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African American Studies

Main guide for resources and information on African American Studies (AAS)

Women’s History Roundtable & Researching with online Primary Sources: Black women writers of the late 19th early 20th Century in America

images of four texts from Black Women Writers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some thoughts on helpful online primary sources

March 21st, 2023 University Libraries held a faculty roundtable for Women’s History Month highlighting the Libraries’ recent acquisition of a signed and rare first edition copy of Anna Julia Cooper’s 1892 book, A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South, a series of essays on topics, such as race and gender are seen as one of the first articulations of Black feminism. Other authors discussed were Sojourner Truth, Harriet Jacobs, Phillis Wheatley, Hallie Quinn, and Mary Church Terrell. 

Ohio University Libraries has been growing its collection of online primary research tools to aid in further investigation, research, and general curiosity about the lives of these women and their times. This piece focuses on online primary resources that compliment the collection of materials in Archives & Special Collections. Access to and information about primary sources are available through the Libraries’ research guides, such as Women’s History, African American History, American and English Literature, social movements, most importantly Abolition and Suffrage.

Claiming an Education: Early Black American Humanists - Athens history

topographic map background, Claiming an Education: Early Black American Humanists

This exhibit explores the growth of the humanities in the community, from the perspective of the Black Americans who first studied and worked in and around Athens County.

Central figures in this exhibit include John Newton Templeton, who in 1828 became the university’s first Black American graduate, and Martha Jane Hunley Blackburn, who was the first Black American woman to graduate, having had to find her own housing in Athens during her stay.

“The exhibit also spotlights institutions such as the Albany Enterprise Academy, an academy founded in 1863 so Black students would have access to higher education. Finally, space is given to discussion of Black American literature penned by educators and storytellers from the region.

Recommended Online Encyclopedia