LibGuides: African American History: The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Resources

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Online Collections & Exhibits

Many museums not only have online exhibitions, but they can also house a wealth of information accessed through articles, online publications, videos, images, and resources. Consider the museum websites linked below.

(click on image to enlarge, cited below)

The Abolition Seminar
Created in part from the National Endowment for the Humanities"The Abolition Seminar" is an educational tool designed for students and educators." This website features lesson plans, learning modules, documents, articles, maps, and more.
The Black Abolitionist Archive
From the University of Detroit Mercy, this archive "is a collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period. These important documents provide a portrait of black involvement in the anti-slavery movement; scans of these documents are provided as images and PDF files."
Boston Public Library: Anti-Slavery Collection
A guide of resources, including articles, primary source materials, and more - from the Boston Public Library
Emancipation Petitions - Civil War Washington
This is a collection of digitized petitions from slaves in the District of Columbia seeking emancipation, early 1860s
The Liberator - Historic Newspaper Collection
Access digital copies of "The Boston-based radical abolitionist newspaper The Liberator was published weekly from January 1, 1831 to December 29, 1865. The Liberator was founded and published by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp and was a leading vehicle for unrelenting advocacy of the abolitionist cause and for the immediate and total emancipation of all enslaved persons in the United States."
Library of Congress: The African-American Mosaic
A collection of short articles and primary source documentes pertaining to slavery and the abolition movement in the US
Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Locations Map
An interactive may showing locations of the underground railroad across the United States
New-York Historical Society, Manuscript Collections Relating to Slavery
"The New-York Historical Society holds fifteen important manuscript collections relating to the institution of slavery in the United States and the Atlantic slave trade. They include account books and ship manifests documenting the financial aspects of the slave trade, records of educational institutions and anti-slavery organizations, correspondence and other personal papers of abolitionists, legal documents such as birth certificates and deeds of manumission, and political works."
Online Exhibit: Slavery and Abolitionist Movement (1790-1860)
A part of the "Black Freedom Struggle in the United States" collection, Search through primary source documents covering census info, legislation on race and slavery, slave rebellions, religion, the abolitionist movement, and more.
Underground Railroad - National Park Service
From the Nation Park Service website, this is a collection focused on the Underground Railroad of online exhibits, articles, lesson plans, and more.
The Underground Railroad in Virginia
A collection of resources looking at the underground railroad in the state, focusing on the means of travel at the port; includes topical sections and first hand accounts.

Featured GRC Database: Slavery and Anti-Slavery

There are many databases that have resources on the topics addressed in this guide; however, we wanted to feature this one as it houses 71 collections of primary source documents relating to slavery and the slave trade.

Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Full-text primary sources about slavery and the international slave trade with focus on North and South America.

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Abolitionist Papers and Writings

Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, Emancipated from Bodily Servitude by the State of New York, 1828
View the digitized copy of this early abolitionist's book in the Internet Archive.
John Brown's Correspondence - Digital Collection
Search through digital copies of "Correspondence relating to the abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859), who led the unsuccessful armed slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry, Virginia."
Library of Congress: Frederick Douglass Newspapers, 1847 to 1874
"This online collection presents newspapers edited by Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the African American abolitionist who escaped slavery and became one of the most famous orators, authors, and journalists of the 19th century."
Library of Congress: Frederick Douglass Papers
"The papers of nineteenth-century African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who escaped from slavery and then risked his freedom by becoming an outspoken antislavery lecturer, writer, and publisher, consist of approximately 7,400 items (38,000 images), most of which were digitized from 34 reels of previously produced microfilm."
The Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
From Cornell University, this collection houses searchable, digitized pamphlets and manuscripts and letters from American Abolitionists.
W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, 1803-1999
From the University of Massachusetts Amherst, this collection "Includes over 100,000 items of correspondence (more than three quarters of the papers), speeches, articles, newspaper columns, nonfiction books, research materials, book reviews, pamphlets and leaflets, petitions, novels, essays, forewords, student papers, manuscripts of pageants, plays, short stories and fables, poetry, photographs, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, videotapes, audiotapes, and miscellaneous materials."

The Abolition Movement

Searching Biographies

Consider some of the names of well-known abolitionists listed here, or click on the tabs in this box to see some featured resources on just a few of those who dedicated their lives to ending slavery.

Some Abolitionist Leaders

Sojourner Truth | Harriet Tubman | Susan B. Anthony | Harriet Beecher Stowe

Frederick Douglass | Henry David Thoreau | John Brown |John Quincy Adams

Abigail Adams | Bronson Alcott | Angelina Grimke | Henry Ward Beecher

Mary Ann Shadd Cary | Lydia Marie Child | Ralph Waldo Emerson

William Seward | William Lloyd Garrison | Lucretia Mott | Richard Wright

Articles

Search for short biographies in the following databases:

Biography in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Full-text reference entries, magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, podcasts, and images covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day news makers.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Search for authoritative information in subject encyclopedias selected for courses and programs at Green River College

Ebooks

Books are a great place to find detailed information both about and written by some of these abolitionist leaders. Consider searching the following databases

eBooks -- EBSCO Complete eBooks Collection This link opens in a new window
EBSCO Academic and EBSCO Community College ebooks combined into one search
eBooks -- ProQuest Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Over 52,000 full-text online books for Green River College programs -- Aviation, Business, Computer Technologies, Criminal Justice, English, Humanities, Nursing & Allied Health, Social Sciences, Sciences, Wastewater Technology.

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Civil War Era Biographies by John D. Wright
Call Number: Ebook
Publication Date: 2012

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Podcasts

15 Minute History: Slavery and Abolition
Episode 105 from the University of Texas podcast, 15 Minute History
The Long History of Abolition in America
An episode from "Dig: A History Podcast"
Seizing Freedom (podcast)
"The story of the end of the Civil War you've probably been taught is that the slaves were freed by Northern white men (and maybe a handful of famous Underground Railroad conductors). What's missing? The story of how Black Americans risked their lives to fight for their own visions of what freedom could be—struggling for their dignity in the face of horrific violence. Seizing Freedom tells the stories of these unsung American heroes."
15 Minute History: The Haitian Revolution
Episode 11 from the University of Texas podcast, 15 Minute History
1619 (New York Times Podcast)
"1619 is a New York Times audio series, hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that examines the long shadow of American slavery. "

Source Citation:

PBS. (n.d.). The Underground Railroad. American Experience. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lincolns-underground-railroad/

Holman Library

African American History

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Resources

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Online Collections & Exhibits

Featured GRC Database: Slavery and Anti-Slavery

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Abolitionist Papers and Writings

The Abolition Movement

Searching Biographies

Some Abolitionist Leaders

Articles

Ebooks

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Articles

Background Articles

Scholarly and Popular Source Articles

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Videos

Abolitionist & The Fight for Freedom

The Underground Railroad

The Abolition Movement & Underground Railroad

Featured Podcasts