Alfred University Libraries has a new, primary source collection: Black Life in America from NewsBank. This electronic resource explores the African-American experience as recorded by the news media from 1704-1975. Black Life in America includes over 400 African-American publications and draws resources from over 19,000 U.S. and global news sources. The collection offers perspective into centuries of African-American history and culture.

The new Black Life in America database is part of AU Libraries’ ongoing commitment to create more inclusive collections via actively adding the work of BIPOC scholars to library collections and adding resources to support anti-oppression research and work.

To explore the Black Life in America database, users will need to interact with the website directly. You can find Black Life in America in AU Libraries’ Databases A to Z or via this permanent link. 

The Black Life in America interface can be explored via traditional searching methods, such as using keywords and Boolean operators—it can also be searched via location, using a map to identify and narrow down publications from specific regions and locales. 

Black Life in America groups resources into the following historical eras: Arrival in America (Beginning-1783), Antebellum (1784-1860), Civil War (1861-1865), Reconstruction (1866-1877), Jim Crow (1878-1922), Great Migration (1923-1944), and Civil Rights Movement (1945-1975). Within each era, users can find curated information of activist groups and protests, court decisions, education, government, labor, laws and legislation, literature and the arts, military, notable people, religion, science and technology, society and culture, and unrest and acts of violence. There is also era-specific curated information within each historical section. 

For more information on how to search and navigate the Black Life in America database, please watch the following video from NewsBank: https://bit.ly/3isu1Iq.

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November is Native American Heritage Month! This month “is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people.”

To celebrate, Scholes and Herrick each have curated displays in their front lobby areas, showcasing offerings from the AU Libraries collections. 

In addition to resources within Alfred’s collections, the Association of Research Libraries has compiled a resource listing events, news stories, online collections, and exhibits from its member libraries. The AU Libraries have compiled a list with more information and resources celebrating Native American Heritage Month below.

Film, Radio and Television
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Public radio and television programming related to Native Americans.

PBS Native American Heritage Month
Through dance, family traditions, art, and music, these stories show both the contemporary diversity and long history of Indigenous people across the land we now call the United States. 

NPR celebrates Indigenous communities
Stories, podcasts and more from NPR media and news outlets.

Online Resources and Exhibits
Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
Virtual exhibitions at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA)

Native American Heritage Month, Exhibits and Collections
The official .gov website lists exhibits and collections from the Library of Congress, National ARchives, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, as well as curated social media offerings. 

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture produces online exhibitions illustrating themes and ideas related to Native American material culture. Some online exhibitions complement the exhibitions on view in the galleries, others are created specifically for the Web.

Research Resources
American Indian Records at the National Archives
Find information relating to American Indians from as early as 1774 through the mid 1990s. 

Indigenous Research & Knowledges in North America, University of Colorado Boulder
An overview of indigenous knowledge and starting points for exploring these knowledges by geography, format of materials, or theme. This guide intentionally centers materials created by indigenous peoples. Some resources from our archival collections or other databases contain valuable documents by indigenous peoples among other documents authored by settler colonialists, colonizing governments, or non-indigenous scholars.