Introduction
The IHR Wohl Library collection centres around published primary sources and guides, supported by reference and some secondary works. Collection policy has traditionally focused on Western Europe and its colonial history and complemented the collections held by SOAS, the Institute for Commonwealth Studies and Senate House Library. Our African material mainly covers colonial history, but sources for black histories resulting from the African diasporas can also be found across the national and chronological sections of the library. We welcome suggestions for acquisition and information about our existing holdings, and recognise that our holdings to date are to a great extent the result of colonial structures of power and the colonial gaze.
Finding material
When researching the early modern and late medieval periods, the nature of the subject makes it difficult to find material in the sources; as the historian Miranda Kaufmann notes in Black Tudors, "many are recorded by no more than a one-line entry in a parish record or a tax return." Sources may not even identify someone as black. For example, 'James, a servant from Jamaica' may well be of interest. Detective work and creative thinking are often needed. In modern and Twentieth Century history, a lack of collecting, archiving and preservation can be a concern for some areas of research, but organisations such as the Black Cultural Archives and the Institute of Race Relations have considerable, expertly-curated holdings. The National Archives also has a collections guide that highlights documents related to Black British history in their holdings.
We collect more secondary works in this area than in some others, since their bibliographies and references are useful for identifying sources. Catalogue subject headings will also be useful for works that are primarily about this subject. Where black history is just one aspect among many themes in a source, searching the catalogue for 'black history' and related terms is unlikely to identify it; readers may also find some catalogue headings misleading or outdated.
Some thought about terminology is required when searching databases. Outdated and derogatory terms will need to be used as well as those in current usage. It is easy to miss things by not using right term. Some online resources such as the The Times Online and the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary have tools for looking at changing usage and frequency over time.
Highlights from the Collections: Primary Sources
Personal Narratives
The collections include letters and diaries, memoirs and autobiographies of a cross-section of society. Here is a selection limited to black authors:
Diaries, Memoirs and Interviews
- Charlotte L Forten, A free negro in the slave era : the journal of Charlotte L. Forten
- Eddie Mabo, A Mabo memoir : Islan Kustom to native title
- Paul Stephenson, Memoirs of a black Englishman
- Gakaara wa Wanjaũ, Mau mau author in detention
- Living with Jim Crow: African American women and memories of the segregated South
- Mass observation online
Letters
- W. E. B. Du Bois, The correspondence of W. E. B. Du Bois
- Olaudah Equiano, Editions of the Letters and Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano/ Gustavus Vassa
- Ignatius Sancho, Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African
- Fannie Barrier Williams. The new woman of color : the collected writings of Fannie Barrier Williams, 1893-1918
- A grand army of black men : Letters from African-American soldiers in the Union Army, 1861-65
Autobiographies
- Rokhaya Diallo, Ne reste pas à ta place! : comment s'accomplir en ne faisant rien de ce qui était prévu
- John Hope Franklin, Mirror to America : the autobiography of John Hope Franklin
- Stuart Hall, Familiar stranger : a life between two islands
- Mae Jemison, Find where the wind goes : moments from my life
- Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the scenes: or thirty years a slave and four years in the White House
- Mary Prince, The history of Mary Prince, a West Indian slave
- Mary Seacole, Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands
- Malcolm X. The autobiography of Malcolm X
Travel Writing
The collections contain a range of travel accounts:
- An African American in South Africa : the travel notes of Ralph J. Bunche
- The East and West Indian mirror : being an account of Joris van Speilbergen's voyage round the world (1614-1617)
- Une histoire inconnue de l'Afrique centrale: 1895-1899
- Travellers in Africa: British travelogues, 1850-1900
- After Africa : extracts from British travel accounts and journals of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries concerning the slaves, their manners, and customs in the British West Indies
- Narrative of two voyages to the river Sierra Leone, during the years 1791-1792-1793
- The work of Ibn Wād̩ih̩ al-Yaqūbī
- Hakluyt Society series
See also collection guide to Travel writing collections.
Government and Official Sources
UK history
See collection guide on UK Parliamentary History, for help locating the petitions, debates, reports and legislation covering your area of research. Examples of subjects covered include Race riots, Slavery and the Slave Trade, British Nationality Act, Institutional Racism.
Other items:
- Hidden stories of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry : personal reflections
- The Oxford handbook of legal history
- Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913
- UK Parliamentary Papers
US history
There are extensive collections of US Government materials, some of which are listed in the guide to United States Collections, as well as specialist material on Civil Rights and #BlackLivesMatter:
Newspapers
Online, fully searchable newspaper collections:
Nineteenth century periodicals:
Other Sources
- Fontes Historiae Africanae (separately shelved according to subject).
- Caribbeana : being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies.
