ProQuest to Make Authoritative Record of the Global Abolitionist Movement Available Online for the First Time
ProQuest has culled a key resource from its microfilm vault to create a new, comprehensive digital record of the 19th century African American movement to abolish slavery in the United States and its territories. Available fall 2009, Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830–1865, is an authoritative record of the international abolitionist movement from the Black perspective. The collection’s 14,000 primary source materials include hand-written letters, published speeches, editorials, articles, sermons, and essays from archives across the U.S., Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Jamaica. Previously many of these rare documents were only available on microfilm. Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830–1865 will be available as a standalone resource, or as an add-on module for Black Studies Center<sup><small>™</sup></small>.
“Fundamental to ProQuest’s mission is developing resources that illuminate vital pieces of our collective past,” said Mary Sauer-Games, vice president of publishing for ProQuest. “We’re continuing to mine our vault for gems of information, such as the Black Abolitionist Papers, and combine them with our renowned technology to make deep historical research easier and more widely accessible than ever.”
Black abolitionists were highly instrumental in bringing the issue of slavery to the consciousness of international society in the 35 years before the start of the U.S. Civil War. Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830–1865, is the largest collection of materials that identifies almost 300 antebellum African-American activists and provides a voice to these reformers who were a persuasive force in the 19th-century anti-slavery movement, but who have been virtually ignored in most existing accounts of history. Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830–1865, provides a pristine, unequalled record of the activism of the Black community. The collection offers an extraordinary opportunity for historical research and teaching. Some of the subjects covered include northern/southern separatism within the church, black colonization and emigration, black political action, church support of black educational institutions, and black intellectual and social life.
Black Abolitionist Papers, 1830–1865 is the latest addition to ProQuest’s suite of resources to support the study and teaching of Black History, including the Black Studies Center, ProQuest Historical Newspapers Black Newspapers, The HistoryMakers®, Twentieth Century African American Poetry, African Writers Series, ProQuest Civil War Era, Ethnic NewsWatch™ and The African American Biographical Database. For more information on ProQuest diversity resources visit www.proquest.com.
About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.
More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.
For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.