The Oxford African American Studies Center, with Henry Louis Gates Jr. as Editor in Chief, is teeming with gripping photo essays, videos, maps, and articles. The search options make it easy to explore various sections including; biographies, images and multimedia, primary sources, and bibliographies.
If you want to browse, I recommend looking through the Previous Features section which has photo essays ranging from the 1963 March on Washington, Black Nationalism and Independence Movements, Black Churches in America, Harlem Renaissance, Hip Hop’s Early Influences, and my favorite, Giant Steps: Jazz Greats. The current featured topic, the Underground Railroad, compares the actual enterprise to the romanticized image that is held today.
There is something for everyone on this database with more than 10,000 articles. For a scholarly version of Behind the Music, see biographies on Richard Prior, Billy Holiday, James Brown, and Miles Davis.
For you visual learners there is a section on timelines that follow African American women’s, business, sports, literature, an
d general history. The charts and tables section has information varying from Black Tony Award Winners, Literacy Rates in African Countries, African Americans in the Football Hall of fame, Living Arrangements of Black Children Under 18 Years Old, and Pulitzer Prize Winners
Check out the link sections on topics like arts and leisure, fine arts, journalism, literature, performing arts, education, government and politics and more.
You can find the Oxford African American Studies Center database though the USF library homepage- http://www.usfca.edu/library/ On the right side of the page click on the Databases icon, then choose the Databases A-Z link. From that list you will find Oxford AASC.
