Black Life Matters Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: How You Can Help

The Schomburg Center's first Wikipedia Edit-a-thon will give patrons the tools to edit the popular online encyclopedia, with the goal of making black life more visible within its pages. We hope to see you there or at one of the sister events during Black History Month, but if you can't attend in person there are still ways that you can participate wherever you are.

This Saturday, make it a goal to log in and find one underrepresented person or topic that you can add more information about.

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Harlem WPA Street Dance. Image ID: 5180674

How to Edit Wikipedia

How to Improve Articles on Black Life

WikiProject_African_diaspora
Contains support and suggestions of places where you can contribute.

Black_Life_Matters_Editathon#List_of_articles_to_edit
Our suggested topics for the day based on resources available at the Schomburg Center. Feel free to add to this list.

How to Find Reference Materials from the Library

In addition to the many reference books you will be able to pull from our shelves on the day of the Edit-a-thon, you will also have access to hundreds of specialized online databases as long as you are connected to the NYPL network. Databases with an asterisk can also be used, with your library card, from any location.

General Reference

Gale Virtual Reference Library*
Online library of reference titles.

U.S. History in Context*
Variety of historical data from primary sources and reference documents. Includes photographs, illustrations, and maps.

African American Experience*
Full-text digital resource exploring the history and culture of African Americans, as well as the greater Black Diaspora. Geared toward middle school, high school, and undergraduate users. Browse by type of content and by era. 

Black Studies Center
Includes scholarly essays, periodical literature, historical newspaper articles, reference books, and more.

Encyclopedia of African American history, 1619-1895
3 volumes, open shelf  Sc *973.04-E

Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the Present
5 volumes, open shelf:  Sc *973.04-E

News and Periodicals

Proquest Historical African American Newspapers*
Simultaneous search of the Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003), Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988), Chicago Defender (1910-1975), Cleveland Call and Post (1934-1991), Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005), New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921-2003), Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), and the Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002).

New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993)*
Searchable full-text and page images of the leading Black newspaper of the 20th century.

Ethnic NewsWatch
Collection of ethnic, minority, and native newspapers, magazines, and journals published in America.

African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 (Newsbank)
Searchable full-text and page images of over 170 periodicals, published in 26 states, by and about African Americans. Includes academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations' bulletins, and annual reports. 

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 (Newsbank)
270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience from more than 35 states.

Biography

Biography in Context*
Provides biographical information on 600,000+ people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines.

Marquis Who's Who on the Web
Basic biographical information on over 1 million of the most accomplished individuals worldwide from all fields of endeavor.

American National Biography
In depth biographies of more than 18,000 deceased men and women whose lives have helped shape the United States.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Indexes biographical listings in print dictionaries and encyclopedias covering millions individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world. A good resource for researching those who are less well-known or famous. 

African American National Biography
10 volumes, open shelf: Sc *920-A

How to Find Free Online Reference Resources

  • Schomburg Recommended Links is a collection of web resources including book databases, articles, oral histories, images, maps, interviews, and television programs.
  • Online Exhibitions from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
  • Online Books are books digitized from In Motion, The Abolition of the Slave Trade, and African-American Women Writers of the 19th Century.
  • NYPL Digital Collections contains 815,396 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections.