Research Guides: U.S. History: Primary Resources: Civil Rights

Primary Resources: Civil Rights

African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress, 1933-1947 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here for primary resources on the National Negro Congress to learn more aout its efforts to secure the right of the African American people to be free from discrimination and oppression.
Content type: Primary sources, correspondence, conference proceedings, meeting minutes, newspaper articles
Coverage dates: 1933-1947
This collection includes material related to the National Negro Congress, the Negro Industrial League (1933), the Joint Committee on National Recovery (1933-1935), and the Negro Labor Victory Committee (1942-1945).
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Black Economic Empowerment: The National Negro Business League This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore primary sources related to the National Negro Business League, including documents by its founder Booker T. Washington as well as other leaders and on various league activities.
Content type: Primary sources, newspaper articles, correspondence, annual reports, meeting minutes
Coverage dates: 1901-1928
This collection comprises the National Negro Business League files in Part III of the Booker T. Washington Papers in the possession of the Library of Congress.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Good source for primary souces on the Revolutionary Action Movement, as well as on other lesser-known Black nationalist movements.
Content type: Primary sources, newspaper articles, magazine articles, ephemera, correspondence, meeting minutes
Coverage dates: 1962-1999
From the collection of Maxwell Curtis Stanford, Jr., known since 1970 as Muhammad Ahmad, a civil rights activist and founder of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), a Black power organization active during the 1960s.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access FBI documentation regarding the Black Liberation Army (BLA) to learn more about this underground, Black nationalist-Marxist militant organization.
Content type: Primary sources, FBI reports, correspondence, pamphlets
Coverage dates: 1970-1983
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Bush Presidency and Development and Debate Over Civil Rights Policy and Legislation This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Great for discovering primary sources dealing with the development of civil rights policies during George H.W. Bush's vice-presidency and presidency.
Content type: Primary sources, government documents, presidential records
Coverage dates: 1981-1991
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activist, Political Activist, and Woman This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Discover primary sources that shine light on the life and work of the voting rights activist and civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer.
Content type: Primary sources, correspondence, financial records, programs, newspaper articles, images
Coverage dates: 1966-1978
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here to learn more about the federal scrutiny, harassment, and prosecution of African American individuals and organizations in the U.S. during the twentieth century.
Content type: Primary sources, government reports, correspondence, memos
Coverage dates: 1920-1984
The collection includes files on individual leaders, including Malcolm X, and on Black-led organizations, including the NAACP.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Good for discovering primary sources from the federal government and important national organizations documenting the civil rights movement throughout the 20th Century.
Content type: Primary sources, government documents, correspondence, manuscripts, archival collections
Coverage dates: 1890s-1990s
Included collections: Federal Government Records; Federal Government Records, Supplement; Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 1; Organizational Records and Personal Papers, Part 2
Language: English
Keywords: History Vault
FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore government documents and FBI reports related to the investigations of James Forman and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was active in voter registration for disenfranchised Black populations throughout the South.
Content type: Primary sources, government reports, correspondence
Coverage dates: 1961-1976
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access records of the Civil Rights Congress to learn more about the spirit and tactics of this early civil rights organization and its efforts to fight discrimination against labor leaders, African Americans, and other minorities.
Content type: Primary sources, correspondence, case files, transcripts, legal briefs
Coverage dates: 1946-1955
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Final Accountability Rosters of Japanese-American Relocation Centers, 1944-1946 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Main database for alphabetical lists of evacuees at Japanese-American relocation centers, including such demographic information as name, family number, sex, date of birth, citizenship status, alien registration number, method of original entry.
Content type: Government reports
Coverage dates: 1944-1946
Includes rosters from the following internment camps: Central Utah, Colorado River, Gila River, Granada, Heart Mountain, Jerome, Manzanar, Minidoka, Rohwer, Tule Lake.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here for materials from FDR's Official File to learn more about the early development of the Civil Right's Movement including texts on segregation, race riots, and employment discrimination.
Content type: Primary sources, government documents
Coverage dates: 1933-1945
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Grassroots Civil Rights & Social Activism: FBI Files on Benjamin J. Davis, Jr. This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore digitized documents assembled by Dr. Gerald Horne regarding Benjamin J. Davis, Jr.'s grassroots organizing and civil rights work, including meeting minutes and reports about politcal debates.
Content type: Primary sources, government documents
Coverage dates: 1941-1990
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Integration of Alabama Schools and the U.S. Military, 1963 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here for digitized records detailing U.S. Army plans to intervene in Alabama if school integration caused unrest.
Content type: Primary sources, government reports
Coverage dates: 1963
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
James Meredith, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Integration of the University of Mississippi This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access digitized FBI documentation of James Meredith's battle to enroll at The University of Mississppi in 1962, including his correspondence with the NAACP and letters he received from around the world during his ordeal.
Content type: Primary sources, government reports, correspondence
Coverage dates: 1961-1962
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Liberation Movement in Africa and African America This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore digitized FBI surveillance files on the activities of the African Liberation Support Committee and All African Peoples Revolutionary Party.
Content type: Primary sources, FBI surveillance and informant reports, correspondence, news clippings, pamphlets, speech excerpts
Coverage dates: 1970-1985
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore materials by and about Amiri Baraka, a prominent African American writer and activist, gathered together by Dr. Komozi Woodard in the course of his research.
Content type: Primary sources, poetry, organizational records, plays, speeches, correspondence, oral histories
Coverage dates: 1913-1998
The materials cover Baraka's involvement in the politics in Newark, N.J. and in Black Power movement organizations such as the Congress of African People, the National Black Conference movement, the Black Women's United Front, as well as Baraka's increasing involvement in Marxism.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore interviews of influential leaders and participants that provide first-hand accounts of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the early 1970s.
Content type: Primary sources, interview transcripts
Coverage dates: 1967-1973
Interviews conducted between 1967-1973 cover events going back to the 1950s.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Republic of New Afrika This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore primary sources from the FBI that document the intelligence activities, informants, and surveillance of the social movement Republic of New Afrika as it fought for independence and reparations.
Content type: Primary sources, government documents
Coverage dates: 1968-1980
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Discover primary sources from the papers of James E. and Esther Cooper Jackson that shed light on the founding and leadership of the Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party of the United States.
Content type: Primary sources, news clippings, correspondence, lectures, research notebooks, speeches, subject files, legal documents
Coverage dates: 1932-2000
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Greensboro Massacre, 1979 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Discover documents that shed light on the events surrounding the march of industrial workers and Communists, the "Death of the Klan" march, that turned deadly in North Carolina, including march organizers' motivations, investigations of the shootings, and community healing efforts.
Content type: Primary sources, government reports, correspondence, news clippings, wiretap transcripts, memoranda
Coverage dates: 1979-1981
Includes documents from the FBI, local and state police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union, 1965-1979 This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore labor history and the women's rights movement through the records of the United Domestic Workers Union, including minutes, legal documents, financial records, and extensive correspondence.
Content type: Primary sources, correspondence
Coverage dates: 1965-1979
The subject files illustrate the Union's involvement in the Black community, the Manpower Program, the Career Learning Center, the Homemaking Skills Training Program, Maids Honor Day, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), and various federal agencies.
Language: English
Keywords: Archives Unbound
NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here for information on the NAACP and its leadership, structure, annual conferences, major speeches, and campaigns.
Content type: Primary sources, speeches, correspondence, press releases, organizational records, government documents, newspaper articles
Coverage dates: 1900s
Language: English
Keywords: History Vault