Librarian
More Resources
- Catalog (Penn State University Libraries catalog) This link opens in a new windowThe easiest way to locate a biography is to do a Browse Subject search in The CAT. Enter the name of the individual as the subject. For autobiographies do an Author search.
Many people are not famous enough to have entire books devoted to them (or you may not need that much information!). In these cases try a biographical dictionary or encyclopedia. Typically they provide a brief essay summarizing the individual's life and accomplishments. The ones below will get you started.
- Oxford African-American Studies CenterContains African American National Biography.
- American National Biography Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes research topic: Black History - a small, highly selective set of articles.
- Contemporary Black BiographyOnline through Gale Virtual Reference Library.
- Faces of Science: African-Americans in the SciencesProfiles of African-Americans who have contributed to the advancement of science and technology.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new windowIncludes volumes from Contemporary Black Biography and Notable Black American Men.
- Catalog (Penn State University Libraries catalog) This link opens in a new windowThe library has acquired paper and microfilm source materials by and about prominent African-Americans. One approach is to search in The CAT. Use the person's name combined with one of the following terms: "Letters, Papers, Sources, Correspondence, Diary/Diaries, Archives".
Primary Source materials beyond Penn State
Many primary sources have not been published and can only be accessed at the library or archive holding the original documents. Collections in other libraries, historical societies, and archives can be located through electronic databases available to Penn State-affiliated faculty, staff, and students.
- ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new windowArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
- WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch) This link opens in a new windowAccess to catalog records of archival and manuscript collections in the OCLC database.
You can find documents for some individuals online.
For example: