help button Ask For Help
Skip Navigation Bar

Library Blogs

Library Resources

Skip News Bar

Department Blog

H/SS & Gov Info Services

RESOURCE: Oregon Multicultural Archives Digital Collection

August 31st, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo

 

 Ethnic minorities in Oregon are the subject of this Oregon State University Library website and the collection “consists of images that document the lives and activities of ethnic minorities in Oregon.” With its streamlined homepage, visitors can focus on the collection and how to search or browse through it. Visitors are also welcome to contribute information on any unidentified photographs, by clicking on “Contact Us”, near the bottom of the homepage. In addition, visitors can also click on the “Browse” link to see every one of the 239 items in the collection. Those users with something more specific in mind should use the “Quick Links” drop down box in the top right hand corner of the homepage. Some of the subject areas that can be searched for are “African Americans”, “Indians of North America”, “Mexican Americans”, “Political Parades and Rallies”, and “Powwows”. The “Indexes” available to search are organized into headings like “Photographer”, “Subject” and “Geographic”, and they can be found below the “Quick Links” drop down box.

 

Access: http://digitalcollections.library.oregonstate.edu/cdm4/client/cultural/index.html

Tags:
Posted in African and African American Studies, American West, Asian American Studies, Chicano/a Studies, Digital Images, History, Native American Studies | No Comments Yet »

Passing Strange:

June 17th, 2009 by Daniel Goldstein

I’ve just finished reading Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line, historian Martha A. Sandweiss’ take on the secret marriage of Clarence King, geologist, explorer and author to Ada Copeland, a domestic worker who had been born a slave.  The fact of the marriage had been public knowledge since the 1930s, but Sandweiss has built a remarkable book around around it that ties together stories of race and class, economic and social change, adventure and love.   Sandweiss discovered that King “passed” as a black man when he met Copeland, and kept from her the secret of his name and his identity as one of the most celebrated men of his day.   She found out only in a letter he had written her from his deathbed.  The book explores the complexity of this relationship and the question of how King could pull this deception off for more than a decade.  More than a microstudy, it is also an extraordinarily rich portrayal of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, and would, I think be a splendid read for an undergraduate course.   Sandweiss sums it all up in the final paragraph of the book.

The story of Clarence and Ada King is about love and longing that transcend the historical bounds of time and place. . .  .  But it is also a peculiarly American story that could take root only in a society where one’s racial identity determined one’s legal rights and social opportunities.  At every turn it exposes the deep fissures of race and class that cut through the landscape of American life. . . .

Passing Strange is in the library at Call Number: E 185.625 .S255 2009

Posted in African and African American Studies, American Studies, American West, Current Reading, History, History of Science | No Comments Yet »

RESOURCE: African Elections Project

June 5th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo

 

Interest in the election results within various African nations continues to grow, and the African Elections Project is a great source of information on this timely topic. The Project is coordinated by the International Institute for ICT Journalism and a number of additional partners, such as the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and Global Voices. The material on the site is available in both French and English, and currently it covers Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Malawi, and Niger. Within each country profile, visitors can view the results of recent elections, take a look at relevant weblogs, learn about the various political parties in each country, and also view past news updates. Additionally, visitors can sign up to receive email updates or RSS feeds.

 

Access: http://www.africanelections.org/

Tags:
Posted in African and African American Studies, Government Information, Political Science | No Comments Yet »

RESOURCE: Calisphere: California Cultures

May 29th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo

 

The University of California Libraries has digitized a collection of images of four ethnic groups in California that have been historically underrepresented by digitized primary source materials. In order to learn about diversity in California in a historical context, visitors should start by checking out the Historical Essays highlighted at the top of the site’s homepage. These essays provide brief historical overviews and related images and begin with the period “Before 1768: Pre-Columbian California” and end with the period “1921-Present: Modern California”. Once visitors have familiarized themselves with the history they should move on to the main event. The images of the four groups, “African Americans”, “Asian Americans”, “Hispanic Americans”, and “Native Americans” can be found under their own tabs at the top of the page, and are further divided into subcategories. On the far right side of the page are several free Lesson Plans for grades 4-12 that emphasize these underrepresented California cultures, and utilize this database of images and documents. Some of the lessons include “Stealing Home: How Race Relations, Politics and Baseball Transformed Chavez Ravine” and “Los Californios: California’s Spanish, Native American and African Heritage”.

 

Access: http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/calcultures/

Tags: ,
Posted in African and African American Studies, American Studies, American West, Asian American Studies, Chicano/a Studies, Digital Images, Education, Native American Studies | No Comments Yet »

Paper-Aid: Calling all term paper authors, we can help.

May 12th, 2009 by David Michalski

Did you know the Humanities and Social Science Librarians offer research assistance to undergraduates working on term papers? If your professors require a term paper based on peer-reviewed research, we can help. We will show you how to engage the pressing questions, review the literature, evaluate sources, and assembly the evidence you need for term paper success.

Contact us by email, or come by the Humanities Social Sciences and Government Information Reference desk on the 2nd Floor of the Peter J. Shields Library and schedule an appointment with a librarian who knows your field. Appointments for one-on-one meetings usually last about 30 minutes, but can prepare you for a career of self-directed and critical information research. Past practice shows that Paper-Aid sessions improve grades.  Take advantage of this unique service by making an appointment your subject specialist librarian.

Posted in African and African American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Asian American Studies, Business / Economics, Chicano/a Studies, Comunications, East Asian Languages and Literature, East Asian Studies, Education, Film Studies, German Language and Literatures, Literatures in English, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies | No Comments Yet »

8 New African, African American Studies Reference Sources

April 10th, 2009 by David Michalski

The African American national biography /

New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
E185.96 .A4466 2008 Lib Use Only


__________________

Freedman, Eric.

African Americans in Congress : a documentary history /

Washington, D.C. : CQ Press, c2008.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
JK1021 .A47 2008 Lib Use Only


__________________


Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007 /

Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the Supt. of
Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 2008.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
E185.96 .B526 2008 Lib Use Only


image of Joseph Hayne Rainey, Representative, 1870–1879, Republican from South Carolina linked from Library of Congress.
__________________

Jones, Sharon L.(Sharon Lynette)

Critical companion to Zora Neale Hurston : a literary
reference to her life and work /

New York : Facts On File, c2009.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference In
process

__________________

Armes, Roy.

Dictionary of African filmmakers /

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2008.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
PN1998.2 .A758 2008 Lib Use Only


__________________

Encyclopedia of African American history, 1619-1895 : From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass /

New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
E185 .E545 2006 Lib Use Only


__________________

Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the
present : from the age of segregation to the
twenty-first century /

New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
E185 .E5453 2009 Lib Use Only


__________________

Encyclopedia of African religion /

Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE, c2009.

Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference
BL2400 .E53 2009 Lib Use Only

Posted in African and African American Studies | No Comments Yet »

RESOURCE: Multicultural Literature in the United States Today

April 9th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo

 

The latest edition of eJournal USA focuses on distinguished American writers from various ethnic backgrounds who add immeasurably to mutual understanding and appreciation through tales of their native lands and their experiences as Americans.

 

Access: Multicultural Literature in the United States Today

Tags:
Posted in African and African American Studies, American Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicano/a Studies, Cultural Studies, Government Information, Literatures in English | No Comments Yet »