Black History Month is a time for both celebration and contemplation. The African American experience is one of real people and real lives, involved in every facet of the social tapestry.

This month, it is good to bring that history home – to study and understand, on a personal level, some part of that intricate tapestry. Perhaps you’re a nursing student, and the story of nurse Mary Eliza Mahoney will deepen your experience. Perhaps criminal justice is your calling, and police sergeant Samuel J. Battle’s life can enrich your own. Or perhaps you’re a business student, and the experiences of entrepreneur Madame C. J. Walker will lend you inspiration. You can connect to African American history in a way that resonates personally for you. The expansive African American biography section of Biography in Context, one of the library’s databases, is a great place to start.

And from there, we have lots of other tools. Black Thought and Culture is a database focused on primary sources – African Americans in their own unfiltered voices – which includes over 100,000 pages of interviews, essays, pamphlets, letters, and speeches, and journal articles from 1700 to the present. Or African American History Online, which offers a large range of multimedia including videos and pictures, biographies and reference sources, as well as copious primary source material like speeches and letters. It is searchable by keyword, topic, or time period.

And that only scratches the surface. We also offer thousands of great books, as well, from general sources like A Faithful Account of the Race by Stephan Hall, Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939 by Robert Harris, The Will of a People edited by Richard Leeman, History and Memory in African-American Culture by Genevieve Fabre, or From Du Bois to Obama : African American Intellectuals in the Public Forum by Charles Banner-Haley to ones that may intersect more with your personal interests. Try Through the Storm, Through the Night by Paul Harvey for religion. Or Sisters in Science: Conversations with Black Women Scientists about Race, Gender, and Their Passion for Science by Diann Jordan for science majors. For athletics, try Out of the Shadows: A Biographical History of African American Athletes by David Wiggins. Majoring in business? The Entrepreneurial Spirit of African American Inventors by Patricia Sluby or Encyclopedia of African American Business History by Juliet Walker may be right for you. Whatever your interest, there’s a wealth of information just waiting for you.

Need help finding the sources you want? Ask us at iueref@iue.edu!