Other
Black History Canada : The Arts
An informative look at the influence of African music in Canada.
Other
Africlassical: Black History and Classical Music
Africlassical profiles musicians and composers of African descent since the time of Mozart.
Other
African Genesis: Black Gospel Music
This Black Gospel Music site provides information on the history, artists, and spirituality of black gospel music.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Aretha Franklin
Read about the life history of the "Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin. In 1987, she was the first woman inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Indiana University
Archives of African American Music and Culture
Contains resources on black culture and music from the early 1900s to the present.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Poetry of Liberation
This unit examines poetry of the postmodernism period, focusing on the Beat Movement, Black Arts Movement, feminism, and other related movements and periods in recent literary history. An extensive list of authors, time line, video, and...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Slavery & the Making of America
Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, discover how the arts of Africa, Europe, and pre-Civil War America influenced the culture of enslaved African Americans.
A&E Television
History.com: Muhammad Ali: Boxing Legend ... And 2 Time Grammy Nominee
In 1964, the fighter was up for the music honor for a comedy album. Twelve years later, he was nominated again. The accomplishments of Muhammad Ali are renowned: Olympic gold medalist, heavyweight boxing champion, humanitarian, civil...
PBS
Pbs: Jazz Timeline
With this timeline, learn about how the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial oppression impacted the rise of jazz in America. Also highlights the achievements of women, including Viola Smith in this world of music....
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition
Article explores the influence of jazz on African American literature from the early history of jazz, noted jazz artists, the black-white tensions within jazz, to its literary influence after World War II.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Langston Hughes
This resource focuses on the works of famous African-American author, Langston Hughes.
PBS
Pbs: Music, Slavery and the Civil War
This lesson could serve as the basis of a curriculum unit on slavery and/or the Civil War. Spirituals are analyzed, especially their cultural implications.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: A Guide Through the Culture of the Blues
An extraordinary curriculum unit to teach blues and all its cultural implications.
Library of Congress
Loc: Lyrical Legacy: 400 Years of American Song and Poetry
Explore eighteen American songs and poems each represented by an original primary source document, along with historical background information and, in many cases, sound recordings and alternate versions.
Other
The Minstrel Show: Preface
Richard Moody does a fine job with a general description of a minstrel show. He gives background information on the history and development over the years. There are many links in the left-hand column for more information.
Scott Alexander
Lucille Bogan ( Bessie Jackson)
Information on the life and discography of blues artist Lucille Bogan, also known as Bessie Jackson. Includes audio samples.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: The Soul Stirrers
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History features the Soul Stirrers, an American gospel group who were one of the first male quintets and one of the most enduring male groups. Several singers emerged from the...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Janet Jackson
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Janet Jackson, an American singer and actress whose increasingly mature version of dance-pop music made her one of the most popular recording artists of the 1980s and '90s.