How to Research Black History is designed to introduce you to a wide range of historical sources for researching black history. It is arranged in three parts:

Sources – here you will find a variety of historical documents and artefacts including material from archive, library, and museum collections and the landscape and buildings around us. Behind each image in the montage are three examples of a particular type of information resource. Before you explore the sources you should read the commentary which will explain the wider context for the sources and introduce issues of which you should be aware when undertaking research. As these commentaries are only our interpretation of the sources, and yours may well be different, we have also provided a notepad facility so that you can write you own interpretation of the material.

The Case Study gives an example of how we attempted to answer a particular historical puzzle by trying to identify a black school girl who lived in Birmingham in 1913. Again, read the commentary to see where we started and where we found the sources to help us. Then explore the sources we used through the clicking on the images in the montage.

Resources lists books and websites that you might find useful in starting your own research.