This digital collection illuminates specific moments in the history of Ohio's African-Americans and provides an overview of their experiences during the time period 1850 to 1920 in the words of the people that lived them. The story of the African-American Experience in Ohio 1850-1920 is more diverse and complex than this collection can adequately portray. All we can hope is to provide the researcher with a place to begin.

The African-American Experience in Ohio 1850-1920 is a digital collection brought together from a number of individual sources specifically for this project. These sources include manuscript collections, newspaper articles, serials, photographs, and pamphlets. It was our intention to bring together as many diverse sources as possible to provide evidence of the diversity and complexity of African-American culture during this time period and to let those sources tell their own story without interpretation.

This digital collection of historical documents is part of "American Memory", an online resource by the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program and was brought to you with the assistance of an award from The Library of Congress / Ameritech National Digital Library Competition.

Disclaimer for Historical Materials:
This site contains some historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a period or place. The Ohio Historical Society is presenting these items as part of the historical record.