---

Titles in the
Library System Catalog

The following titles represent only a fraction of the information available at the library and through the larger library system. Titles range from historic accounts to biographies of individuals, both past and present, who have impacted history in some way.

Please click any title below to locate it in the online library catalog:

Recently Published Works

• American Uprising: The Untold Story Of America's Largest Slave Revolt by Daniel Rasmussen
• Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech that Transformed a Nation by Clarence B Jones and Stuart Connelly
• The Black-White Achievement Gap: Why Closing It Is the Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time by Rod Paige, Elaine Witty
• Burial for a King: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Funeral and the Week that Transformed Atlanta and Rocked the Nation by Rebecca Burns
• Clamorgans: One Family's History of Race in America by Julie Winch
• Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century by Paul Finkelman, editor
• Extraordinary, Ordinary People by Condaleezza Rice
• Fraternity by Diane Brady
• Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
• Harlem the Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America by Jonathan Gill
• Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903 by Lawrence Goldstone
• Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008
• Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall by edited Michael G Long
• Medgar Evers: Missippi Martyr by Michael Williams
• The Obamas: The Untold Story of an African Family by Peter Firstbrook
• Reimagining Equality by Anita Hill
• Sister Citizen by Melissa V. Harris-Perry
• To Free a Family: the Journey of Mary Walker by Sydney Nathans
• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Other Works to Consider

• African American Military Heroes
• African American Teachers
• African American Women Writers
• African Americans in the Civil War
• Alex Haley: Author of Roots
• American Roots Music
• Barack Obama / President Obama - Books by or about the person, the presidential candidate, and the President
• Best African American Essays
• The Black 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential African-Americans, Past and Present
• Black Artists in Photography, 1840-1940
• Black Camelot: African-American Culture Heroes in Their Times, 1960-1980
• Black Dance: From 1619 to Today
• Black Dance in America: A History Through Its People
• Black Heroes of the American Revolution
• Black Music in America: A History Through Its People
• Black Pioneers: An Untold Story
• Civil Rights: the Struggle for Black Equality
• Colin Powell: A Man of War and Peace
• Coretta Scott King by Cynthia Klingel
• Escape From Slavery: the Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words
• Extraordinary People of the Harlem Renaissance
• Flying Free: America's First Black Aviators
• Genealogical History of Black Families of Orange County, New York
• The Harlem Renaissance
• Harlem Renaissance Artists
• Harriet Tubman and Black History Month
• Harriet Tubman: Freedom's Trailblazer
• Her Story, Her Words: the Narrative of Sojourner Truth
• I'll Find A Way Or Make One: A Tribute to Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• Jackie Robinson and the Story of All-Black Baseball
• Jesse Jackson: Still Fighting for the Dream
• Joe Louis: Heavyweight Champion
• Jubilee: the Emergence of African American Culture
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Langston Hughes: Young Black Poet
• The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant
• Lest We Forget: the Passage From Africa to Slavery and Emancipation
• Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War, 1862-1865
• Louis Armstrong: Jazz Musician
• Martin Luther King: A Concise Biography
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Maya Angelou: Author
• Michael Jordan: Beyond Air
• Muhammad Ali
• Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations With Black American Composers
• Native Sons: A Critical Study of Twentieth-Century Black American Authors
• Notes of A Native Son
• Oprah Winfrey: Talk Show Host and Actress
• Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present by Deborah Willis
• Powerful Words: Excerpts From Famous Speeches and Writings By African Americans
• Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Leader
• Simple Justice: the History of Brown V. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality
• Sojourner Truth: From Slave to Activist for Freedom
• The Souls of Black Folk
• Spike Lee: Filmmaker
• The Story of Muhammad Ali
• Sugar Ray Leonard
• Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black in America
• Till Victory Is Won: Black Soldiers in the Civil War
• Toni Morrison
• Up From Slavery
• A W.E.B. Du Bois Reader
• W.E.B. Du Bois: the Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963
• Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers, 1941-1965
• Zora Neale Hurston: Writer and Storyteller

If you would like help in finding any of these or other titles, please call our Reference Department at 341-5461 or use our free Ask a Librarian service to ask us a question.

---

Topics in the
Library System Catalog

If you would like help in finding other topics, please call our Reference Department at 341-5461 or use our free Ask a Librarian service to ask us a question.

