossover, Long Way Down, Dear Martin, X, Jabari Jumps, Hidden Figures, Finding Langston, and more.
Teaching Resources:
Text Information: Lexile, ATOS, Fountas & Pinnell, grade levels, text complexity toolkit, similar books
Author Information: Name pronunciation, interviews, blog links
Activities & Lessons: Story maps, reflection questions, discussion guides, lesson plans, vocabulary lists, puzzles
Book Trailers & Readings
Award Information