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Black HistoryGail Borden librarians listed their suggestions on Black History now it's your turn; click on Edit Page to add your picks.
FictionHarriet Beecher Stowe, 1964. Originally published in 1851 as a serial in The National Era, an abolitionist weekly published in Washington, D.C. and then a year later published as a novel. The story follows the lives of two slaves: Eliza, who escapes slavery with her son, and Tom, who must endure humiliation and abuse inflicted by his owners.
A Taste of Colored Water Matt Faulkner, 2008 LuLu and Jelly are very excited to see the "colored" water they heard about in the city's water fountain, but are very surprised to learn what "colored" water actually means.
NonfictionBeyond the River: the Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad Ann Hagedorn, 2002. From the highest hill in the town of Ripley, Ohio, you can see five bends in the Ohio River and the view that the abolitionist John Rankin saw from his house, where for nearly forty years he placed a lantern each night to guide fugitive slaves to freedom. Beyond the River, tells the remarkable story of the men and women who risked their lives to guide thousands of runaways safely across the river into the free state of Ohio. A vivid narrative about memorable people, Beyond the River is an inspiring story of courage and heroism that transports us to another era and deepens our understanding of the great social movement known as the Underground Railroad.
Inhuman Bondage : the Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World David Brion Davis, 2006. Inhuman Bondage offers a compelling narrative that links together the profits of slavery, the pain of the enslaved, and the legacy of racism. It is the portrait of the dark side of the American dream, but also offers an inspiring example of abolitionists fighting to defeat one of human history's greatest evils.
I've Got a Home in Glory Land : a lost tale of the Underground Railroad Karolyn Smardz Frost, 2007. In 1985, archaeologists in downtown Toronto made a remarkable find. Beneath the old Sackville Street School playground were traces of a house, a shed, and a mysterious cellar. Municipal records revealed that the original landowner had been “Thornton Blackburn, cabman, colored.” He and his wife were fugitive slaves from Kentucky who had settled in Toronto in 1834 and had gone on to become wealthy and successful businesspeople. The Thornton and Lucie Blackburn Site became the first archaeological dig on an Underground Railroad site in Canada.
Landmarks of African American History James Horton, 2005. Through essays on 13 historical sites chosen from the National Register of Historic Places, Horton explores the struggles and achievements of African Americans throughout the nation's history. Beginning with the arrival of the first bound Africans at Jamestown and ending with the student sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina to end legal segregation, the text explores African American contributions to worship, art, business, education, and politics. The volume is illustrated throughout with photographs, maps, and diagrams, and features a chronological timeline of significant events.
Frederick Douglass, 2003. This is the second autobiography written by the ex slave, expanding the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, ten years after his legal emancipation in 1846. It goes into greater detail his transtion from bondage to liberty. Frederick had a gift of language that transcends through the ages as we look back into his life and feel his pain as he suffered abuse from his captors and also his redemption as he tells his story.
Passages to Freedom : The Underground Railroad in History and Memory David W. Blight, 2004. This collection of essays, photographs, and illustrations documents the enterprise known as The Underground Railroad. Writers examine the origin of the term Underground Railroad, the double meaning of spirituals and other signals used in the secret society, and the operations of at least 150 antislavery societies existing at the peak of abolitionist activity.
Soldiers of Freedom : An Illustrated History of African Americans in the Armed Forces Kai Wright, 2002. Using a wealth of photographs and illustrations, Wright offers a compelling look at the contributions African Americans have made to the military from the American Revolution to the current day.
Roots: The Saga of an American Family Alex Haley,1976 A drama of eighteenth-century slave Kunta Kinte and his descendants.
Genealogy
Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree Tony Burroughs, 2001.
African American Genealogy: An Online Interactive Guide for Beginners An online guide for genealogy beginers.
Ancestry.com's genealogy guide for intermediate and advanced research.
Reference
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History : the Black Experience in the Americas, 2006.
Black pioneers of Kane county, and Elgin, Illinois 1855 to 1880 : a Genealogy and History Raleigh L. Sutton, 2005.
Music
An online music listening service that documents the history of African American music. Jazz, blues, ragtime, gospel, folk songs, and narratives are all included. [Requires a Gail Borden Library Card]
Get on Board: Underground Railroad and Civil Rights Freedom Songs, Appleseed Recordings, 2007.
The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music, Buddha Records, 2001.
Websites/ Databases
African American Genealogy: An Online Interactive Guide for Beginners An online guide for genealogy beginers.
An online music listening service that documents the history of African American music. Jazz, blues, ragtime, gospel, folk songs, and narratives are all included. [Requires a Gail Borden Library Card]
Ancestry.com's genealogy guide for intermediate and advanced research.
A celebration of the contributions of African Americans throughout U.S.History, including materials on history, heritage, and arts and culture.
Our Shared History: African American Heritage National Park Service A collection of webpages within the NPS website that are devoted to African American history and heritage.
National Geographic This interactive website allows ”travelers” to follow a slave’s journey to freedom.