---

Databases &
Online Reference Works

The following databases and electronic reference works are available at Middletown Thrall Library. Members of Thrall can also access these at home:

Specific Databases

• The African American Almanac - "The African American Almanac provides a range of historical and current information on African American history, society and culture."
• African-American Song - "This online music collection includes genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, sacred music, and more."
• The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience - "The African American Years focuses specifically on the history of African Americans from pre-colonial times to the present."

General Research Databases

• Biography in Context - "Biographical entries for hundreds of thousands of notable and historical persons from around the world."
• Encyclopedia Britannica - "The complete multimedia encyclopedia accessible over the Internet."
• Academic OneFile - "More than 13,000 titles, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals and more than 5,000 in full text."
• More General Research Databases

---

Information on
the World Wide Web

General Resources

• About.com: Black History Month - an extensive guide including educational resources in the following categories: "Teaching Black History Month," "Biographies," "Glossary," "Photographs," "Timelines," "Primary Documents," "Quotes," "Civil Rights Movement E-Course." Additional sections further down the main menu include: "Culture and Conflicts," "Local Events and History," and "Profiles and Personalities."
• African American Almanac - Part of the Thrall's Virtual Reference Library. Available to members of Middletown Thrall Library.
• African American History Month.gov - Texts, videos, historical information and more provided by The Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
• African-American Mosaic - "A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History & Culture"
• African-American Odyssey - From the Library of Congress. Includes images and text. Topics include "African-American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship," "The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress," "Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s," "Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938," and "Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860."
• African American Song Database - "This online music collection includes genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, sacred music, and more. There are approximately 16,000 tracks of historical recordings." Available to members of Middletown Thrall Library.
• African-American World - PBS presents a guide to Black History with historical highlights in areas such as "Arts & Culture," "Race and Society," and "Profiles." Additional information and activity information is available for teachers/parents and children. Note the links at the top of PBS' page as well: Timeline, Reference Room, Kids, Classroom, Community, and Resources. Over 300 articles on famous African-Americans and notable events in Black History are available in the "Reference Room" at that site.
• AFRO-American Newspaper Archive - "The AFRO-American Newspapers, one of the nation’s oldest news organizations dedicated to covering the African American community, has created a comprehensive collection of over a million articles that captures the African American experience in business, civil rights, education, health, law, and sports beginning in the late 19th century. Google partnered with the AFRO and helped to digitize the newspaper’s historic archives and make them searchable on-line and available to anyone, anywhere in the world."
• Biography.com: Celebrate Black History Month - Biographies of African-Americans, a timeline, activities, videos, and more.
• Black History: Featured Poets and Poems - "Celebrate and explore the rich tradition of African American poetry through essays on literary milestones, intersections of music, poetry and art, and profiles and poems of historical and contemporary poets who continue to pioneer new ground while keeping an eye on the past." From the Academy of American Poets.
• Black History Month - Free access to biographies, activities, literary resources, a timeline, and a quiz from Gale Databases.
• Black Oral History - "interviews conducted by Quintard Taylor and his associates, Charles Ramsay and John Dawkins. They interviewed African American pioneers and their descendents throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, from 1972-1974." The Real Audio Player is required to hear the interviews.
• BlackPast.org - A collection and directory of sources for six centuries of African American History. Includes an online encyclopedia of people, places, churches, associations and events. From a professor of American History at University of Washington. This a wonderful place to start research or to spend some time browsing.
• Culture and Change: Black History in America - From Scholastic. Activities and educational resources for young people, parents, and teachers.
• EDSITEment: Black History Month - Directory of resources from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
• Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History - View a timeline, explore eras in Black History, access hundreds of full text articles arranged by subject, audio/video clips, and a bibliography. Additional links and a study guide are available at the bottom of their page.
• Government Documents: Tuskegee Airmen - Resource guide from University of South Alabama.
• History Channel: Black History - Text and images arranged in the following sections: "History of the Civil Rights Struggle," "African-American Icons," "Video Clips," "Great Speeches," "Maps," "Exhibits," and "Related Resources."
• In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience - From New York Public Library. Described as followed by NYPL: "In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience presents more than 16,500 pages of texts, 8,300 illustrations, and more than 60 maps. The Web site is organized around thirteen defining migrations that have formed and transformed African America and the nation. Each migration is presented through five units: 1. A narrative; 2. About 100 illustrations, each with caption, and bibliographical, indexing, and ordering information; 3. From twenty to forty research resources consisting of essays, books, book chapters, articles, and manuscripts; 4. Maps; 5. Lesson plans for teachers." Some areas of this site require the free Flash plugin from Adobe.com.
• Infoplease Presents: Black History Month - Access information in the following categories: History and Timelines, Contemporary Issues, Special Features (Quotations, Inventors, Harlem Renaissance and more), Holidays, Education, Awards and Firsts, Quizzes & Crosswords
• ipl2: Black History Month Resources - Black History websites indexed by the librarians at ipl2.
• National Geographic: The Underground Railroad - An interactive and illustrated history of slavery and the Underground Railroad. Note: the drop-down menu at the top of their page leads to other related sections in their site.
• Presidential Proclamation: National African American History Month, 2013 - From The White House, Preident Barack Obama.
• Smithsonian: African-American History - Bibliographies and other information on topics including: African American Art and Artists, African American Teaching Resources, African American Inventors, African American Stories for Children, Always There: The African American Presence in American Quilts, Before Freedom Came: African American Life in the Antebellum South, Body and Soul: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Harlem Renaissance, Harriet Tubman: A Selected Children's Bibliography, When the Spirit Moves: African American Dance in History and Art. Please note: you must first select (check) "African American History" in their "Topics" list and click the "Search Topics" button. You might also want to check out their African American Cultural Heritage and Educator Resources pages.
• U.S. Census: Black History Month 2013 - Census statistics for African-Americans (voting, income, population, and more).
• Voyage to Discovery - "Voyage to Discovery is a multimedia educational initiative highlighting African-American contributions to the country's maritime heritage while fostering increased participation in marine careers and ocean conservation. Journey through time to discover the untold stories of African-Americans and the sea through education, archaeology, science - and underwater exploration!" From NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries' Maritime Heritage Program, Murrain Associates,Inc., and the National Association of Black Scuba Divers.

