Since 1901, the Alabama Department of Archives & History (ADAH) has been the home of Alabama history. The first state-funded historical agency in the United States, the ADAH was established to collect and preserve the historical materials of the people of Alabama, and to use that material in sharing their stories. For nearly 125 years, the ADAH has grown both in its capacity and its approach to accomplish that mission.
Located in Montgomery, the ADAH serves our state as the principal repository for materials ranging from official government records to papers, photographs, and recordings created in the private sector. It also serves as an educational center by offering programs, resources, and training for educators, government officials, students, researchers, and history enthusiasts. The immersive learning environment of the ADAH’s Museum of Alabama provides a welcoming and engaging space for visitors of all ages and backgrounds to explore Alabama’s story.
Check out the catalog and digital collections below.
“When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part.” -Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop
Black Worldschoolers Mobile Bookstore’s mission is to provide access and awareness to Black stories as well as excitement and engagement around reading. In 2018 we made a collective decision to transition out of conventional schooling to home education.
We immediately and excitedly began searching for resources that reflected the African Diaspora and building our home library. Our growing library full of Black stories primarily by Black authors across all genres increased our son's love for reading. In fact, they became “flashlight under the cover readers.”
While they read out of obligation in school or kept up with popular titles their peers were reading, access to this new world of books shaped their identities as readers and made books enjoyable as well as positively impactful. Witnessing our son's love for reading grow daily caused me to imagine the possibilities for other children. Our mobile bookstore makes Black stories accessible, and our method of delivery makes them irresistible.
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For Teachers, Students, and History Explorers©
Courtesy of the National Archives and National Archives Foundation, DocsTeach provides access to thousands of primary sources — letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, videos, and other document types — spanning the course of American history. We're always adding more!
Borrow from an ever-expanding collection of document-based activities created by the National Archives, and teachers around the world. Copy and modify activities for your students.
Create your own activities using the online tools. It’s as simple as: (1) selecting a tool, (2) choosing your primary sources, and (3) customizing instructions.
Let's go on a treasure hunt! Yellowhammer History Hunt, a local public television program presented by Alabama Public Television, takes you on a journey through Alabama's past, exploring the places and people that define Alabama today. From archaeological sites to airfields, each episode features a selected site and shows why it is an important part of Alabama and American history. Each site also has its own hidden treasure.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 40,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution.
The National Museum of African American History & Culture provides stories entitled Our American Stories. One of interest for this NEH Institute is The Struggle Against Segregated Education, found here.
AlabamaMosaic is a repository of digital materials on Alabama's history, culture, places, and people. Its purpose is to make unique historical treasures from Alabama's archives, libraries, museums, and other repositories electronically accessible to Alabama residents and to students, researchers, and the general public in other states and countries.
The American Archivist was established in 1938 and quickly became the leading journal in the archival field. The SAA Newsletter started in the 1970s and evolved into an award-winning magazine, Archival Outlook. And for decades, SAA books have nurtured and educated generations of archivists.
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. Learn more.
From the Washington Post article:
"...Enslaved: Peoples of the Historic Slave Trade, a free, public clearinghouse that launched Tuesday with seven smaller, searchable databases, will for the first time allow anyone from academic historians to amateur family genealogists to search for individual enslaved people around the globe in one central online location...Directed by data scientists at Michigan State University and four principal investigators, including [Prof. Daryle] Williams at U-Md., the project debuted with information about 500,000 named enslaved people and their circumstances, collected by some of the world's foremost historians of slavery. More records of enslaved people, ethnic groups, populations and places will be entered over time as partnerships are forged with academics, archives, museums and other repositories of information...."
Full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/12/01/slavery-database-family-genealogy/
The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.
The Library preserves and provides access to a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge to inform, inspire and engage you in your intellectual and creative endeavors. Whether you are new to the Library of Congress or an experienced researcher, we have a world-class staff ready to assist you online and in person.
I encourage you to visit the Library of Congress in person in Washington, D.C., explore the Library online from wherever you are and connect with us on social media.
Sincerely,
Carla Hayden
Librarian of Congress
According to metmuseum.org/about-the-met, "The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.
Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures."
"The HistoryMakers is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational institution committed to preserving and making widely accessible the untold personal stories of both well-known and unsung African Americans. Through the media and a series of user-friendly products, services and events, The HistoryMakers enlightens, entertains and educates the public, helping to refashion a more inclusive record of American history." (www.thehistorymakers.org/about-us).
"The testimonies captured in The HistoryMakers Collection – conducted in homes and offices across the United States and abroad – reveal the broad scope of narratives of African American men and women who have made significant contributions to American life, history, and culture during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Many of these contributions have largely been untold and unrecorded; and, as a result, are still largely “unknown”. They are “America’s Missing Stories." (www.thehistorymakers.org/background)
Visit AAMU's Guide for use of this resource here, https://libguides.aamu.edu/historymakers.
African American Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1827-1998, provides online access to more than 350 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African-American experience. This unique collection, which includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states, features many rare 19th-century titles. Newly digitized, these newspapers published by or for African Americans can now be browsed and searched as never before.
African Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1800-1925, offers unmatched coverage of the people, issues and events that shaped the continent during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring titles from Algeria to Angola, Zambia to Zimbabwe, this unique resource chronicles the evolution of Africa through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative information, letters, poetry, advertisements, obituaries and other items. Together, African Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, provide news and perspectives from a wide range of counties and cultures during a time of sweeping change.