Slavery in the United States: Primary Sources
- International Slavery Museum: History of the Slave TradeUse the menu for an overview of various aspects of the transatlantic slave trade and primary resource examples.
- Memorable Days: The Emilie Davis ProjectAn online transcription of the diaries of an African American woman living in Philadelphia during the Civil War.
- Slave Voyages DatabaseCreated by Emory University, Voyages provides access to rich data and interpretation on the global and transatlantic slave trade. Includes maps, timelines, useful essays, and more.
- Virginia Untold: African American NarrativeA collection documenting pre-Civil War life for Black Americans in Virginia. Includes genealogical records includes primary source documents.
- Secession-Era EditorialsNewspaper editorials from around the country written about the Dred Scott case, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, and the Nebraska Bill (leading to the creation of the Nebraska and Kansas territories). Choose your topic on the left-hand menu to view newspaper editorials.
American slave narratives
African American Slave Narratives (print) by Call Number: E444 .A23 2001ISBN: 0313311684Publication Date: 2001-06-30View the list of narratives included by clicking the link here, then clicking "Table of Contents."
- Slave narratives: An oral history collectionDuring the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration commissioned interviews with former slaves. These are reproduced here in text and audio files.
- Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938A collection of 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves, gathered in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration. For a list of all slaves' narratives in this collection, scroll half way down the page.
- Voices from the Days of SlaveryTranscripts and audio recordings of former slaves made between 1932 and 1975.
Genealogy: Discover your roots.
- Freedman's Bureau ProjectThe Freedman's Bureau was established at the dawn of emancipation to help former slaves transition from slavery to citizenship. Their records include the names of every slave who came through their offices, and they are currently being digitized. Take part in this historic project to create a searchable database of slave names that will help millions of Americans trace their ancestry.