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Black History Month

Explore Library resources, stories and perspectives on Black History Month from Lancaster University Library and beyond.

Black History Month - Lancaster University video playlist

The Library provides access to a number of media streaming services on which you can find playlists highlighting documentaries and films offering an insight into Black History and culture. One of these is Box of Broadcasts (BoB) and throughout Black History Month we will add your suggestions of films, interviews and documentaries to The Black History Month - Lancaster University playlist. You can share suggestions by emailing library@lancaster.ac.uk or by filling out one of the postcards next to the Black History Month book display in the Library. Here is a play list on race already collated together on Box of Broadcasts. 

                                             

Collections

The Library has a number of collections relevant to Black History and celebrating the continued achievements of Black people.  These include Black Drama and Black Thought & Culture, with AM Explorer including primary source collections such as Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, Race Relations in America and American Indian Histories & Culture to name but a few.

You can access the collections below. 

AM Explorer

American History 1943-1945

BFI Player which includes links to Black History Month and Black Stories

Black Drama

Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century

Colonial Caribbean Module 1: Settlement, Slavery & Empire (1624-1832)

Colonial Caribbean Module 1 (1624-1832)

Colonial State Papers

East India Company Archives

Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice

Library collections relating to Black History

BFI Player including Black History Month and Black Stories All staff and students will now be able to access the BFI Player the on-demand service available to universities and colleges across the UK and the leading platform for world and independent cinema. As well as having access to over 700 British, world and classic cinema titles, they can search collections including Black History Month, Queer classics, Japanese cinema & visionary directors, and access to over 12,000 archive shorts and features from the BFI national and regional archives covering all aspects of British life spanning the past 120 years.

Black Lives Matter collection from Exact Editions

Black Freedom Struggle in the United States Collection

ProQuest have launched a new collection of primary sources called Black Freedom Struggle in the United States and made it freely available for students and researchers to access. 

The collection includes more than 2,000 documents curated around six crucial phases of the U.S. Black freedom struggle including:

  • Resistance to slavery by enslaved persons and the abolitionist movement of the 19th century
  • The end of slavery during the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era
  • The fight against Jim Crow segregation
  • The New Deal and World War II
  • The Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement from 1946-1975
  • …and the contemporary Black experience since 1976.

ProQuest quote that "by centering on the experiences and perspectives of African Americans, we hope this collection imbues the study of Black history with a deeper understanding of the humanity of people who have pursued the quest for freedom, and the significance of movements like Black Lives Matter".   

Access at: https://blackfreedom.proquest.com/

                                               Pictures showing scenes and people from the significant eras in Black History.