Tuesday, August 7, 2007

"The Google of African American History"

BlackPast.org, according to Elizabeth Grant of the AHA Blog, "has so much quality information in one place, this site just might be justified in calling itself 'the ‘Google’ of African American history.'" The site is organized by Quintard Taylor, Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History, University of Washington.

According to BlackPast: This site is dedicated to providing reference materials to the general public on six centuries of African American history. It includes an online encyclopedia of hundreds of famous and lesser known figures in African America, full text primary documents and major speeches of black activists and leaders from the 18th Century to the present. There are also links to hundreds of websites that address the history of African Americans including major black museums and archival research centers in the United States and Canada.

From the AHA Blog feature: This site features an online encyclopedia containing 800 plus entries, transcripts of speeches from 1789 to 2004, collections of links and info on hundreds of other resources, and so much more. Peruse the Digital Archives and find links, separated by state, to sites like the Library of Congress exhibition "Voices of Civil Rights;" the Booker T. Washington papers from University of Illinois Press; and Indiana University’s Archives of African American Music & Culture. Visit the Timeline section of the site for breakdowns of African American history for each century. And check out the Perspectives on African American History for personal accounts and articles on events like the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the rise of hip hop in Eastern Europe, and a lynching in Obion County, Tennessee.

Also to be found are links to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and other important research sites. There is much to find through this valuable web portal.
Image credit: American Sketches: A Negro Congregation in Washington. Artist unknown. Wood Engraving, Illustrated London News, November 18, 1876. LC-USZ62-50584.