Books for Children
Early Learning Picture Books
Virginia L. Kroll, 1992. At lunchtime Daddy and Jesse play their favorite game: a question and answer game about people who live in Africa and the ways in which they are connected to Jesse. Ages 4-7
Barbara E. Barber, 1996. Determined in her effort to play basketball, a young Afro-American girl gives it one more shot with the support of a special friend. Ages 5-9
Mary Hoffman, 1991. Although a classmate says that she cannot play Peter Pan in the school play because she is black, Grace discovers that she can do anything she sets her mind to do. Ages 5-9
Patricia Hubbell, 2003. An African American girl contemplates the many wonderful black things around her, from the inside of a pocket, where surprises hide, to the cozy night where there is no light. Ages 3-8
Phil Mendez, 1989. Through the powers of a magical kente, a black snowman comes to life and helps young Jacob discover the beauty of his black heritage as well as his own self-worth. Ages 5-9
Champions On The Bench: The Cannon Street YMCA All Stars Carole Boston Weatherford, 2007. Story based on the discrimination faced by the 1955 Cannon Street YMCA Little League All-Stars when the white teams refused to play them in the series tournament. Ages 5-9
Patricia C. McKissack, 2001. In seg-regated 1950s Nashville, a young African American girl braves a series of indignities and obstacles to get to one of the few integrated places in town: the public library. Ages 5-9
Marie Bradby, 2000. Momma describes the special people and surroundings of her childhood, in a place where the edge of town met the countryside, in a time when all the children at school were brown. Ages 4-9
Angela Shelf Medearis, 1994. Parent and child discuss their African-American heritage and the contributions made to civilization by their people. Ages 5-9
Beginning Readers
Dana Meachen Rau, 2002. As the seasons change, an African-American family shares both fun and chores in their yard. 24 p. Ages 4-9
Mr. Sun and Mr. Sea: an African Legend Andrea Butler, 1994. Long, long ago, Mr. Sun lived by Mr. Sea. Mr. Sun went to visit Mr. Sea every day. But Mr. Sea never, ever went to visit Mr. Sun. Ages 4-7.
Juwanda G. Ford, 2004. A boy describes his fun visit to the barbershop, including who he sees there, how they interact, and how the conversation is "different from talking anywhere else." Ages 6-8.
Barbara Brenner, 1978. Shortly after the Civil War a black family travels to Kansas to get free land through the Homestead Act. Ages 6-9.
Youth Nonfiction
Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: the Story of New York's African Burial Ground Joyce Hansen and Gary McGowan, 2004. Describes the discovery and study of the African burial site found in Manhattan in 1991, while excavating for a new building, and what it reveals about the lives of black people in Colonial times. Ages 9-13.
Cause: Reconstruction America, 1863-1877 Tonya Bolden, 2005. A history of the post-Civil War reconstruction of the South, focusing on the treatment of black Americans. Ages 8-12.
Margot Theis Raven, 2005. A recollection of the summer of 1955, when the first all-black Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars team is formed, and they travel to Pennsylvania as guests to the Little League World Series. Ages 6-12.
Sink or Swim: African-American Lifesavers of the Outer Banks Carole Boston Weatherford, 1995. Tells the story of the U.S. Lifesaving Service, which was the precursor of the Coast Guard, and its only all black crew, operating off Pea Island on the North Carolina coast, led by Richard Etheridge. Ages 12-17.
Undying Glory: the Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment Clinton Cox, 1999. Describes the formation of the all-black 54th Massachusetts Regiment and its valiant battle history from 1863 to 1865. Ages 9-11.
Youth Fiction
Mary Pope Osborne and Will Osborne, 2003. Virginia records the events of her life as her family moves to New York City in the aftermath of the Civil War, and she begins to dream of the life in the theater. Ages 7-10.
Harriette Gillem Robinet, 1991. A young black girl named Hallelujah lives through the great Chicago fire with courage and resourcefulness. Ages 7-12.
Alfred Slote, 1991. Eleven-year-old Jason, believing the school custodian Mack Henry to be Buck McHenry, a famous pitcher from the old Negro League, tries to enlist him as a coach for his Little League team by revealing his identity to the world. Ages 9-12.
From Slave to Soldier: Based on a True Civil War Story Deborah Hopkinson, 2005. A boy who hates being a slave joins the Union Army to fight for freedom, and proves to be brave and capable of handling a mule team when the need arises. Ages 6-8.
Alice McGill, 1999 Benjamin Bannaker's grandmother immigrated from England to Maryland in the late 17th Century. She worked as an indentured servant, bought her own farm and married a freed slave, breaking Colonial law. The book is a fictionalized picture book, for older children, with beautiful large watercolor pictures. It ends with Molly teaching her grandson Benjamin to read. Ages 6-10
Elisa Carbone, 2001. In 1895, after his mother's death, twelve-year-old Nathan moves with his father and grandfather to Pea Island off the coast of North Carolina, where he hopes to join the all-black crew at the nearby lifesaving station, despite his father's objections. Ages 10-14.
Ellen Levine, 2007 A fictionalized account of how in 1849 a Virginia slave, Henry "Box" Brown, escapes to freedom by shipping himself in a wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia. Ages 6-10.
“Funding for this grant was awarded by the Illinois State Library (ISL), a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), under the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).”
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Comments (1)
Miriam Lytle said
at 11:34 am on Feb 2, 2008
Dear Virtual Librarian,
I'm amazed at how many great online resources exist. Thanks for putting this together!
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