Research Guides: African American History: Start Your Research Here

Recommended Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

The following encyclopedias and dictionaries are recommended for research relating to African American History. Books with a Call Number beginning with the letters "Ref" are shelved in alphanumeric order by call number in the Reference Collection on the second floor of the Nancy Thompson Library Learning Commons. Books with the designation "Electronic Resource" are e-books, which are accessible by clicking the hyperlinked title.

Recommended Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Black Women in America

Electronic Resource
Volumes 1-3

Cambridge Companion to Race and American Literature

Electronic Resource

Encyclopedia of Africa

Electronic Resource

Dictionary of African Biography

Electronic Resource
Volumes 1-6

Encyclopedia of African Religion

Electronic Resource
Volumes 1-2

Encyclopedia of African American Business History

Electronic Resource

Encyclopedia of African American Education

Electronic Resource

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895

Electronic Resource

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present

Electronic Resource

Encyclopedia of African American Society

Electronic Resource

Landmarks of African American History

Electronic Resource

Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music

Electronic Resource

Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia

Electronic Resource

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life

Electronic Resource, Volumes 1-5

Recommended Online Reference Databases

Working from off campus? If so, you will need to log in with your Kean email username and password.

African-American History (Infobase Learning) Provides reference book articles about people, organizations, and events in African American history; also features timelines, primary source materials, images, videos, and maps.
AM Explorer (Adam Matthew Digital) Provides access to millions of primary source documents in the social sciences and humanities from the 15th to 21st centuries. Subject coverage includes history, literature, language, culture, and politics. The collection features artistic works, diaries, manuscripts, letters, pamphlets, newspapers, videos, photographs, maps, and more.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: Challenges and Triumphs in the Pursuit of Equality (ProQuest) Contains 2000 primary source documents covering the U.S. Black freedom struggle from 1790 to 2000. The collection includes historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, and correspondence from six time periods in American history.
Gale eBooks (Gale Cengage Learning) A comprehensive collection of reference resources such as subject-focused encyclopedias and dictionaries, available in a single database.

Recommended Multimedia Databases

Working from off campus? If so, you will need to log in with your Kean email username and password.

Films on Demand (Infobase Learning) Films on Demand provides access to "video and multimedia for academic, vocational and life-skills content." Click "Collections" to access videos in various subject areas, such as Art & Architecture, Allied Health, Biology, Business & Economics, Criminal Justice & Law, Drama & Theatre, Education, English, Gender & Sexuality, Guidance & Counseling, Health & Medicine, History, Psychology, and more. The platform also offers Archival Films & Newsreels.
Kanopy (OverDrive, Inc.) Offers access to a broad selection of streaming videos for education and training, feature films, documentaries, foreign-language films, and more. This database also includes the Media Education Foundation Collection. Note: Kanopy is maintained to support classroom instruction, and each title is purchased individually. Films will be added to the collection by Faculty request only. Faculty can select titles to use in their courses by completing the form that displays when choosing a film not yet licensed. Thank you.
Naxos Music Library Offers streaming audio access to CDs, focusing on classical music but also including some jazz, folk, blues, world, pop, rock, gospel, and spoken word.
Naxos Music Library Jazz Offers streaming audio access to CDs by jazz legends and contemporary jazz artists.

Recommended Statistics Databases

The following databases provide access to statistics and other kinds of data.

Working from off campus? If so, you will need to log in with your Kean email username and password.

PolicyMap Features an online GIS mapping tool that allows users to create interactive maps and plot data by geographical location. Data indicators provided include demographics, education, income, housing, employment, health, crime, and much more.
Social Explorer Provides easy access to maps and reports of U.S. Census data from 1790 to the present; the Religious Congregations and Membership Study from 1980 to 2010; population, health and social care, and labor market data from the 2011 United Kingdom Census; U.S. crime data from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); U.S. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps; European demographic data from Eurostat; population data from the 2011 Canadian census; and demographic and socioeconomic data from World Development Indicators (World Bank).
Statista Presents data as infographics and features reports on over 80,000 topics, including media, business, healthcare, politics, society, technology, and education.

African American History

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Related Research Guides

Recommended Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Recommended Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Black Women in America

Cambridge Companion to Race and American Literature

Encyclopedia of Africa

Dictionary of African Biography

Encyclopedia of African Religion

Encyclopedia of African American Business History

Encyclopedia of African American Education

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895

Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present

Encyclopedia of African American Society

Landmarks of African American History

Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music

Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life

Recommended Online Reference Databases

Recommended Multimedia Databases

Recommended Statistics Databases

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