African American Microfilm Materials

Newspapers, records, pamphlets, and more

This is not a comprehensive list of materials, but a sampling of newspapers, records, pamphlets, and additional items available on microfilm.  The majority of these resources are located in the Missouri Valley Room, but some are in the Reference Department on the 3rd Floor.

Kansas City Area Newspapers
American Citizen: July 26, 1889 - Aug. 2, 1907
Rising Son: Jan. 16, 1903 - Dec. 28, 1907
The Call: Nov. 1, 1919 - present (located on 3rd Floor)
 
Negro Exodus Papers, 1879
This collection consists of papers and manuscripts from the Kansas State Historical Society regarding the late 1870s westward migration of African Americans. Documents include notes on the Nicodemus settlement, biographies, Kansas Freedman’s Relief Association meeting minutes, and state records. (1 microfilm reel)
 
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Files
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) File on the National Negro Congress, May 1936-Mar 1952. Files on this coalition of white and black leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. (2 microfilm reels) 
 
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) File on the Black Panther Party in North Carolina. These files trace the efforts of the Black Panther Party to establish chapters in North Carolina, spanning 1968-1976. (2 microfilm reels) 
 
Freedmen's Aid Society
This collection contains records of The Freedmen’s Aid Society, an agency created by the Methodist Episcopal Church after the Civil War to establish schools and colleges for African Americans in the South. The original documents are housed at the Woodruff Library at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to documenting the work and publications of the Society, the collection contains information about 22 educational institutions that it established. (120 microfilm reels)
 
Military Records
The Negro in the Military Service of the United States, 1639-1886. (M858, 5 Reels)
Documents Relating to the Military and Naval Service of Blacks Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor from the Civil War to the Spanish-American War.
(M929, 4 Reels)
 
Miscellaneous Newspapers
Many only one day. Listed in the order they appear on the reels:
 
Reel 106:
  • American Eagle: Dec. 17, 1905
  • Virginia Star: Dec. 14, 1878; Mar. 27, 1880; Apr. 30, 1881, Nov. 11, 1882; Dec. 9, 23, 1882
  • National Baptist World: Aug. 31, 1894-Nov. 23, 1894
  • Wichita Tribune: July 23, 1898-Mar. 14, 1899
  • Peoples Friend: May 24, 1894-Sept. 28, 1984
  • Rams Horn: Nov. 18, 1882
  • Conservator: Nov. 18, 1882-Dec. 23, 1882; Sept. 8, 1883; Dec. 18, 1886
  • Progress: June 21, 1890
  • Weekly Avalanche: Jan. 20, 1893
  • Iowa Baptist Standard: May 21, 1897

Reel 107:

  • Wide Awake: Jan. 24, 1900
  • Huntsville Star: Jan. 26, 1900
  • Montgomery Enterprise: Jan. 26, 1900
  • Reporter: Feb. 1, 1900
  • American Guide: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Western Outlook: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Western Enterprise: Jan. 6, 27, 1900
  • Colorado Statesman: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Statesman: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Florida Evangelist: Jan. 20, 1900
  • Paul Quinn Weekly: Jan. 27, 1900
  • National Pilot: Feb. 1, 1900
  • Reformer: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Seattle Republican: Jan. 19, 1900
  • World: Jan. 4, 1899
  • Florida Sentinel: Jan. 6, 1900
  • Atlanta Age: Jan. 13, 1900
  • Voice of Missions: Feb. 1, 1900
  • Augusta Union: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Columbus Chronical [sic]: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Macon Sentinel: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Gazette & Land Bulletin: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Chicago World: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Parson Weekly Blade: Jan. 26, 1900
  • Plaindealer: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Lexington Standard: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Republican Courier: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Southern Republican: Feb. 8, 1900
  • Negro Appeal: Feb. 16, 1900
  • Boston Advanced: Feb. 17, 1900
  • Boston Courant: Jan. 6, 1900
  • Detroit Informer: Jan. 13, 1900
  • Golden Rule: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Light: Jan. 18, 1900
  • Kansas City Observer: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Rising Son: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Missouri Messenger: Jan. 26, 1900
  • Enterprise: Jan. 12, 1900
  • Progress: Jan. 26, 1900
  • Afro-American Presbyterian: Dec. 21, 1900
  • Gazette: Jan. 13, 1900; Apr. 6, 13, 1900
  • Ohio Standard: Jan. 27, 1901
  • Langston City Herald: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Christian Banner: Jan. 12, 1900
  • Odd Fellows Journal: Jan. 11, 1900
  • Defender: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Afro-American Citizen: Jan. 17, 1900
  • Peoples Recorder: Jan. 13, 27, 1900
  • Rockhill Messenger: Jan. 26, 1900
  • Jackson Headlight: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Oil City Afro-American: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Dallas Express: Jan. 13, 1900
  • Item: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Independent: (an. 27, 1900
  • Western Star: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Pine Bluff Weekly Herald: Jan. 27, 1900
  • Gazette: Apr. 17, 1897
McCone Commission Report on the Los Angeles Riots
[Summer, 1965], Feb. 25, 1966. (6 microfilm reels)
    
Arthur A. Schomburg Papers
Arthur A. Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and Art, 1932-1938. (12 microfilm reels)
    
Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture from New York Public Library
  • Black Academy of Arts and Letters records, 1968-1980. (10 microfilm reels)
  • Blacks in the Railroad Industry Collection, 1946-1954. Compilation of materials documenting labor struggles of Black railroad workers. (1 microfilm reel)
Slave Narratives
Federal Writers Project, 1936-1938. (5 microfilm reels)
 
Slavery Pamphlets
Virtually every aspect of slavery is covered. Primary sources on American slavery, from Colonial Era through emancipation, as well as titles on Latin American and Caribbean slavery, and the British and French slave trades from sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. The 5,914 titles can be searched in the online catalog. (6,720 microfiche)
 
Tuskegee Institute News Clipping File
Between 1899 and 1966 staff in the Department of Records and Research at the Tuskegee Institute clipped articles from over 300 newspapers and magazines about African Americans in the United States, Africa, and elsewhere. Compiled by workers of the Writers Program of the WPA for "Negroes of New York," 1936-1940. (252 microfilm reels)