- Cada um é da cor do seu coração : negros, ameríndios e a questão da escravatura em Vieir
- Caribbeana : containing letters and dissertations, together with poetical essays on various subjects and occasions
- The new cross massacre story
- Black Texas women : a sourcebook : documents, biographies, timeline
- Reflections of African-American peace leaders : a documentary history, 1898-1967
Maps
Some subject specific examples:
- The African-American atlas : black history and culture- an illustrated reference
- Atlas of African-American history
- The atlas of African-American history and politics : from the slave trade to modern times
- The historical and cultural atlas of African Americans
- An Atlas of African History
- Atlas of American migration
- An Atlas of international migration
- Atlas of human migration
- Historical Atlas of the United States
- Atlas de afrodescendientes en América Latina
See Cartographic collections guide for more general information.
Photographic History
Some examples of compilations of photographs:
Selected Themes
US Civil Rights Movement
This is a selection of works covering this subject; more can be found by browsing the shelves and using keyword and subject searches on the catalogue.
- James Baldwin, I am not your negro
- James Farmer, Lay bare the heart : an autobiography of the civil rights movement
- Virginia Foster Durr, Freedom writer : Virginia Foster Durr, letters from the civil rights years
- Marcus Garvey, The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association papers
- Martin Luther King, A testament of hope : the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Edward Koiki Mabo, Edward Koiki Mabo : his life and struggle for land rights
- Clarence Mitchell, Jr., The papers of Clarence Mitchell, Jr.
- Jack O'Dell, Climbin' Jacob's ladder : the Black freedom movement writings of Jack O'Dell
- Bayard Rustin, Time on two crosses : the collected writings of Bayard Rustin
- Paul Stephenson, Memoirs of a black Englishman
- Ida B. Wells, The light of truth : writings of an anti-lynching crusader
Compilations:
- The Black Panthers speak
- Encyclopedia of African-American civil rights
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s : a brief history with documents
- Reporting civil rights
- Voices of civil rights lawyers : reflections from the deep South, 1964-1980
- Voices of freedom : an oral history of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s
See also coverage in more general resources, for example:
- The Times
- Government and official sources section.
Racism, Racial Identities and Race Relations
- Arday, Jason and Mirza, Heidi Safia, Dismantling race in higher education : racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy
- Buchanan, Paul D., Race Relations in the United States: a twentieth century chronology
- Dedieu, Jean-Philippe, La parole immigrée : les migrants africains dans l'espace public en France (1960-1995)
- Eddo-Lodge, Reni, Why I'm no longer talking to white people about race
- Gilroy, Paul, There ain't no black in the Union Jack : the cultural politics of race and nation
- Hirsch, Afua, Brit(ish) : on race, identity and belonging
- Smith, Cassander L., Black Africans in the British imagination : English narratives of the early Atlantic world
- Waters, Rob, Thinking black : Britain, 1964-1985
See also Government and official sources section.
Slavery
See History of Slavery collection guide.
Particular examples within the collections:
- The Black abolitionist papers
- Distant freedom : St Helena and the abolition of the slave trade, 1840-1872
- Slavery in the courtroom : an annotated bibliography of American cases
Other resources:
Military History and Civilian Experiences
- A grand army of black men : Letters from African-American soldiers in the Union Army, 1861-65
- Mass observation online
- Race, empire and First World War writing
- Serving our country: indigenous Australians, war, defence and citizenship
- War Diary: La conquista dell'Etiopia del 1935-36 diario di guerra del soldato Umberto Guidarelli
- Roi Ottley's World War II : the lost diary of an African American journalist
- Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands
- See also Debates and legislation under Government and Official sources.
Highlights from the Collections: Secondary Works
US & UK Bibliographies and Guides to Sources
The collections include both subject-specific guides and more general material which will include relevant content. Examples include:
- Adam, Anthony J. and Gaither, Gerald H., Black populism in the United States : an annotated bibliography
- Aptheker, Herbert, Annotated bibliography of the published writings of W. E. B. Du Bois
- Becerril García, Montserrat and Brenot, Anne-Marie, Diccionario negro de Cuba : palabras y testimonios del siglo XIX
- Bennett, Carolyn LaDelle, An annotated bibliography of Mary McLeod Bethune's Chicago defender columns, 1948-1955
- Gilbert, Victor Francis, Immigrants, minorities, and race relations : a bibliography of theses and dissertations presented at British and Irish universities, 1900-1981
- Habib, I., Black Lives in the English Archives, 1500-1677: Imprints of the Invisible
- Hardaway, Roger D., A narrative bibliography of the African-American frontier : Blacks in the Rocky Mountain West, 1535-1912
- Janeway, W. Ralph, Bibliography of immigration in the United States, 1900 – 1930
- Lalwan, Rory, Sources for Black & Asian history at the City of Westminster Archives Centre
- Plunkett, Michael, Afro-American sources in Virginia : a guide to manuscripts
- Schor, Joel, A list of references for the history of Black Americans in agriculture, 1619-1980
- Bibliography of British and Irish History
See also 'Other collections' below.
