Voices of the Spirit: Sources for Interpreting the African American Experience

This annotated bibliography on African American history includes several types of resources, including books, traveling exhibits available from the Smithsonian Institution, and videotapes. Classic works by nineteenth-century pioneers in African American history are listed, as well as those by such contemporary scholars as John Blassingame, Darlene Hine, and John Hope Franklin. The books were published from 1883 to 1993. Glover is a librarian who has specialized in collection development with an emphasis on African American materials. Six chapters are arranged by genre and historical period. In chapter 1 are reference books, while chapter 2 addresses collective biography and genealogy. Chapter 3 includes historiographic works. Surveys of general history comprise chapter 4, and historical works by chronological period are in chapters 5 and 6. Within each chapter, materials are alphabetized by the author or producer's last name. Books of primary documents appear at the end of each chapter in a separately alphabetized section. Each section has introductory notes, giving its scope, purpose, and focus. The letters P, E, and V are used to denote photographic books, exhibits, and videotapes. The lengthy annotations (sometimes more than a page) are evaluative and often refer to other books on the subject. Closing the work are author-title and subject indexes. Voices of the Spirit was developed to assist in the establishment of African American collections for secondary and undergraduate schools. It will be useful in school media centers and community college libraries; public libraries will want a copy, too