Primary Sources, Newspapers, and More
- African Americans and Jim Crow, 1883-1922 This link opens in a new window
Search an archive of thousands of fully searchable printed works from the beginning of Jim Crow to post-World War I. These works provide insights into African American culture and life during this period of segregation and disenfranchisement and include such topics as African American identity, relationships with peoples of other nations, and literature. (Newsbank/Readex)
- African Americans and Reconstruction, 1865-1883 This link opens in a new windowSearch an archive of thousands of printed works from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of Jim Crow. It includes documents related to African Americans and citizenship, voting rights, literacy, land rights, and employment. (Newsbank/Readex)
- AIDS Crisis Response: Records of the National Commission on AIDS, 1983-1994 This link opens in a new window
The National Commission on AIDS was an independent body created in 1989 to advise Congress and the President on the development of a "consistent national policy" concerning the HIV epidemic. This database contains records connected to their work, including briefing books, hearing and meeting transcripts, reports, and press clippings. (Gale)
- American Politics and Society (History Vault) This link opens in a new window
Search two primary source collections: 1) A collection of post-Civil War manuscripts from the Harvard Law School Library that highlight three Supreme Court Justices and the first Black federal judge. 2) Records from the FBI and the Subversive Activities Control Board (1945-1972). Highlights of this archive include J. Edgar Hoover's office files and documentation on the FBI's so-called "black bag jobs." (ProQuest)
- Archival Resources of the Virginias (ARVAS) This link opens in a new window
Search for information on archival materials housed in historical societies, libraries, museums, colleges, and universities across Virginia and West Virginia. The online finding aids help researchers discover primary source materials that document the history, culture, and people of these two states. (ARVAS)
- Black Short Fiction and Folklore This link opens in a new windowAccess stories produced by authors from Africa and the African Diaspora from the earliest times to the present. Find fables, parables, ballads, folk tales, short story cycles, and novellas - each piece of content has fewer than 10,000 words. (ProQuest)
- Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new windowSearch a collection of nonfiction writings by major American Black leaders, including books, letters, speeches, essays, interviews, and political leaflets. Researchers can study the historical development of Black culture by examining the ideas of one individual over time or compare the thinking of various figures on a given topic. (Alexander Street Press)
- Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle (History Vault) This link opens in a new windowSearch primary sources documents on the Civil Rights Movement, including the NAACP papers, organizational papers from other civil rights organizations, such as the SCLC and SNCC, and personal papers from activists. Also included are federal government records, including records from the FBI investigations into the movement's leaders and records from the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations. (ProQuest)
- FBI Files (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI vigorously investigated and tracked the activities of communist groups, civil rights organizations, and Native Americans in the United States. Explore the archives and find files on Albert Einstein, Alger Hiss, Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, Whittaker Chambers, Freedom Riders, Howard Hughes, HUAC, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abbie Hoffman, Cesar Chavez, Weatherman, Malcolm X, NAACP, SNCC, SCLC, the American Indian Movement and many more. Also included are files on the Watergate scandal. (Gale)
- Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975 This link opens in a new windowSearch for primary source documents on topics related to music and youth culture. Documents include photographs, ephemera, memorabilia, pamphlets, zines, letters, government files, and eye witness accounts covering key events of the period. (AM)
- Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new windowSearch for primary sources that focus on the varieties of slavery (urban, domestic, industrial, farm, ranch, and plantation), the legacies of slavery, the social justice perspective, and the continued existence of slavery in the twentieth century. Documents include manuscripts, pamphlets, books, paintings and maps. (AM)
- Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party: Papers of James and Esther Cooper Jackson This link opens in a new window
Search the papers of James E. and Esther Cooper Jackson, who are best known for their role in founding and leading the Southern Negro Youth Congress from 1937-1948. (Gale)
- Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party: Papers of James and Esther Cooper Jackson This link opens in a new window
Search the papers of James E. and Esther Cooper Jackson, who are best known for their role in founding and leading the Southern Negro Youth Congress from 1937-1948. (Gale)
- 19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSearch an archive of newspapers published in the 1800s by a variety of groups, including political parties, African Americans, Native Americans, women's rights groups, labor groups, and the Confederacy. This collection includes newspapers from every one of the 50 modern-day US states. (Gale)
- Access World News (Historical and Current) This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from thousands of US and global news sources. It includes some audio and video news sources, as well as traditional newspapers. (Newsbank/Readex)
- African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Search for articles from US newspapers that chronicle 150 years of the African American experience, including the Antebellum South, growth of the Black church, the Jim Crow Era, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement, and more. Note: UR has access to Series 1 only. (Newsbank/Readex)
- Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from 7 national papers (Atlanta Constitution, Barron's, Christian Science Monitor, LA Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post) and 13 historically Black papers (Atlanta Daily World, Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Cleveland Call and Post, Kansas City Call, Los Angeles Sentinel, Louisville Defender, Michigan Chronicle, New York Amsterdam News, Norfolk Journal and Guide, Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier and St. Louis American). Full-text dates vary for each newspaper. (ProQuest)
- International Newsstream This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles from news sources outside of the US and Canada, such as newspapers, newswires, transcripts, and digital-only news sites. (ProQuest)
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowSearch for newspaper articles and legal materials such as court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews, and more. (Lexis-Nexis)
- HistoryMakers Video Archive This link opens in a new windowWatch videos of thousands of oral history interviews that highlight the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements. (HistoryMakers)
- Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Access a massive collection of streaming videos, including documentaries, interviews, performances, newsreels, field recordings, commercials, and raw footage, among others. Most topics are represented in this database. (Alexander Street Press)
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowSearch this streaming video collection of documentaries, educational films, classic Hollywood movies, and world cinema. Note: Not all Kanopy films are immediately available for streaming. For any that are unavailable, please fill out the request form in Kanopy with as much information as possible to convey your teaching or research needs. The library will only unlock videos used for courses and assignments. (OverDrive)
GIS / Map-Based Statistical Databases
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new window
Access a data and mapping resource that combines demographic, health, employment, and socioeconomic data about communities, census tracts, and other regions within the United States. (PolicyMap)
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Create reports and maps based on US Census data and demographic information. Create an account on the site to save your maps. (Social Explorer)
- SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
Access business, consumer, and market data from a variety of sources, including Neilsen, Simmons, and the Census Bureau. Using this data, you can build reports, export data, and create maps. Choose "Sign in as a guest" or create a personal account in order to save your work. Note: Only 10 users may access this database at one time. (SimplyAnalytics)
Other Statistics Databases
- Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Search for statistics on topics related to American Indians, slavery, poverty, race, ethnicity, migration, health, crime, and more. Each are placed in historical context by a recognized expert in the field. (Cambridge)
- Statista This link opens in a new windowSearch for statistics on topics related to business, markets, mass media, technology, and more. The data is compiled from a variety of public and private sources. (Statista)
- Statistical Abstract of the United States (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowSearch for statistics in this yearly publication that illuminate the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. The data covers the years 1878-2012 and has been compiled from a variety of public and private sources. (ProQuest)
UR Archival Collections
Use the following links to access primary sources and other archival material from the university's Book Arts, Archives, and Rare Books department:
- Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker CollectionThe Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection, donated by the Rev. Dr. Walker and his wife, Theresa Ann, contains material pertaining to the Walkers’ civil rights activities including with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at SCLC, work as pastor at several important churches including Gillfield Baptist Church and Canaan Baptist Church, and scholarly work on ethnomusicology.
- Wyatt Tee Walker Research GuideInformation on the Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt Tee Walker Collection at UR
- “Dear Congressman Abbitt”: Virginians and National Politics, 1948-1973Rep. Watkins Moorman Abbitt served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1948 to 1973, representing Virginia’s Fourth Congressional district. In 1954, he became a leader of white Virginian's "massive resistance" to integrated public schools. The collection features letters, pamphlets, speeches, congressional bills, photographs, and other documents that offer a window in the ways in which Abbitt and his constituents understood and attempted to shape national politics in the mid-twentieth-century United States.
- Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal AmericaMapping Inequality offers unprecedented online access to the national collection of redlining maps produced between 1935 and 1940 by one of the New Deal's most important agencies, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation. Hosted by the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab.
- Digital Collections at the University of RichmondFull list of online collections from the BAARB Digital Collections Team.
- Book Arts, Archives, and Rare BooksLocated within Boatwright Library, the Book Arts, Archives, and Rare Books division supports the educational mission of the University of Richmond by preserving and providing access to our diverse collection of materials for use by students, faculty, staff, scholars, and the general public and providing opportunities to research and explore through a variety of distinctive collections and experiences.
Help Menu
- Library Catalog This link opens in a new windowSearch our library catalog (aka OneSearch) for all types of sources. It combines results from many of our databases. (Ex Libris)
- OneSearch This link opens in a new windowUse this discovery tool to search most of the University Libraries' collections, including books, journal articles, newspapers, dissertations, music, and video recordings. (Ex Libris)