Historiography
Biographies and Biographical Listings
Biographical listings
We have a strong collection of biographical listings at both national level and covering specific subjects (for example lists by profession, political figures, university alumni lists). Selected examples are included below. There is a relevant section in each of the national collections.
- African American women : a biographical dictionary
- The African American national biography
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- American national biography
Biography
Other Secondary Works
Here is a selection of subject-specific secondary works in our collection:
- Buchanan, P., Race relations in the United States : a twentieth century chronology
- Chater, K., Untold Histories: Black people in England and Wales During the Period of the Slave Trade, c.1660-1807
- Dabydeen, D., Gilmore J., and C. Jones, eds., The Oxford Companion to Black British History
- Fryer, P., Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain
- Gerzina, G., Black England: Life Before Emancipation
- Hill, Karlos K., Beyond the rope : the impact of lynching on black culture and memory
- Hondius, D., Blackness in Western Europe : racial patterns of paternalism and exclusion
- Kaufmann, M., Black Tudors: The Untold Story
- Jones, Pip and Youseph, Rita, The black population of Bristol in the 18th century
- Konadu, K and Campbell, Clifford C., The Ghana reader : history, culture, politics
- Olusoga, D., Black and British: A Forgotten History
- Onyeka, Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, Their Presence, Status and Origins
- Schmidt-Nowara, Christopher and Nieto-Phillips, John M. N., Interpreting Spanish colonialism: empires, nations, and legends
- Ward, Brian, Martin Luther King in Newcastle upon Tyne : the African American freedom struggle and race relations in the North East of England
Periodicals
Current copies of most of our periodicals are on open access in the periodicals room on the ground floor. Back issues can be ordered from the store. Many are also available online within the building via the links on the catalogue entry. Bibliography of British and Irish History and Jstor are examples of the online databases that can be used to locate journal articles.
The subject will be found across many periodicals, but subject specific titles include Journal of Black Studies, Palimpsest: a journal on women, gender and the black international and Africa today. There are also some specialist issues such as History Today, vol. 31, issue 9, 1981. Jstor also includes some historic titles such as Phylon.
Online Resources
The subject is covered in both general and specific resources, examples are included in the relevant sections above, and we have listed some examples here:
- America: History and life
- Bibliography of British and Irish History
- British Cartoon Archive
- British History Online
- Dutch Caribbean Digital Platform
- England's Immigrants 1330-1550
- Making of the Modern World: Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature 1450-1850
- MarineLives
- Slave Voyages
- The Times
Holders of a British Library reader pass can also access to a number of remote online resources remotely through the British Library. These include Readex's African American Newspapers 1827-1998 I & II and Caribbean Newspapers 1718-1876.
Other Collections
Within IHR library
Browse collection guides to find material relevant to your particular area of interest. Some examples include:
Other libraries, archives, organisations
Further Help
Contact us if you would like help on finding or using our collections, or if you have any comments or suggestions about the content of this guide. We are happy to help.
You can also book a tour or training session.
Examples from Sources
The following provide some sense of how race is recorded in a range of historical source. Please note that the following make use of terms that would be unacceptable today.
"a certain Abbot Hadrian, a man of African race and well versed in the holy Scriptures, trained both in monastic and ecclesiastical ways and equally skilled in the Greek and Latin tongues."
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book IV, c. late 7th century.
Marriage of "Salomon Cowrder of Popler a niger sailler & Katheren Castilliano a niger also, he came out of East Indies"
The marriage registers of St. Dunstan's Stepney, in the County of Middlesex, 3 September 1610
"unto the negro called Domingo, my servant, I give £50"
Will of Robert Blake (1650s), Letters of Robert Blake, Navy Records Society (vol. 76)
"To-day school commenced.. There is one young girl and only one—Miss [Sarah] B[rown] who I believe thoroughly and heartily appreciates anti-slavery,—radical anti-slavery, and has no prejudice against color. I wonder that every colored person is not a misanthrope. Surely we have everything to make us hate mankind... Oh! it is hard to go through life meeting contempt with contempt, hatred with hatred, fearing, with too good reason, to love and trust hardly any one whose skin is white"
A Free Negro in the Slave Era: The Journal of Charlotte L. Forten, 12 September 1855
" "The League of Coloured Peoples" was inaugurated at a meeting, attended principally by coloured students from the Colonies, which was held on Friday at the Central Y.M.C.A, Tottenham Court-road. The provisional objects of the organization are to promote the economic, educational, political, and social interests of coloured peoples"
The Times, 16 March 1931
"Primrose Hill, negro and negress who live in flat underneath one where I am staying just entering in evening dress."
Mass observation online, Day Survey Respondent Unidentified, March 1937 - December 1938