Slavery & Freedom: Finding Books & Articles & Primary Sources at GW

Oxford Bibliographies in African American Studies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides that combine the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia.

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press with the sponsorship of the American Studies Association (ASA), the Encyclopedia of American Studies covers the history, philosophy, arts, and cultures of the United States in relation to the world, from pre-colonial days to the present, from various perspectives both American and within the global American Studies movement.

Offers substantive, peer-reviewed articles; regularly updated.

This academic multi-disciplinary database provides than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition, it offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1887.

America: History & Life with Full Text offers extensive coverage of scholarly articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Includes selective indexing for 1,700 journals from 1955 to present, as well as full-text coverage of more than 200 journals and nearly 100 books.

A multi-faceted resource that includes:* The Chiciago Defender, 1909-1975, an influential historical African American newspaper* International Index to Black Periodicals, coverage from 1902 onward* Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience-- Topical overviews by leading scholars* Dissertations-- Full-text dissertations

Google Scholar indexes scholarly publications in a variety of fields. To get links from Google Scholar to GW Libraries full text, even when off campus, go to Google Scholar > Settings > Library Links and add us.

Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. The database indexes more than 1,800 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955.

Includes back issues of core scholarly journals in subjects including African-American studies, Asian studies, cultural studies, history, literature, philosophy, and sociology.

Covers journal articles, books and dissertations. Produced by the Modern Language Association. Coverage is international and subjects include literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing. Coverage of rhetoric and composition and the history, theory and practice of teaching language and literature. Simultaneous users: 7

Articles and reviews from peer-reviewed, scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences.

This database provides full-text access to articles from a number of historic African American newspapers, beginning in 1827 with Freedom's Journal. The collection contains a wealth of information about cultural life and history during the 1800s and offers first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day.

This collection features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports and other genres.

Page-images from more than 1,100 historic American magazines, journals, and newspapers illuminating the development of American culture, politics, and society across 150 years. Articles can be searched by author, source, or words in the complete text.

The largest and broadest online collection of genealogical records. Each record collection includes detailed information about the source, and many collections include images of primary source documents and/or transcriptions, in addition to unique name indexes. New content and updates are added weekly.

Covering 1830-1865, Black Abolitionist Papers presents the international impact of African American activism against slavery, in the writings of the activists themselves.

The link takes you to the History Vault main page; select "Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle." This database provides access to primary sources that document both well-known and unheralded events in the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of the people who waged it; including federal government and organizational records, and the archives of the NAACP. 

Searchable page images from Harper's Weekly magazine for 1857-1877, the Civil War era through Reconstruction.

This publication was the official weekly newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society, an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. The newspaper contained essays, debates, speeches, events, reports and anything else deemed newsworthy in relation to the question of slavery in the United States and other parts of the world. Covers years 1840-1870.

Slavery and the Law features petitions on race, slavery, and free blacks that were submitted to state legislatures and county courthouses between 1775 and 1867. These petitions were from hundreds of courthouses and historical societies in 10 states and the District of Columbia. This database also includes the State Slavery Statutes collection, a comprehensive record of the laws governing American slavery from 1789-1865.

Primary sources and histories of slavery, with an emphasis on legal aspects. Includes all known legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world.

Online archival access to The Washington Post. Includes page images from every issuecover to coverin downloadable PDF files. Fully searchable.

A collection of full-text primary materials documenting various movements and events in the history of women's social reform activities. Sources include documents, images, and books, and are organized around topical document projects.