Biography – African American

 

African Studies:  African Diaspora Biography  

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/afroambiog.html

Considering biographies of famous and unsung heroes, these pages point users to excellent information about noted activists, philosophers,  scientists, and writers.

 

American Slave Narratives  

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/wpahome.html

During the 1930's, former slaves were interviewed and their autobiographies were recorded. Life during and after slavery is discussed.

 

Black Americans in Congress

http://baic.house.gov

Biographical profiles, links to information about current African-American members, essays, and images. From the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.

 

Breaking Racial Barriers:  African Americans in the Harmon Foundation Collection  

http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/harmon/index.htm

From the National Portrait Gallery, an exhibition of depictions of famous African American men and women; each includes a biography of the sitter.

 

Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History  

http://search.eb.com/Blackhistory/home.do

Illustrated with portraits and concluding with bibliographies, myriad biographies of people from many walks of life, as well as essays on movements, events, and issues.

 

Excerpts from Slave Narratives  

http://www.vgskole.net/prosjekt/slavrute/primary.htm

Recollections of capture, arrival in the New World, conditions, resistance, punishment, escape, family, religion, and emancipation.

 

Gale Group Black History  

http://www.gale.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/index.htm

"More than seventy men and women who've made a difference in the arts, entertainment, sports, world affairs, human rights and history."

 

HistoryMakers.com  

http://www.thehistorymakers.com

Contributors to art, business, civic affairs, education, entertainment, law, media, medicine, military, music, politics, religion, science, sports, and style.

 

Profiles of Great African Americans  

http://www.black-collegian.com/african/aaprofil.shtml

Twenty-three notable personages, from Benjamin Banneker to Whitney Young.

 

Prominent African Americans  

http://www.aawc.com/paa.html

This page is particularly helpful in locating biographies of politicians and entertainers.

 

Marian Anderson  

http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/anderson

The career of the renowned concert singer and civil rights pioneer.

 

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune  

http://tinyurl.com/yt8omf 

Biography and of the eminent educator.

 

W.E.B Du Bois  

http://www.library.umass.edu/spcoll/collections/dubois/biography.htm

This succinct biography comes from the University of Massachusetts Library, which houses a special Du Bois Collection.

 

Fannie Lou Hamer Oral History  

http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/spcol/crda/oh/hamer.htm

Born into a family of sharecroppers, Ms. Hamer was a brave civil rights activist in Mississippi and co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.  At the 1964 National Democratic Convention, she and her party challenged the white Mississippians representing the old Democratic Party.

 

Matthew Alexander Henson  

http://www.matthewhenson.com/matt2.htm

A wealth of material about the life of the legendary African American Arctic and North Pole explorer, Matthew Henson.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.:  Biographical Outline  

http://www.thekingcenter.org/DrMLKingJr/

An extensive article about the life, award, publications, and death of Dr. King, from The King Center, which Coretta Scott King established in 1968.  With excerpts from Martin Luther King's most famous speeches.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.:  NHS Speeches--Dr. King Speeches  

http://www.nps.gov/malu/forteachers/otherresources.htm

From "The Negro and the Constitution," 1944 through "I've Been to the Mountaintop," 1968, the full texts of each speech is provided.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project  

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu

Speeches, sermons, articles about his influence, biographical information, and a timeline about our nation's most celebrated African American leader.

 

Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration  

http://www.princeton.lib.nj.us/robeson/links.html

All about New Jersey's Renaissance man, a genius in athletics, drama, law, music, politics, and social studies.

 

Jackie Robinson  

http://www.evesmag.com/robinson.htm

A baseball hero, a political hero. This site tells the story of the evolution of a once strictly segregated sport. 

 

Still Going On  

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sgo/start.html

An exhibit dedicated to the music of composer William Grant Still, with biographical information and writing by Still.

 

Madam C.J. Walker  

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwalker.htm

The story of the life and work of the first African American millionaire.

 

Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Her Passion for Justice  

http://www.duke.edu/~ldbaker/classes/AAIH/caaih/ibwells/ibwbkgrd.html

Biography, portrait, and questions to consider about the anti-lynching crusader's impact on her times and ours.

 

Carter G. Woodson 

http://www.asalh.org/woodsonbiosketch.html

From the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, a biography of "the Father of Black History," who, in 1915, founded the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.

 

The Malcolm X Project at Columbia University

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp

A timeline of Malcolm X's life expands to provide additional information.

 

Go back to the African American Web guide main page.

 

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