Research Guides: African American Studies: Research Databases

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Research Databases

Search across research, scholarship, and other pertinent topics in these suggested databases.

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movements This link opens in a new window
Covering primarily the 1950s and 1960s, this collection provides access to primary source documents that focus on how ordinary citizens in the smaller communities viewed, participated in and lived through this historical era. The collection includes letters, general correspondence, logs, demonstration plan outlines, transportation logs and plans, meetings, worship services, photographs, newsletters, news reels, interviews and musical recordings from Black, Latine, Native American and Asian American Pacific Islander communities.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Consists of scholarly journals, commissioned overview essays by top scholars in Black Studies, historic indexes, and one of the most influential black newspapers in the United States, The Chicago Defender newspaper, from 1910-1975. At the heart of Black Studies Center is Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, consisting of essays that provide an introduction to major topics in Black Studies.
Black Studies Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Includes content from international scholarly and popular periodicals in Black Studies and contains full-text coverage of core Black Studies titles. It covers a wide array of humanities-related disciplines including art, cultural criticism, economics, education, health, history, language and literature, law, philosophy, politics, religion, and sociology, from 1900 on.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Non-fiction works by African-American leaders and others who have dealt substantially with issues of race in America. Includes books, essays, articles, speeches, letters, interviews, and other materials, some of which have not previously been published.
The HistoryMakers This link opens in a new window
The HistoryMakers is a non-profit institution whose purpose is to record, preserve and disseminate the content of video oral history interviews highlighting the accomplishments of individual African Americans and African-American-led groups and movements. It provides a unique scholarly and educational resource for exploring African American history and culture. It is large and has a varied scope, with interviewees from across the United States, from a variety of fields, and with memories stretching from the 1890s to the present.
Left Index This link opens in a new window
The Left Index covers the literature of the left, with an emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship both inside and outside of academia.
This database only allows 5 simultaneous users.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Sociological Abstracts indexes social and behavioral sciences journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. It also covers topics such as culture and social structure; health, medicine and law; policy and planning; religion and science; and women's studies.

Multidisciplinary Databases

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A scholarly, multidisciplinary database that provides access to journal articles covering a range of topics, including archaeology, area studies, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, food science & technology, general science, geography, geology, law, mathematics, mechanical engineering, music, physics, psychology, religion & theology, women's studies, and other fields. It also indexes monographs, reports, and conference proceedings.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides access to scholarly journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. In addition to journal articles, users can access book chapters, ebooks, and primary source documents.
Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window
Periodicals archive online makes the backfiles of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences available electronically, providing access to the full text of digitized periodicals that have been indexed in its sister database, Periodicals Index Online. The database spans more than two centuries of content, 37 key subject areas, and multiple languages. It is international in scope, with the inclusion of more than 150 foreign-language titles.

Journals

A non-comprehensive selection of journals.

African American Review
A scholarly aggregation of insightful essays on African American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews.
American Quarterly
The official publication of the American Studies Association, American Quarterly publishes humanistic and cross-disciplinary scholarship, reviews, think pieces, and creative works focused on American culture.
Callaloo
A journal of literature, art, and culture of the African diaspora, Callaloo publishes original work by and about writers and visual artists of African descent worldwide. This journal offers a mixture of fiction, poetry, critical articles, interviews, drama, and visual art.
The Journal of African American History
An official publication of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, JAAH is a leading scholarly publication on African American life and history, and publishes original scholarly articles and book reviews on all aspects of the African American experience.
Journal of Negro Education
A scholarly journal founded at Howard University in 1932. Its aim was to fill the need for a scholarly journal that would identify and define the problems that characterized the education of Black people in the United States and elsewhere, provide a forum for analysis and solutions, and serve as a vehicle for sharing statistics and research on a national basis. 
MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S.
Published quarterly, MELUS illuminates the national, international, and transnational contexts of U.S. ethnic literature. Articles in MELUS also engage newly emerging art forms such as graphic narrative and internet blogs, as well as multi-ethnic film, history, and culture.
National Political Science Review
Openly accessible articles published between 1989-2019. Continued by the National Review of Black Politics, linked above.
National Review of Black Politics
A quarterly journal of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. NRBP publishes scholarship related to the experiences of African-Americans in the American political community, the African diaspora in the Western Hemisphere, and on questions of black politics and the politics of race-making globally.
Third Text
This journal is dedicated to the critical analysis of contemporary art in the global field. It has brought with that analysis a particular focus on both the impact of globalisation on cultural practices and the lessons of postcolonial theory.