February is Black History Month and the Library has many resources to support research on African-American culture and life. Here are a few specialized sources for your research.
African American Biographical Database
- The African American Biographical Database contains biographical sketches of African-Americans from 1790-1950 taken from rare biographical dictionaries and other reference works
- The database is available to all Wisconsin residents via Badgerlink
Ethnic News Watch
- Ethnic News Watch is a bilingual (English/Spanish) database of magazine, newspaper and journal articles from the ethnic and minority press in the United States
- Presents perspectives different from those found in the much of the mainstream media
- Search by ethnic group, subject, document type (interview, editorial, etc.), geographic location and more
Black Drama 1850-present
- Black Drama contains the text of 1200 plays by 215 playwrights
- Search for plays by title, author, character (including occupation and race), scenes, literary period and theater
- Locate unique and hard-to-find plays from the African-American theater.
African American Music Reference
- African American Music Reference provides access to text reference, biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics, liner notes, and discographies which chronicle the diverse history and culture of the African American experience through music.
Reference Universe can help you find articles in specialized encyclopedias, biographical sources, handbooks and other reference-type books. And don’t forget the University Library Catalog and the many other research databases available via the library’s Articles in Journals, Magazines and Newspapers page that can help you with your research.