Research Guides: African American Human Rights Struggle (Main): Digitized Archives

Primary Source Portals

If you're not sure where to begin, start by searching the primary source portals below. These search across many collections and can lead you to the right primary source database for your topic.

History Vault This link opens in a new window
Access historical documents and digitized microfilm collections.
Archive Explorer (Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new window
Access primary sources for a wide variety of themes and topics. Materials concentrate on English language archival documents from the UK and the U.S.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
Search a large number of primary source databases.

Digital Public Library of America
Portal for searching across openly available archives and special collections materials digitized by libraries.
Civil Rights Digital Archive

Recommended Archival Databases

ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) Archive This link opens in a new window
Access documents on civil rights; civil liberties; race, children and women’s rights; freedom of speech and due process in the United States from 1912-1990.
History Vault This link opens in a new window
Access historical documents and digitized microfilm collections, notably the NAACP papers.
Archives Unbound, Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress This link opens in a new window
Access the papers of the Civil Rights Congress (CRC), a civil rights organization formed in 1946 by a merger of the International Labor Defense and the National Federation of Constitutional Liberties.