Electronic Library Resources
For researchers the following electronic resources that the British Library subscribes to may be useful. Please note that while the Library remains closed to readers during the Covid19 lockdown, reference services staff are assisting with requests for electronic research materials that are not available to readers remotely:
African American Newspapers: 1827-1998 parts 1 & 2 (available to registered British Library readers from home). This invaluable resource brings full access to hundreds of local, regional, and national African American newspapers.
US Congressional Serial Set (available to registered British Library readers from home). Reports, documents and journals of the US Senate and House of Representatives in full text, 1817-1994. Includes congressional reports on the 1968 riots, as well as broader records of discussions about the Civil Rights Movement.
The Black Freedom Struggle in the Twentieth Century: Organisational Records and Personal Papers, parts one and two (reading room access only). Includes the organisational papers of the Southern Christian Leadership Congress, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, and the Revolutionary Action Movement. They also include the personal papers of Bayard Rustin, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Robert F. Williams.
Race Relations in America, 1943 - 1970 (reading room access only). The Race Relations Department, based at Fisk University, was a highly influential think tank offering a forum for discussion and research on racial topics. The work of the Department highlighted topics such as poverty and inequality, class, housing, employment, education and government policy. Its programme attracted many well-known figures in the Civil Rights Movement, including Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, Charles Houston, and Marguerite Cartwright.
Further materials can be found online at the following links:
The Civil Rights Digital Library
Digital SNCC Gateway https://snccdigital.org/
Educational Resources
For any parents who are struggling to find a way to talk with their children about race and racism, the following online resources may be useful.
Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust resources page
Black Cultural Archives
Black Lives Matter toolkits
National Museum of African American History "Talking about Race"
New York Times article "First Encounters with Race and Racism: Teaching Ideas for Classroom Conversations"
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Education and Research Institute online resources
US National Archives: Civil Rights in America
Civil Rights Teaching: https://www.civilrightsteaching.org/
Finally, this conversation on twitter has a long lists of children’s books about race and racism: https://twitter.com/antisocialbritt/status/1267617830872154113
References
Eric Foner, “The Contested History of American Freedom”, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol.137, No. 1 (January 2013), pp.13-31.
Joan Turner Beifuss, At the River I Stand: Memphis, the 1968 strike, and Martin Luther King. Memphis: B&W Books, 1985. Document Supply 86/09202
At the River I Stand (film). 1994. Dirs. David Appleby, Allison Graham, Steven Ross. http://newsreel.org/video/AT-THE-RIVER-I-STAND