African American Newspaper Database brought to library
By Bo Bartley
"The library’s new African American Newspaper database has proven to be a beneficial tool for graduate student Sarah Patterson, whose research focuses on African American women in print culture.
The university library acquired online access this summer to an extensive database that will be used for graduate research and by several classes according to library officials.
Patterson said she started a petition for the library to acquire the collection, which was signed by over 90 students, professors and administrators. She said English professor Pier Gabrielle Foreman was in support of the university obtaining the collection and she plans to use the database in several of her classes.
The new opportunity excited Foreman. She said for many years, African American political, cultural and economic activities were not viewed by mainstream print and academic institutions.
“While the personal papers and intellectual contributions of local, regional and national Anglo Americans leaders were often catalogued and archived in repositories, this generally wasn’t so for Black, Latino and women leaders, among others,” she said."