Ethnic Studies: Article Databases, Primary Resources & Videos

This guide provides interdisciplinary research information to facilitate your research endeavors.

Article Databases & Primary Resources - New & Recommended

American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971
Primary documents from the U.S. National Archives, a series of collections from the Chicago History Museum, plus selected first-hand accounts on Indian Wars and westward migration. The two major collections from the 20th Century are Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and records from the Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes.
Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century
Archival historical documents provide information about the indigenous peoples of the region, the Conquest (la Conquista), colonial rule, religion, struggles for independence, and political, economic, and social progress and issues in newly independent nations.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection, Series 1 & 2
Full-text content from the "Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage" Project, preserving U.S. Hispanic history, literature, and culture from colonial times until 1960. Series 1 focuses on literature and creative works. Series 2 focuses on civil rights leaders, religious thinkers, and women writers in the United States from the late 19th to mid 20th century. 80% of the content is in Spanish. Access to Series 1 was funded by a Student Success Initiative one-time project grant.
Asian American Drama
Contains 252 plays by 42 playwrights, together with information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. Half of these plays have never been published before. Covers the late 19th century through contemporary drama.
Asian Life in America, 1704-today
This primary source collection offers an expansive window into centuries of Asian American history and daily life – as well as the ways popular culture has portrayed and perceived people of Asian descent. Includes Series 1: 1704-1941, Early 18th century to U.S. entry into World War II. Series 2: 1942-2017, World War II to the 21st century. and Series 3: 2018-present, Asian Americans in the 21st century.
Black Life in America: 1704-today
From Black-owned newspapers to mainstream news publications, BLIA offers a window into African American history, culture, and daily life—as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent. Includes Series 1: 1704-1877, Arrival in America through Reconstruction. Series 2: 1878-1975, Jim Crow through the Civil Rights Movement. Series 3: 1976-present, Black History Month to Today.
Black Thought and Culture
100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American Black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history.
Chicago Defender (1909-2010): ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Historical coverage of a Chicago newspaper produced by and for the Black community. Digital images available, fully searchable.
Chicano Database
Recommended
Mexican-American topics and the broader Latinx experience. Includes scholarly, popular, and archival sources.
EBSCOhost eBooks: Diversity & Ethnic Studies
New & Recommended
More than 5,000 ebooks relating to diversity and ethnic studies. All are included in OneSearch, but you can search them directly here.
Ethnic Diversity Source
New & Recommended
Cultures, traditions, social treatment, and lived experiences of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans, among other groups. Includes scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, historical documents, and biographies as well as primary sources such as speeches and interviews.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Recommended
Newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. Includes some Spanish-language publications.
Exploring Race in Society
Designed for students and faculty at the high school and college level to support dialogue on the key issues surrounding systemic racism.
Hispanic Life in America, 1704-today
The experience and impact of Hispanic Americans as recorded by the news media. Includes Series 1, 1704-1942: Spanish colonialism through World War II. Series 2, 1943-2009: Immigration, labor rights and civil rights. Series 3, 2010-Today: Hispanic Americans in the 21st century.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America
Digital archival materials such as treaties, speeches, diaries, historic maps, and travel journals, covering interactions between Native Americans and Europeans from their earliest contact up to the civil rights movement of the 20th century.
Indigenous Newspapers in North America
New & Recommended
Digital images of nearly 200 years of Indigenous print journalism from the US and Canada. With newspapers representing a huge variety in publisher, audience, and era, discover how events were reported by and for Indigenous communities.
Indigenous Peoples of North America, Parts 1 & 2
Archival primary sources such as manuscripts, newspapers, images, and more illustrate the historical experiences, cultural traditions and innovations, and political status of indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada. Includes recods of the Indian Rights Association, 1882-1986.
Japanese American Incarceration: Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946
New & Recommended
Archival records relating to the forced removal of Japanese American citizens and residents from their homes following Pearl Harbor. Documents the day-to-day running of the 10 concentration camps. Records include reports and correspondence on issues such as security, education, health, vocational training, agriculture, food, and family welfare.
Latin American Drama
Plays written by Latin American playwrights in the 19th-21st centuries. Besides serving as a rich resource for literature scholars, the collection also supports the study of American history, ethnic diversity, immigration issues, and political history.
Latin American Women Writers
Complete text of works of literature, memoirs, essays, and more by Latin American women from the colonial period in the 17th century to the present. Text is primarily in Spanish.
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction
More than 100,000 pages of poetry, short fiction, novels, and plays by Latinx/Hispanic authors. Nearly all of the content is in copyright, and most of the other items are long out of print or have never before been published.
Los Angeles Sentinel (1934 - 2010): ProQuest Historical Newspapers
New & Recommended
Historical coverage of a Los Angeles newspaper produced by and for the Black community. Digital images available, fully searchable.
New York Amsterdam News (1922-2010): ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Historical coverage of one the oldest and most influential Black newspapers in the U.S. Digital images available, fully searchable.
North American Indian Drama, 2nd Edition
Contains 244 plays by 48 playwrights representing the stories and creative energies of American Indian and First Nation playwrights of the twentieth century. More than half of the works are previously unpublished.
North American Indian Thought and Culture
Includes autobiographies, biographies, Indian publications, oral histories, personal writings, photographs, drawings, and audio files to provide a comprehensive representation of historical events as told by the individuals who lived through them.
Race Relations in America
New & Recommended
Digitized archival documents covering three pivotal decades in the struggle for civil rights in America through the eyes and work of sociologists, activists, psychologists, teachers, ministers, students and housewives.
Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
Recommended
Tracks citation patterns in the social sciences, from 1985 to the present. Also useful for keyword searching across a broad selection of social sciences journal literature.
Sociological Abstracts
Recommended
Scholarly research in sociology and related fields. Covers journals, books, conference papers, and more.
Twentieth-Century African American Poetry
Modern and contemporary African American poetry, featuring almost 9,000 poems by 62 of the most important African American poets of the last century, including Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Imamu Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde, and Rita Dove.

Useful Article Databases & Primary Resources

America: History and Life
Articles on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada. NOTE: Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
Black Drama, Third Edition
Full text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.
Civil Rights and Social Justice
From Hein Online, this archival database brings together primary and secondary sources on the history of civil rights in the United States as their legal protections and definitions are expanded to cover more and more Americans.
Dissertations & Theses: Humanities & Social Sciences
Covers more than 1 million dissertations and theses. Full text available for most from 1997 to present.
Fuente Académica Plus
Full-text Spanish- and Portuguese-language scholarly journals from Latin America, Portugal and Spain covering all major subject areas, including agriculture, economics, history, law, literature, psychology and sociology.
Handbook of Latin American Studies
Free resource covering scholarly literature on Latin American topics; full text may be available from the library, but is not available within HLAS.
PsycINFO
Major research index for psychology and related fields. Coverage includes journals, book chapters, and dissertations.

Guides to Streaming Videos & Access to Videos

A Helpful Guide on How to Stream Videos

To enhance your awareness and scholarship in Ethnic Studies, the library has access to streaming videos of documentaries and newsreel footage as well as image archives. These often include interviews with witnesses to various modern-day and historical events including film footage and still photographs.

A Faculty Guide to Streaming Video

Student Access Guide to Kanopy Videos

California Newsreel focuses on issues surrounding race and ethnicity with unlimited access to all videos for CSUSB users. You must sign-in to gain access through the following link:.

California Newsreel Videos at Kanopy