LibGuides: Writing 101: The Slave Narrative: Slave narratives & pre-1900 publications

Slave narrative collections

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writer's Project, 1936-1938
contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration (WPA).
North American Slave Narratives
This collection includes all the existing autobiographical narratives of self-emancipated and formerly enslaved people published as broadsides, pamphlets, or books in English up to 1920. Also included are many of the biographies of self-emancipated and formerly enslaved people and some significant fictionalized first-person accounts of enslavement published in English before 1920.

African American Newspapers (1827-1998)
Search across the full-text of African-American newspapers
African American Newspapers: The 19th Century
Search for news articles from major African-American newspapers published in the United States during the 19th century
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times
Search for news articles from the New York Times from 1851-2019

American Slavery Documents Collection (Rubenstein Library)
Rubenstein Library collection containing an assortment of legal and personal documents related to slavery in the United States.

Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new window
Black Abolitionist Papers searches a unique set of primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States between 1830 and 1865. The content includes letters, speeches, editorials, articles, sermons, and essays from libraries and archives in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. Over 15,000 items written by nearly 300 Black men and women are available for searching.
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Search primary sources related to the history of slavery from the 15th through the early 20th century
Slavery and the Law This link opens in a new window
Search petitions submitted to state legislatures and county courthouses on race, slavery and free blacks, 1775-1867.