Stand for something, or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.      –Rosa Parks

By David Vassar, Reference & Instructional Services Librarian, Quinn Library

Fordham Libraries offers you a wealth of resources on the history and culture of the African-American community. Exploring them, you’ll find works illuminating the centuries-long Black experience in America.

(Btw: The mural art highlighted in this guide are selections from among many snapshots taken during bicycle jaunts and hikes throughout NYC in recent years.)

Consider this an invitation to drop in at Quinn Library, avail yourselves of the services of your friendly and helpful staff, ample quiet study as well as social spaces, our rich print collections, and—by all means have a look at our second-floor book display featuring selections of literature gathered in commemoration of Black History Month.

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African American history – an ongoing story of joy, suffering, triumph and tragedy – must continually be brought to light for this and future generations. Offered here is a microcosm of rich literature from our collections by and about African Americans, spanning forced separation from Africa through Civil War, Gilded Age, on to the Harlem Renaissance, into the Civil Rights struggle and the early contemporary era.

Note: Quinn’s book displays on both first and second floors can feature only some of the highlights of Fordham Libraries’ wealth of print book collections. As you take in these displays, our hope is that you’ll feel encouraged to explore and discover other – perhaps thematically related – works of interest and inspiration to you.

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Toward that end your Library offers you some valuable information resources.

Here to start with is an example of a simple search using the Library Catalog’s Advanced Boolean Search feature. Note: Using simple search terms is most often the most effective strategy for yielding solid, relevant results. (! In doing a Title search ignore articles a, an, the at beginning of title! –E.g., just key in: Grapes of Wrath.)

Remember: For optimal results, the most effective search terms– whether searching our Catalog or any of the Library’s Databases – are most often single words or simple phrases:

Baseball —  segregation –racism — socioeconomics – religion — Harlem

Civil rights — charter schools — social justice – Jim Crow – Freedom Riders

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Note: Explore this Catalog page for works by Professor Mark Naison, acclaimed scholar on African-American cultural and historical themes as played out in New York City’s Bronx.

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***Ready to explore our stacks on your own?  Here are some Library of Congress call number ranges to guide you:

• E184.5 – 185.98 African-Americans; status since Emancipation; Biography; Genealogy
• PN2270.A35—African American Theater and Performance
• PS 508 .N3 Literary Collections of African American authorship
• PS 628.N4 Collections of plays by African Americans
• PS 591.N4 Collections of poetry by African Americans
• PS 153.N5 Literary history and criticism of works by African Americans
• Z 1361.N39 Bibliographies on varied African American subject

! Here are some additional resources:

From our A-Z Databases page, select African & African-American Studies from the Subjects listing to discover a variety of helpful online resources offering access to full-text peer-reviewed journal articles; newspaper coverage; streaming media; and others!

…AND here are some recommended Library Research Guides: African & African American Studies; Human Rights; American History

Note: Our Research Guides present information resources for a variety of disciplinary areas including databases, recent print and electronic books, effective search strategies; as well as guides to literature on particular themes and genres often including historic events and trends (slavery, civil rights) and genres (primary literature, biography) as well as a variety of useful links to thematically related guides and carefully vetted open web resources.

***Make some time to explore these resource-rich tools for virtually any academic project you’re taking on at Fordham!

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***Particular Library resources worth highlighting (also accessible via Subjects search) include:

Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers  Thirteen premier historical titles dating back to 1893. Day-to-day news coverage of leading issues and events throughout U.S. history as well as local and regional politics, society, arts, culture, business, and sports.

Ethnic NewsWatch  Provides full text of ethnic, minority, and native presses with diverse perspectives from 1959-present (varies by publication). Ethnicities covered include: African American/Caribbean/African; Arab/Middle Eastern; Asian/Pacific Islander; European/Eastern European; Hispanic; Jewish; Native People; and Multi-Ethnic People.

African-American Heritage Collection  A unique historical resource from the archives of the International Mission Board

Presenting: Fordham’s Department of African & African American Studies:

The Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) at Fordham University was founded in 1969, making it one of the oldest departments of its kind in the nation, and one of the most admired for the quality of its faculty and graduates. The department serves dually as an academic unit and a community, composed of students and faculty interested in the interdisciplinary study of Africa and its diaspora.

Note: Here’s a current listing of AAAS Course offerings.

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Here’s a sampling of some some local / NYC African-American initiatives:

• The Audre Lorde Project
• Equality for Flatbush
• NYPL: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
• NAACP – NYC Metro Region
• WeAct for Environmental Justice

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Thanks for having a look, we hope you’ll join your Fordham Libraries in celebrating our nation’s African American community — its history, heritage, contributions to the American experience and to our common global community.

As always: We invite you to visit your hub for academic resources, personal enrichment, and respite from all the world’s noise: Fordham Libraries!

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