Black Lives Matter
This page highlights resources specifically about the Black Lives Matter movement (founded in 2013) as well as other materials such as digitised archives and oral histories, relating to race, ethnicity, migration, post-colonialism and related topics, over many decades.
If you would like to suggest any other resources, please get in touch.
Books
Black History Matters
Films
As a member of the Newcastle University community, you are able to access the Library's subscription to Box of Broadcasts (BoB).
Take a look at the Law Library-curated playlists available on BoB:
Archives and Special Collections
The Library's Special Collections and Archives include several collections which contain materials with relevance to race equality issues. We've highlighted them in the box below, together with contextual resources such as blogposts and online exhibitions.
- Books we forgot to rememberBlogpost from Newcastle University students about the radical tradition in British children’s literature of the early twentieth century. This includes the book, Blue Peter, which was written to tell a tale of marginalised minorities at the time of its production during World War II.
- Cowen (Joseph) TractsThese include pamphlets on abolition and the slave trade, including material relating to Frederick Douglass.
- Jack Mapanje: poet and prisoner of conscienceBlogpost from our Special Collections and Archives team about the Malawian poet, Jack Mapanje, and the archive which we hold about him.
- Martin Luther King at Newcastle UniversityDigital exhibition which tells the story of Dr. Martin Luther King receiving an honorary degree at Newcastle University in 1967.
- Martin Luther King memorial service, Newcastle 1968Blogpost from our Special Collections and Archives team about the memorial service for Dr. Martin Luther King in Newcastle, 1968.
- Walmsley (Anne) ArchiveAnne Walmsley is a specialist in Caribbean art and literature: this is a description of her archive which we hold.
The Library also has access to a wide range of digitised archives covering subjects relating to race, ethnicity, migration, post-colonialism and related topics. We've compiled a list below, together with information about major collections held elsewhere (some of which are available online). Materials in these archives are from around the world, covering centuries of history. The content include letters, images, data, interviews, campaign materials and much more, often offering fascinating first-hand insights into lives and events. Contextual information and essays are often provided to help with interpretation.
- African American Communities This link opens in a new window
Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and North Carolina, this collection presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, photographs, correspondence, official records and in-depth oral histories. Key themes include desegregation, urban renewal, civil rights activities and protests, race relations, and African American culture.
- African and Asian Visual Artists ArchiveComprehensive archive of contemporary visual art by artists of African and Asian descent working in the UK since the post-war period.
- African Lives in Northern EnglandThe stories of people of African descent who have lived and are living in Northern England.
- Black Cultural ArchivesBlack Cultural Archives has embarked on the journey to collect and preserve materials which redress the historical balance and representation of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. Our archive collection is now one of the most comprehensive collections that document the history and cultural heritage of Black Britain.
- Black History Month: featured archivesArchives Hub selection of archival collections from around the UK relating to black history.
- Black lives in the Oxford Dictionary of National BiographyAn article and finding guide from the Oxford DNB, focusing on figures of African heritage who are significant in British history.
- Legacies of British Slave-ownershipResearch project tracing the impact of slave ownership on the formation of modern Britain. Although primarily a resource for studying slave-owners, it also aims to provide information of value to those researching enslaved people.
- Mass Observation Online 1937-1967 This link opens in a new windowThis a major resource for British social history from 1937-1967. It contains material generated by the Mass Observation social research organisation, including all the day surveys, diaries and subject directives from 1937-1967, a wide range of themed topic collections, together with other material such as images and essays. We also have access to the Mass Observation 1980s and 1990s database. Read our blog post for more information about this archive.
- Mass Observation Project 1981-2009. This link opens in a new windowThis contains responses to the Mass Observation project in the 1980s,1990s and (NEW!) 2000s, covering political and social themes of the period, plus insights into everyday life. A fascinating insight into late twentieth century Britain. We also have access to the earlier Mass Observation Online database covering 1937-1967. Read our blog post for more information about this resource.
- Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new windowA wide range of digitised primary source material, including letters, diaries and oral histories, covering migration from Europe and Asia to the USA, Canada, and Australasia between 1800-1924.
- Oral histories of migration, ethnicity and post-colonialismBritish Library collections (some of which are online) of oral histories exploring experiences of ethnicity in the UK.
- Race, ethnicity and migration in modern BritainArchives from Warwick University's Modern Records Centre, some of which have been digitised.
- Race Relations in America This link opens in a new windowCollection of primary source material covering Civil Rights in the USA from 1943-1970. Content includes photographs, correspondence, audio recordings, data and case studies, together with contextual features to help with interpreting the material.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new windowBrings together thousands of digitised resources related to slavery: including books, manuscripts, maps and records such as registers and ships' logs. Case studies and contextual essays are also provided.
- UK National Archives : researching black British historyResearch guide compiled by the UK National Archives.
Social Media & Multimedia
Podcasts
