Skip to Main Content

Africana Studies Subject Guide — Black New England

Interdisciplinary guide for Africana/African American Studies

Black New England

This page features a small selection of UConn library and external resources to support learning and research pertaining to Black history in Connecticut and New England. This list is meant to be exploratory and is not a comprehensive representation or list of the library's holdings.

For additional assistance, please contact Stephanie Birch, Research Services Librarian for Africana Studies at stephanie.birch@uconn.edu.

New England - General

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

Films

Digital Projects

Agents of Change: The Founding and Impact of the African-American Student Union by Harvard Business School. An online exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the African American Student Union at Harvard Business School, founded in 1968. The exhibit examines the African American experience at HBS from 1915 to 1990 and focuses on the establishment and impact of AASU on Black students and the institution.

Colored Conventions Project by the University of Delaware. An interdisciplinary research hub using digital tools to trace and preserve the history of 19th-century Black organizing. CCP uses innovative, inclusive partnerships to locate, transcribe, and archive documentary records related to the 70-year history of "Colored Convention" meetings across the US cities during the antebellum and reconstruction periods. These meetings were significant for strategizing and organizing around racial justice in the 19th century. Numerous meetings were held in the New England region.

Curating the MIT Black Experience by MIT. A digital archival collection documenting the experiences and contributions of Black life at MIT since the Institute's founding in 1861.

Hartford Bound: The Story of Race, Migration and Mobility in Hartford by Fiona Vernal and James Kolb. Explores the history of migration, housing, settlement, community formation, and succession through the lens of Hartford, focusing on three waves of migration (African American, Puerto Rican, and West Indian) that transformed the city's ethnic and racial landscapes in the 20th century.

Massachusetts Hip Hop Archive by MIT. A digital collection of recordings from Lecco’s Lemma radio program, a rap music show that was founded by Magnus Johnstone, which ran from 1985 to 1988 on local college radio stations WMBR (88.1 FM) and WZBC (90.3 FM). Collection also includes cassette images, original photographs, videotape recordings, flyers, promotional materials, unique publications and magazines, letters, diaries, and other first-hand accounts.

Slavery and the U.S. Supreme Court: The Amistad Case by Amistad Research Center at Tulane University. A digital collection of over 300 primary source documents relating to the 1839 United States v. Amistad Supreme Court case.

Venture Smith Project by David Richardson and Chandler B. Saint. Using interdisciplinary research methods, this project traces the life of Broteer Furro (aka Venture Smith), who was captured and sold into slavery at Fort Anomabo on coast of Ghana, then transported to Barbados, and eventually Rhode Island.

CT Black Heritage Sites

Amistad Center for Arts and Culture | Hartford, CT -- A collection of over 7,000 works of art, artifacts, and archival materials documenting more than 300 years of Black American life.

Ancient Burying Ground | Hartford, CT -- The city's oldest are foremost graveyard, dating back to the 1640s and the first English settlers. Deceased persons were buried here, regardless of race, age, gender, religion, or ethnic background.

Connecticut Freedom Trail | CT -- Directory of over 150 heritage sites that embody the struggle toward freedom and human dignity, celebrate the accomplishments of the state's African American community, and promote heritage tourism. Includes news, events, and resources.

Discovering Amistad | New Haven, CT -- A replica of La Amistad, a Spanish ship en route to Havana, Cuba that was overtaken by African captives in 1839. The ship was later seized and taken to New London, CT and the men arrested, to be held for trial in a landmark Supreme Court case, United States vs. Amistad. The Court decided in favor of the kidnapped men; 33 men survived and returned to their homelands. Read more about the case.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center | Hartford, CT -- Museum featuring interactive tours, in the former home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the 1852 anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Prudence Crandall Museum | Canterbury, CT -- In 1831, Prudence Crandall opened a private academy for the daughters of the white families of Canterbury and neighboring communities. Sarah Harris approached Crandall and was accepted as the first black woman as a student at the Academy. In 1833, Crandall decided to close the school and re-open it as one exclusively for “young Ladies and Little misses of color”. Over twenty Black women and girls, between the ages of 9 and 22, attended the school. In 1834, a mob attacked the school, resulting in its closure.