For the ones searching the history of African Americans, a number of databases come to mind, which usually include:
- The famous Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City
- The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University
- The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University are well recognized for research in black life and culture.
These are the sources that most scholars of African American history should consider first. Nevertheless, the National Archives is also a rich collection of data concerning African American history.
The American Historical Association, is preserving the records of the National Government as memorials of national advancement and as stuff which historians must utilize to look for the truth, and be mindful that the records are in many cases now deposited where they are in risk of demolition from fire and in places which are not adjusted to their protection, and where they are unapproachable for the managerial and historical matters, and knowing that many of the records of the Government have in the past been destroyed or lost because suitable setting for their preservation and care was not provided, the Congress of the United States should take steps to devote a national archive collection, in the city of Washington where the records of the of the Government may be preserved, properly cared for, and conserved.
These state records, which involve all the periods of American history, are helpful in investigation, research, and writing about American history generally and about African American culture and life in particular.
With the launching of the National Archives for the general public in November 11, 1935, this rich written inheritance of the United States—in the form of the federal archives—not only got preserved permanently but also became accessible for research and students.
More than two hundred years of American governance have produced an enormous number of histories, and in that lies the trouble of research at the National Archives. Many scholars are overwhelmed by the vastness of these means of archives. And the data is not only huge; it is also difficult and often confusing, as they echo the complicated and hierarchical constructions of the governmental networks that shaped them in the first place. The interconnectedness of federal databases often means that researchers feel lost in the mess of paper tracks.
Federal activity was increased to two-folds in the era after World War II, with a balanced increase in the number of records available for research. These records caught a remarkable sum of information about the postwar American society, and also about the modern movement of civil rights (1945–65). Scholars researching the history especially 20th-century U.S. history will therefore find many new and authentic at the National Archives. Researchers of African American history will particularly, have more sources available now. The need to discover these sources and expand upon topics is even more important. The possessions of the National Archives are a means that should be considered in any research of African American and American histories.