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
Highlights from the Records
Featured Blogs, Articles, and Videos
Other Videos
Emancipation Proclamation 150th Anniversary at the National Archives
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
Exhibits
Washington, DC
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
Google Cultural Institute (GCI)
Black College Life in the New Deal
Online Resources
Overview of our online resources
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
Findings on the MLK Assassination
The Modern Civil Rights Movement (National Archives at Chicago)
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
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
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
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
"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