Focus on
African Americans in Appalachia
Though many think of Appalachia as a homogenously Caucasian region, Althea Webb of Berea College explores the African American communities that have maintained a strong presence in the region for centuries.
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DISPATCHES FROM
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Now that we have begun a new term for the President, it's a good time to reflect on how the Age of Obama has altered our public discourse, and may have even changed our perception of America.
| Lesson Plans | Country Profiles | Focus On |
|---|---|---|
| Use the Oxford African American Studies Center to bring online learning into the classroom. | Vital statistics and reference articles on countries that have been central to the history of Africans and African Americans. | Explore photo essays on important events, people, and themes in African American history. |
GUEST SCHOLAR
Jeannette Brown
The book African American Women Chemists was inspired not only by the accomplishments of the scientists profiled, but by the mentors who guided them.
What's New
- 25 new Primary Source Documents
- 100 new online-only AANB articles
- Interview with political scientist Jim Downs, author of Sick From Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction (OUP, 2012)
- New lesson plan on diversity and cultural awareness
- New teacher resource page on the new Common Core State Standards in K-12 public schools
- Thematic update featuring biographies from Jeannette Brown"s African American Women Chemists (OUP, 2011)
- Guest editorial by Jeannette Brown on women of color in the field of science.
- Visit the What’s New page for more details
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Feature
- Winter 2013 Highlights
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- Black History Month: Learn the history behind the time of year dedicated to the African American experience, as well as its founder, Carter G. Woodson.
- African American National Biography: 100 new biographies, including many from the entertainment industry, such as Erykah Badu, Donald Cornelius of Soul Train, and Della Reese, along with political figures Herman Cain and Ben Jealous.
- Updates to biographies of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Tim Scott and Sylvia Woods.
- Primary Sources: 25 legal documents with scholarly commentary, including a Petition for a Government Pension by Harriet Tubman (1898), a Freedmen's Bureau Contract between Black Laborers and a White Planter (1866), Manumission Papers for Amos Fortune (1763–1770), and excerpts from various Black Codes that provided the legal framework for the Jim Crow era. See the full list here.
- Interview with Jim Downs
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Jim Downs is Associate Professor of History at Connecticut College, where his research examines the history of race and medicine in the 19th century. He is, most recently, the author of the book Sick from Freedom (OUP, 2012), in which he explores the public health crisis that led to the deaths of thousands of newly-emancipated freedpeople. In this interview with the editors of AASC, Downs discusses the legacy of the Emancipation Proclamation, connections between the era of Reconstruction and the present day, and the varied reactions that his book has provoked since its release.
- Thematic Update: African American Women Chemists
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In her book African American Women Chemists (OUP, 2012), pioneering scientist Dr. Jeannette Brown profiles the trailblazing women of color who have helped to shape her field, including:
- Lesson Plans
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Pamela Felder, Ph.D, presents emerging professionals in higher education with a lesson plan that uses the HBO film Something the Lord Made to foster discussion about the issue of diversity and cultural awareness.
- Teacher Resources
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In 2012, 45 U.S. States and the District of Columbia adopted the new Common Core State Standards in K-12 public schools, emphasizing critical thinking and analytic reading in social studies. In the latest installment of Teacher Resources, Sarah Thomson, M.Ed., shows how educators can use AASC to create history lessons aligned with the new standards.
- Guide to Reference Works
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This new feature allows you to scroll through the tables of contents for each of the major reference works on the Oxford African American Studies Center, including the African American National Biography, Africana, Black Women in America, the Encyclopedia of African American History, as well as the newly added Dictionary of African Biography and the Encyclopedia of African Thought.
What's Inside
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Over 10,000 articles from Oxford's authoritative reference program — with primary source documents, images, maps, chart and tables, and much more!
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Search and Browse features allow you to focus and refine results by era and subject category.
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Primary Source Documents, with specially written commentaries, take you through the personal and public histories of African Americans.
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Charts and tables provide information on everything from demographics to government and politics to business and labor to education and the arts
