The black experience in America has been one of pain, struggle, and perseverance, placed against a backdrop of cultural identity that would not be beaten down or eradicated in the face of adversity. Filling the void of incompletely documented history, The Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History emerges as an authoritative, multi-volume work.
This encyclopedia introduces readers to the significant people, events, socio-political movements, and ideas that have shaped African American life from the earliest contact between African peoples and Europeans through the late 20th century. It is a valuable reference set, especially for schools looking to add to their collection for International Baccalaureate resources.
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Scope and Coverage
Focusing on the making of African American society, this encyclopedia traces the transition from the Reconstruction Era to the age of Jim Crow, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Migration, the Brown ruling that overturned Plessy, the Civil Rights Movement, and the ascendant influence of African American culture on the American cultural landscape.
The encyclopedia places the African American experience in the context of the entire African diaspora, with entries organized in sections on:
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- African/European contact and enslavement
- Culture
- Resistance and identity during enslavement
- Political activism from the Revolutionary War to Southern emancipation
- Political activism from Reconstruction to the modern Civil Rights movement
- Black nationalism and urbanization
- Pan-Africanism and contemporary black America
The Encyclopedia of African American History contains approximately 1,200 fully cross-referenced entries that are all signed by leading scholars and experts, making this five-volume set the most reliable and extensive treatment to be found on African American history in the twentieth century. Unrivalled in breadth and scope, this is the preeminent source of information on this topic and is destined to become a trusted reference source for years to come.
The Harlem Renaissance | A Cultural Explosion in the 1920s | 5 Minute World History
Key Features
The set also contains 500 images and roughly 640 biographies, as well as an entry on each of the fifty states. In addition to its comprehensive coverage of African Americans, the Encyclopedia also contains entries about key figures who affected the lives of African Americans in particular and Americans in general.
Examples of Jim Crow Laws
Publication Details
One notable edition of this comprehensive work is:
- Finkelman, Paul. Encyclopedia of African American History 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-First Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. 5 volumes. xxvii, 526; 523; 515; 498; 517 pp., illustrations.
This five-volume set is structured as follows:
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- Vol. 1: A-C
- Vol. 2: D-I
- Vol. 3: J-N
- Vol. 4: O-T
- Vol. 5: U-Y, Chronology, Index
Edited by David Lionel Smith, Jack Saltzman, and Cornel West, this work documents African American culture and political activism from the slavery era through the 20th century. It is a fresh compilation of essays and entries based on the latest research.
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