Civil Rights Movement & Leaders

• Beyond Dr. King: More Stories of African-American Achievement - "Profiles of less-prominent African American heroes." From the U.S. Department of State: "Help us write this book. We'll post the first chapters here at regular intervals and we ask readers to suggest future chapters we will include in the Living Book."
• Free at Last: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement - "This book recounts how African-American slaves and their descendants struggled to win - both in law and in practice - the civil rights enjoyed by other Americans. It is a story of dignified persistence and struggle, a story that produced great heroes and heroines, and one that ultimately succeeded by forcing Americans to confront squarely the shameful gap between their universal principles of equality and justice and the inequality, injustice, and oppression faced by millions of their fellow citizens." Adobe PDF format. From the U.S. Department of State.
• Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement - Overview from Factmonster.com
• Martin Luther King, Jr. - An extensive biography by Gale Group. Includes a free downloadable/printable Black History Month calendar (Adobe Acrobat Reader required for that).
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University - Read and hear various writings and speeches. Audio feeds require Quicktime or the Real audio player.
• Notable Civil Rights Leaders - Brief biographies. From Factmonster.com.
• Rosa Parks: How I Fought for Civil Rights - A brief biography from Scholastic.com.
• We Shall Overcome - Historical places of the Civil Rights Movement. Click the "List of Sites" to learn more about different historic locations. From the National Parks Service (NPS.gov)

Photographs & Documents

• The Emancipation Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, 1863 - Online edition and text of this historic document. Provided by the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA).
• From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 - "396 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1822 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics." From the Library of Congress' American Memory Exhibit.
• Library of Congress Collections: African Americans in History - Online exhibits, documents, photographs, and more.
• Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs - "The William A. Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs provides almost 350 images showing African Americans and related military and social history. The Civil War era is the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945."

For Young Researchers

• African-American History Timeline - Key facts and dates. From Factmonster.com.
• Black Scientists & Inventors - Names, dates, and inventions. From Factmonster.com
• Famous Firsts by African Americans - Names, dates, and achievements. From Factmonster.com.
• Kids Domain: Black History Links - Activities, quizzes, and educational resources for young people from Kidsdomain.com
• Nick Jr.: Black History Printables - Fun facts, activities, printable pictures. From Nickelodeon.
• Notable African-Americans - Brief biographies of scholars, atheletes, entertainers, and more. From Factmonster.com
• Reading Rockets: Black History Month - Topics include: Writers, Illustrators, Storytellers, Children's Books, Activities, People and Eevents, Guides to Black History, Television Programs.
• Scholastic: Black History in America - Information, videos, and activities for students, parents, and teachers.
• Time for Kids: Black History Month - A website for young persons interested in learning more about African-American history.