Developed with the guidance of African American librarians and subject specialists, The African American Experience has the widest depth and breadth of information available of any online database collection on African American history and culture.
The African American Experience supports research and scholarship in the field of African American Studies with a full library of works analyzing the contributions and challenges of African Americans throughout history, including the complete WPA Slave Narratives collection. This comprehensive database of more than 8,000 articles, biographies, primary documents, and media is overseen by leading scholars in the field, including Spencer Crew, PhD, interim director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In addition to historical accounts ranging from the travails of slavery to contemporary evidence of institutionalized racism, The African American Experience offers scholarly commentary addressing African American contributions in the fields of politics, business, social and applied sciences, the military, the arts, and entertainment, keeping pace with the ongoing evolution of the African American narrative and its vital place in U.S. history.
| Africa and the Atlantic, 500–1550 • Ancient African Civilizations, 500–1550 • Africa and the Atlantic World, 1441–1550 |
Rise of Jim Crow, 1877–1895 • Rebuilding the South, 1877–1905 • Westward Ho!, 1878–1890 • Violence and Jim Crow, 1880s–1895 |
Black Power Movement, 1965–1979 • Civil Rights Reignites, 1965–1968 • African Americans and the Vietnam Era, 1968–1973 • Backlash to Progress, 1973–1979 |
| Africans in Colonial North America, 1550s–1760 • The English North American Colonies, 1619–1760 • The Spanish Colonies, 1560s–1760 |
The Progressive Era, 1895–1917 • Diverse Political Strategies, 1895–1915 • The Great Migration, 1910–1917 |
Urban Politics and the Shifting Landscape, 1979–1991 • New Leadership and Urban Change, 1979–1988 • Conservatism and the Politics of Power, 1988–1991 |
| Hopes for a New Nation, 1763–1816 • The American Revolution, 1763–1787 • The Constitution, 1787–1800 • The Emergence of Free Black Communities, 1800–1816 |
World War I to the Great Depression, 1917–1939 • World War I, 1917–1919 • The Harlem Renaissance, 1920–1939 • The Great Depression, 1929–1939 |
Dawning of a New Era, 1992–2000 • The Clinton Era and the Pulse of the New Day, 1992–1995 • Federal Policy Changes, 1995–1998 |
| Antebellum, 1816–1846 • The Expansion of Slavery, 1816–1846 • Abolitionism and Reform, 1816–1846 |
World War II and Post–War Integration, 1939–1954 • World War II, 1939–1945 • The Cold War, 1945–1960 |
New Millennium, 2001–present • New Leadership, 2001–2008 • Hope Comes Back to Life, 2008–present |
| Civil War and Emancipation, 1846–1877 • Prelude to War, 1846–1861 • The Civil War, 1861–1865 • Reconstruction, 1865–1877 |
Civil Rights Movement, 1954–1965 • New Forms of Protest, 1954–1957 • Struggles for Freedom, 1957–1960 • The Apex of the Civil Rights Movement, 1960–1965 |
