American MemoryThe National Digital Library Program: Archived Documentation

The Library of Congress / Ameritech National Digital Library Competition (1996-1999)

Image from collection

Ohio Historical Society

The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920

Amount of award: $72,844

The digital collection of 22,000 pages of primary material--manuscript, printed text, and images--will be selected from a number of separate collections and grouped into five major categories: slavery, abolition, Underground Railroad, and Civil War; African-American politics and government; African-American religion; African-American newspapers; and images of African-Americans. The history of black Ohio from 1850 to 1920 is a story of slavery and freedom, segregation and integration, religion and politics, migrations and restrictions, harmony and discord, and struggles and successes. To generalize about these experiences is to miss their diversity and variation from place to place and from time to time. This collection of primary source material will provide an overview of the African-American experience in Ohio and illuminate specific moments of that history.

Online Collection
Image Caption:
Charles Young in Military Uniform. (National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, Ohio. The Charles Young Collection. Call Number: 83-1)