Scope

This Research Guide focuses on the civil rights movements in the United States in the 1960s. Sources cover mainly African Americans, but include American Indians, Hispanic Americans, women, gays and people with disabilities. Suggested database searches lead to articles about select major figures and events of the movements. Information about events not included in the suggested searches may be found in the books in the Overview section or in the listed web sites. Some sources cover events prior to the 1960s and/or current issues.

Overview

Civil Rights in the United States
College Library Reference Collection: E 184 A1 C47 2000

Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America
College Library Reference Collection: E 185.61 E544 1998

African American Encyclopedia
College Library Reference Collection: E 185 A253 1993
Refer to Civil Rights topics in volume 2, pages 311-327

Encyclopedia of American Indian Civil Rights
College Library Reference Collection: KF 8210 C5 E53 1997

ABC-CLIO Companion to the Disability Rights Movement
College Library Reference Collection: HV 1553 P42 1997

Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America
College Library Reference Collection: HQ 76.3 U5 E53 2004
Refer to Civil Rights topics in index

The USA Patriot Act of 2001: Balancing Civil Liberties and National Security
College Library Reference Collection: KF 4850 B35 2004

Women's Issues
College Library Reference Collection: HQ 1115 W6425 1997
Refer to Civil Rights topics in volume 1, pages 143-157

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 1992 (updated daily)
Britannica Online is a searchable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest encyclopedia articles. Basic instructions for Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

"Brown v Board of Education"
Greensboro and sit-in*
"Freedom Summer"
"Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee"
"Martin Luther King" and "March on Washington"
"United Farm Workers of America"
Indians and Alcatraz and occupation
"National Organization for Women"
Stonewall and "gay rights"
"Americans with Disabilities Act"

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

America: History and Life 1964- (updated monthly)
Indexes and abstracts more than 1700 social science and humanities journals in the field of United States and Canadian history. (See Historical Abstracts for non-North American coverage.) Links to full-text articles are included when available. Books and dissertations are included. Basic instructions for America: History and Life

ERIC 1966 - to date
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) contains citations and abstracts of the international journal and report literature in education and related fields. Subjects include all aspects of education, including child development, classroom techniques, computer education, counseling and testing, administration, higher education, and library science. Basic instructions for ERIC

Ethnic NewsWatch 1960 - to date (updated monthly)
A full-text collection of more than 200 newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. Basic instructions for Ethnic Newswatch

GenderWatch 1980 - to date (updated quarterly)
A women's and gender issues database with full-text coverage of most journals. Basic instructions for GenderWatch

Humanities Full Text 1984 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 400 scholarly journals on archaeology, classical studies, art, film, folklore, history, journalism, linguistics, literature, music, performing arts, philosophy and religion. Basic instructions for Humanities Full Text

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe Dates Vary (updated daily)
Contains the full-text articles from U.S. and international newspapers (including the New York Times, June 1980 - to date), as well as some news and business magazines and trade journals. The truncation symbol is an exclamation point (!). Basic instructions for Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe

ProQuest Newspapers Dates Vary (updated weekly)
Indexes articles from 41 national and Wisconsin newspapers; includes full text for most. The truncation symbol is a question mark (?). Basic instructions for ProQuest Newspapers

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world. The full-text of the articles is not available in the database. Basic instructions for PAIS

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on civil rights can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"civil rights movements" and "United States"
"Civil Rights Act"
women and "civil rights"
(homosexual or gay) and "civil rights"
"Indians of North America" and "civil rights"
"Hispanic Americans" and "civil rights"
"Asian Americans" and "civil rights"
"civil rights movements" and "African Americans"
"voting rights" and "United States"
veterans and "civil rights"
labor and "civil rights"

Internet Sites

American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council
http://www.aimovement.org/
This site mainly addresses current and on-going issues such as sports mascots and the Leonard Peltier case. Click on "AIM-GGC Profile" to read a history and chronology of the American Indian Movement, founded in 1968.

Citizen King
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/mlk/
This is the web site of a PBS documentary on the last five years of the life of Martin Luther King. Click on the "The Film & More" then "Primary Sources" for speeches and writings from King and other civil rights figures. Also, watch video of King, Malcolm X and others from the 1963 WGBH broadcast of "The Negro and the American Promise."

Civilrights.org
http://www.civilrights.org/
A collaboration of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, civilrights.org provides relevant and timely civil rights news and information. The library contains extensive information on hate crimes and affirmative action.

The Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/drilm/
This site, from UC Berkeley, contains oral histories and audio and video clips from individuals and organizations in the disability rights movement. Searchable by person/organization or subject.

Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/
This site contains scanned and transcribed documents from Duke University Special Collections on the Women's Liberation Movement. Documents focus on the 1960s and 1970s and are divided into 8 categories: General and Theoretical, Medical and Reproductive Rights, Music, Organizations and Activism, Sexuality and Lesbian Feminism, Socialist Feminism, Women of Color and Women's Work and Roles.

History and Politics Out Loud
http://www.hpol.org/master.php?t=browse&s=date&date=1960-01-01--1969-01-01
"HPOL is a searchable multimedia database documenting and delivering authoritative audio relevant to American history and politics." This link goes directly to audio from the 1960s. Scan the list to find addresses from Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Lyndon B. Johnson and more.

Reporting Civil Rights
http://www.reportingcivilrights.org/
"This site, a companion to The Library of America's Reporting Civil Rights, presents the reporters and journalism of the American Civil Rights Movement." The site features writer profiles, a timeline for 1941 through 1973, and "Perspectives on Reporting," which features personal recollections from reporters active in that era.

Viva Cesar E. Chavez!
http://www.cesarechavezinstitute.org/home/
From the Cesar E. Chavez Institute at San Francisco State University, this site includes articles, interviews, speeches, photos, documents and links about Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers of America. Viewed best in Mozilla or Firefox.

Voices of Civil Rights
http://www.voicesofcivilrights.org/
This is the web site of a project by the Library of Congress, the AARP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights to "collect and preserve personal accounts of America's struggle to fulfill the promise of equality for all." Click on "The Voices" to access oral histories of those involved in the movement. Search by subject, year, location or person.

Videos

4 Little Girls
College Library Open Book Videos (DVD): D Four little
College Library Ethnic Studies Collection (VHS): F 334 B69 A24 1998

Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement
College Library Ethnic Studies Collection: E 185.615 E9 2006

Guantanamo
College Library Main Collection: DS 371.414 G83 2005

In Whose Honor?
College Library Ethnic Studies Collection: E 98 E85 I52 1997

Freedom on My Mind
College Library Ethnic Studies Collection: E 185.615 F74 1994

Mississippi, America
College Library Ethnic Studies Collection: E 185.93 M6 M577 1998

Persons of Interest
College Library Main Collection: HV 6432 P477 2004

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
College Library Ethnic Studies Collection: E 185.61 R57 2004

Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
College Library Main Collection: JC 599 U5 U62 2004

XXI Century, Part 2: And the Pursuit of Happiness
College Library Main Collection: E 902 A1252 2003

Organizations

National Civil Rights Museum
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/
450 Mulberry Street
Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: (901) 521-9699

NAACP Milwaukee Branch
http://www.naacp.org/index.html
2745 N Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 203
Milwaukee, WI 53212
Phone: (414) 562-1000

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin
http://aclu.org/
207 E. Buffalo Street, Suite 325
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: (414) 272-4032