The Oxford African American Studies Center includes over 20,000 articles, written by top scholars in the field, focusing on the lives and events which have shaped African American history and culture. Embedded within these articles are countless images, maps, and videos to enrich the content experience.
Biographical entries can be searched and filtered by the person’s occupation, and the entire collection can be browsed by subject and era as well as searched by keyword. In addition to the reference articles, the collection also includes hundreds of primary sources such as speeches, Supreme Court opinions, and historical newspaper articles.
There’s also a fun section called “Tools and Resources” that includes timelines, lesson plans, and interviews by the editor in chief, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., with influential figures in African American studies.
One of the most interesting parts of the Center is the “Focus On” section which consists of photo essays and other entries looking at various, specific aspects of African American history and experience. In addition to the more canonical topics, such as the March on Washington, Frederick Douglas, and the Harlem Renaissance, it also includes the following among its 68 titles:
African Americans in the LGBTQ Community
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Black Medal of Honor Recipients