Black Freedom Struggle in the United States

Black Freedom Struggle database logo

The Black Freedom Struggle resource is provided at no cost to the POWER Library by ProQuest. It features select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history. By centering on the experiences and perspectives of African Americans, it is hoped that 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.

The Black Freedom Struggle website presents primary source documents from several of the time periods in American History, and contains approximately 1,600 documents focused on six different phases of Black Freedom:

  • Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860)
  • The Civil War and the Reconstruction Era (1861-1877)
  • Jim Crow Era from 1878 to the Great Depression (1878-1932)
  • The New Deal and World War II (1933-1945)
  • The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1946-1975)
  • The Contemporary Era (1976-2000)

This online resource is a part of the POWER Library collection.

POWER Library logo
POWER Library is made possible in part by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Library Access funds administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Office of Commonwealth Libraries. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services or the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The Power Library portal is available at https://powerlibrary.org/