African American Heritage

African American Research

The Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the African American experience, and highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media.

Resources for African American ResearchContact Us

Guide to Black History

Guide to Black History

Records relating to African Americans at the National Archives

Black Power Portal

Black Power Portal

Records relating to the Black Power Movement (1960s-1970s)

history hub

The History Hub

Need help researching records relating to African Americans? We're here to answer questions you have about how to find and manage African American records. Ask a question, answer an unanswered question, or share your tips on how you research.

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ALIC Black History Resources

The Archives Library Information Center (ALIC) has compiled a helpful list of resources from the National Archives, Smithsonian, other federal and non-federal agencies and institutions to aid in research relating to African Americans.

Highlights from the Records

tuskegee text Records relating to the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

Images from the March on Washington (1963)

Records relating to President Barack Obama

Information about the Freedmen's Bureau records

Featured Blogs, Articles, and Videos

Rediscovering Black History: Blogs Relating to Education

African American History Conference program Pieces of History: African American History at the National Archives

The Scottsboro Boys: Injustice in Alabama

Reagan signing Act for MLK Day Reagan Library Education Blog: Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Other Videos

Emancipation Proclamation 150th Anniversary at the National Archives

DC Emancipation Act

African American Life in Washington, DC, Before Emancipation Madame C.J. Walker in the National Archives

A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism

Revolutionary Movements Then and Now: Black Power and Black Lives Matter

The 14th Amendment’s Shield of National Protection

Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

Lincoln's Gamble: How the Emancipation Proclamation Changed the Course of the Civil War

Facing Slavery’s Legacy at Georgetown University

Protecting America's Treasures: Black History in the Vault

Historical videos

Civil Rights - 1965: Where Has the Year Gone?

Martin Luther King Clip Reel

Martin Luther King Press Conference

Exhibits

Washington, DC

“Records of Rights”

"Amending America"

Presidential Libraries

Presidential Timeline Online Exhibit: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Presidential Timeline: Desegregation of the Armed Forces

Kennedy Library: The Struggle for Civil Rights

Truman Library: Truman and Civil Rights

Traveling

Amending America: The Bill of Rights

Documented Rights

Google Cultural Institute (GCI)

Black College Life in the New Deal

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Searching for the Seventies

Desegregation at Little Rock Central High School

Amending America: Civil Rights and Individual Freedom

Online Exhibits

Fugitive Slave Case: Stephen Pembrook

The American Image: Portrait of Black Chicago - DOCUMERICA photographs by John White

Online Resources

Overview of our online resources

Research Our Records

Guide to Black History

Freedmen's Bureau Records

African American Research: Highlights from Our Collection

African Americans - Reference Reports

Black Family Research: Records of Post-Civil War Federal Agencies at the National Archives

Black Power Subject Portal

Findings on the MLK Assassination

The Modern Civil Rights Movement (National Archives at Chicago)

Checklist of Records Available for Research on African-American History at the National Archives at Atlanta

Researching Slavery and Freedom in the National Archives at Philadelphia

NARA Flickr: Civil Rights March on Washington, DC, August 28, 1963

African Americans and the Military

Military Resources: Blacks in the Military

Records of Military Agencies Relating to African Americans from the Post-World War I Period to the Korean War

Pictures of African Americans During World War II

From the Center for Legislative Archives

Benjamin Franklin's Petition to Congress asking for the Abolition of Slavery

Petition for Universal Suffrage

Claim of Harriet Tubman

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Congress and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Congress and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Presidential Libraries

William J. Clinton Library

Remarks by Vice President Al Gore on Martin Luther King Day, 1/17/00

George W. Bush Library

George W. Bush Library - African American History Archive

President Discusses Black History Month in Radio Address

George H.W. Bush Library

Civil Rights (Bush Presidential)

Civil Rights (Bush Vice Presidential)

Civil Rights (Rev. Thaddeus Garrett Files)

George H.W. Bush Library - Justice Clarence Thomas Nomination.

Ronald Reagan Library

Reagan Library - Proclamation 5431: Establishing Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 1/18/86

President Reagan's remarks at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Signing, 11/2/83

President Reagan's Remarks at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School on 1/15/86

President Reagan's Radio Address to the Nation on Martin Luther King, Jr., on 1/18/86

President Reagan's Address on Martin Luther King's Birthday from the Oval Office, 1/15/87

Ronald Reagan Library Topic Guide: Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

Lyndon B. Johnson Library

A Conversation between LBJ and Martin Luther King, Jr., 11/25/63

Documents Relating to the movie Selma

John F. Kennedy Library

Robert F. Kennedy’s Statement (with audio) on Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Correspondence between Martin Luther King, Jr., and the White House

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Eisenhower Library images on Civil Rights

Marian Anderson sings the National Anthem at the 1957 Inauguration

Eisenhower’s Civil Rights Legacy program, 9/24/2011

Civil Rights Act of 1957

Brown v. Board of Education

Citizens' Letters on the Little Rock Crisis

Civil Rights and the Little Rock Integration Crisis

Civil Rights and the Eisenhower Administration

Civil Rights and the Emmett Till Case

Harry S. Truman Library

The President’s Committee on Civil Rights

Harry S. Truman and Civil Rights

Harry S. Truman Desegregation of the Armed Forces

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Tuskegee Airmen

Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson

Herbert Hoover Library

“Echoes of the Voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. Live with and Speak to Us” 2013

“Civil Rights Under Three Hats: The Photography of Matt Heron” 2014

“A Soldier’s Story” 2013

“Harriet Tubman” 2013

"Ike's Final Battle: The Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality by Kasey S. Pipes" 2008

“African-America: One Collector’s Experience” 2004

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