!["The King is Dead: It's All Over Now" [ Photograph of marchers protesting the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. ] Razorback Yearbook 1968 http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/Civilrights/id/182/rec/10](https://librariesblog.uark.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/81/2017/01/1968RazorbackKingisDead.png)
Photograph of marchers protesting the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. Razorback Yearbook 1968 http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/Civilrights/id/182/rec/10
As the world honors the legacy of Dr. King this week, take a moment to explore a new collection from the University Libraries: ProQuest History Vault: The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century, Federal Government Records. This database offers primary source documents on the political side of the freedom movement, the role of civil rights organizations in pushing for civil rights legislation, and the interaction between African Americans and the federal government in the 20th century.
Major collections in this module include:
- FBI Files on Dr. King
- Centers of the Southern Struggle, an exceptional collection of FBI Files covering five of the most pivotal arenas of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s: Montgomery, Albany, St. Augustine, Selma, and Memphis
- records from the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Carter administrations
- Department of Justice files on civil rights cases, 1914-1949
- records on African Americans in the military
- records pertaining to labor and the Great Migration
- files relating to school desegregation
- New Deal Agencies and Black America
- FBI files related to Black Power organizations, including surveillance of Huey Newton and Eldridge Cleaver of the Black Panther Party and WWI-era files on the Garvey movement
- records pertaining to civil disturbances, from St. Louis in 1917 to Los Angeles in 1922
- Peonage Files of the U.S. Department of Justice, 1901-1945
- records of the Tuskegee Airmen
Beyond searching by keyword, personal name, or government agency, this collection offers several ways to explore the documents. A LibGuide from ProQuest offers links to high points for selected places, people, events, and themes. Browse by broad topic, such as:
- Anti-Vietnam War Movement
- Black Power Movement
- Civil Rights Legislation
- Civil Rights Movement
- Colleges and Universities
- Criminal Cases and Law Enforcement
- Elections
- Fairs and Expositions
- Immigration
- International Diplomacy
- Labor Disputes and Strikes
- Riots
- Slaves and Slavery
- Sports and Athletics
- Student Organizations
- Violence and Assassination
- War on Poverty
- Women’s Rights
- World War II
Interactive timelines, such as the one below for labor disputes and strikes, allow you to select documents by topic and time period.
History Vault offers the perfect compliment to manuscript materials on the Civil Rights struggle in Special Collections, including materials related to the integration crisis at Central High, the history of Southland College, the early records of Branch Normal College (later University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), and the Fayetteville campus Black Americans for Democracy newspaper.