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PS 315: African American Politics

General Sources

UIUC Library Online Catalog: Use the catalog to find items at UIUC in print or online. Some suggested subject terms: African Americans politics and government; African American churches; Civil rights United States (and its subterms).
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications: This catalog searches for government information exclusively. Many of the sources you find here are available in print at UIUC (search the UIUC Library Online Catalog to locate them), or you can access them online directly from this catalog. The same subject terms that work in the UIUC Catalog will work here.
LexisNexis Congressional: This index is a source for tracing the legislative history of U.S. House and Senate bills. If you know of a specific bill or law on your topic you can search by the bill or law number, or you can use the CIS/Index link to search using LexisNexis's subject terms.
LexisNexis Statistical: Use the Search Abstracts screen to find LexisNexis subject terms; you can also limit your search for statistics to statistics that are compiled for various geographies, economic characteristics, and demographic characteristics (like race).
LexisNexis Academic: This is an index of regional, national, and international news sources. Coverage dates are different for each source, so it is important to check the source list before doing a search of a specific publication. The Chicago Sun-Times is included here; the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Defender must be searched through Newsbank.

Some Specific Sources

Facts on the Black or African American Population: This site from the U.S. Census Bureau compiles some of the information collected about African Americans during the 1990 and 2000 censuses. American Factfinder contains more detailed statistics on race: go to Data Sets, then choose Summary File 1 for race and population data or Summary File 3 for social and economic data by race. For statistics on the racial composition of each Congressional district, choose 109th Congressional District Summary File (100-Percent).
Congressional Research Service reports: These reports are prepared at the request of members of Congress. They are not widely distributed, but several organizations have posted selected reports online. The Law Librarians' Society of Washington D.C. has compiled many of these links, as well as posting some reports.
Congressional Black Caucus: This group of African American members of Congress works together on legislative issues important to the African American community.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: This commission tracks issues like discrimination in voting and employment.
Electronic Reading Room: This site from the FBI contains internal files it has released under the Freedom of Information Act on a wide variety of persons, organizations, and events, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers, and many more.