This month (and every month) you can dive deeper into Black History using these resources.

HistoryMakers is a collection of oral interviews with Black Americans from around the country. It features the stories of over 2,000 individuals! You can search through the collection by topic, the state they lived in, or browse the History Makers by name. This database is available through the Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED).

We love looking through the Library of Congress collection of photographs. There are some really incredible images there! There are also primary documents that you can explore. While items can be searched, they’re also often grouped in thematic categories. You can explore the African American History section here.

If you want to explore contemporary stories of Black Alaskans, Black in Alaska is a wonderful photo and interview project featuring individuals from around the state.

Also locally focused, the book Black Lives in Alaska by UAA Professor Dr. Ian Hartman explores the historical legacy of Black Alaskans which spans before statehood. This is the second of Dr. Hartman’s book. You can find it here at the Consortium Library or at your local public library branch.

A couple of other highlights in our collection include Black Art: A Cultural History, which explores the artistic achievements of the African diaspora throughout history and it has been updated to include the first two decades of the twenty-first century; and America on Fire: the untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s, which examines the history of policing and protest from the civil rights era to today.

These resources just scratch the surface! We hope you continue to explore Black history all year round and reach out to us if you need any help finding particular resources!