African American Communities

Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina, this resource presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories, revealing the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity.

African American Communities pulls from special collections in each of the covered communities to provide rare material providing insight into community cooperation, struggles and understanding. Notable collections include Chicago Urban League Records, Oral history collections of Weeksville (Brooklyn) and Atlanta, and the Pullman Company Archives.