The Florida Electronic Library has resources for all ages to explore during Black History Month. These include:
•The Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 2nd edition, 2006: a five-volume set and supplement — available as a free e-book — that covers the African-American experience from 1619 to today.
It uses biographies, historical essays and thematic pieces — many written by foremost scholars — to address a wide array of subjects. More than 2,300 articles define the African-American community's cultural roots, participation in American life and current condition.
Go to the library’s website, click on the Electronic Resources page on the left, scroll down and click on the “Gale Virtual Reference Library” icon, enter your 14-digit library card number and choose the multicultural studies subject tab to access the e-book.
•The Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services' Florida Memory website features biographies on athletes, civil rights leaders, scientists, musicians and more; literature written by African-Americans; audio and video recordings of noteworthy Floridians; and historically significant documents.
Go to The Florida Memory website, click on “Classroom,” and then “Black History” in the upper left corner.
•The Digital Library on American Slavery is another primary source offering data on race and slavery. Information is extracted from 18th- and 19th-century legislative petitions and county court petitions, and from a wide range of related documents, including wills, inventories, deeds, bills of sale, depositions, court proceedings and amended petitions.
Buried in these documents are the names and other data on roughly 80,000 individual slaves, 8,000 free people of color, and 62,000 whites, both slave owners and non-slave owners.
See that and more at the digital library website.
Sandra Dreaden is the Crestview Public Library's reference librarian.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CHECK IT OUT: Black History Month electronic resources available