Black Periodical Literature Project

Director: Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Managing Editor: Hollis Robbins
 
104 Mt. Auburn Street, Floor 2R
Cambridge, MA 02138
Telephone: 617.495.8508
Fax: 617. 496.2877
 
The Black Periodical Literature Project (BPLP) is devoted to the study of black newspapers published in America between 1827 and 1940.  The BPLP is in the process of preparing for publication and for on-line access to nearly ten thousand pages and items, including not only news and articles, but also commercial, church, and personal advertisements; commentary on contemporary political debates; reviews of cultural events; reprints of addresses to scientific and political societies; controversies concerning church matters; and educational, historical, and travel articles.
 
In an earlier phase of the project, a team collected the fiction, poetry, editorials, and art criticism published in these newspapers; this archive has been collected on microfiche and an index to these items on CD-ROM has been available in most university libraries for a decade.  Last year the archive was transferred to PDF files. The balance of the database is being collated and organized for publication with an academic press for researchers, scholars, genealogists, and students.