HIS 179/365/373/375/460: Antebellum African American History: Find Primary Sources

These databases are licensed by the library. Access by matriculated students and current faculty/staff is permitted with authentication (i.e., your PAWS username and password).

These pre-formatted subject searches reveal books, printed and electronic, held by the Gitenstein Library (i.e., not open access). Use them to find reproductions of letters, diaries, and other first-hand accounts that reflect the realities of life for African Americans before, during, and after the Civil War.

Important Note: Expand your results to include online journal articles and other e-resources by clicking on the "Books, Articles, and More" radio button located at the top of the Advanced Search screen. Re-execute your search. Results will now include journal articles that contain primary-source excerpts.

Abolitionists, slaves, and former slaves (writings of):

• Abolitionists AND (sources OR narratives OR correspondence OR diaries)
• Fugitive Slaves AND (sources OR narratives or correspondence OR diaries)
• Slave narratives, United States
• Slavery — United States — History — Sources
• Slavery — United States — Personal Narratives
• Slaves' writings, American

African Americans (all time periods):

• African Americans AND (archives OR caricatures OR correspondence OR diaries OR "early accounts" OR interviews OR letters OR manuscripts OR notebooks OR oratory OR pamphlets OR pictorial OR "personal narratives" OR sources OR speeches)
• African American Women AND (archives OR caricatures OR correspondence OR diaries OR "early accounts" OR interviews OR letters OR manuscripts OR notebooks OR oratory OR pamphlets OR pictorial OR "personal narratives" OR sources OR speeches)

Civil War and Reconstruction:

• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 AND (archives OR caricatures OR correspondence OR diaries OR interviews OR letters OR manuscripts OR notebooks OR oratory OR pamphlets OR pictorial OR "personal narratives" OR sources OR speeches)
• Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) AND (archives OR caricatures OR correspondence OR diaries OR interviews OR letters OR manuscripts OR notebooks OR oratory OR pamphlets OR pictorial OR "personal narratives" OR sources OR speeches)

The Confederacy:

• Confederate States of America AND (sources OR narratives OR correspondence OR diaries)
• Southern States AND (sources OR narratives OR correspondence OR diaries)

Historical figures:

• [SUBJECT=] [Historical Person or Category of Persons] — Correspondence
  • Diplomats -- Great Britain — Correspondence
  • Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -— Correspondence

Important book series:

• Civil War Centennial Series. c1957-1969
• Publications of the Southern Texts Society. c1993-2007
• Voices of the Civil War Series. c1996-2000

See the Primary Sources Online page of the History libguide > African Americans tab for even more primary sources in African American history.

Abolition / slavery:

Civil War / Reconstruction:

Domestic Life: