Black Panther Party

Historic image of Black Panther waving Free Huey flag
"Panther Flag", photograph by Jonathan Eubanks, 1969, Jonathan Eubanks photograph collection, MS 150, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Huey Newton for U.S. Congress Bobby Seale for state assembly brochure
Huey Newton for U.S. Congress Bobby Seale for state assembly brochure, circa 1968, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
On the ideology of the Black Panther Party Part I Eldridge Cleaver
On the ideology of the Black Panther Party Part I Eldridge Cleaver, circa 1960s, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Black Panther Party Ministry of Information bulletin flyer 1969-12-08
Black Panther Party Ministry of Information bulletin flyer, December 8, 1969, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.

Prepare for a visit to AAMLO with these special topic resource guides.

This resource guide is intended to help users locate holdings at AAMLO related to the Black Panther Party.

It highlights holdings in the following areas:

● Selected Library Material at AAMLO
● Selected Archival Collections at AAMLO

Other collections may contain relevant materials. Please contact AAMLO (aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org) with any questions or to schedule an appointment to view materials in person.

A printable PDF version of this resource guide is available for download.

Selected Library Materials

Black Panther Party buttons
Black Panther Party buttons, various dates, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.

The Black Panther party (reconsidered) edited by Charles E. Jones

In search of the Black Panther Party : new perspectives on a revolutionary movement / Jama Lazerow and Yohuru Williams, editors

Liberation, imagination, and the Black Panther Party : a new look at the Panthers and their legacy / edited by Kathleen Cleaver and George Katsiaficas

Out of Oakland : Black Panther Party internationalism during the Cold War by Sean L. Malloy

The revolution has come : Black power, gender, and the Black Panther Party in Oakland by Robyn C. Spencer

Reappraisal of the Black Panther Party: selected essays for the 21st century by J. Vern Cromartie

American justice on trial : People v. Newton by Lise Pearlman

The Black Panther Party : service to the people programs / the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation ; edited and with an afterword by David Hilliard ; foreword by Cornel West

Homage to the black arts movement : a handbook by Judy Juanita

The Black Panthers [videorecording] : vanguard of the revolution / written, produced and directed by Stanley Nelson ; produced by Laurens Grant ; a co-production of Firelight Films, Inc. and the Independent Television Service (ITVS) ; produced by Firelight Films, Inc

Black Panther members waving Free Huey banners on courthouse steps
Black Panther members waving Free Huey banners [design by Dolores Davis] on courthouse steps, circa 1960s, Oakland Post Photograph collection, MS 169, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Elaine Brown
Portrait of Elaine Brown, circa 1960s, Oakland Post Photograph collection, MS 169, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Oakland Community School letterhead
Oakland Community School letterhead, circa 1970s, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.

Selected Archival Collections

Black Panther Party member serves paper plate of food to children seated at table
Black Panther Party member serves paper plate of food to children seated at table, photograph by Jonathan Eubanks, 1969, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Photograph collection, MS 189, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.

African American Museum & Library at Oakland Oral History Collection. The African American Museum & Library at Oakland Oral History Collection includes 79 oral history interviews conducted in 2002-2007. 

Black Panther Black Community News Service Collection. The Black Panther Black Community News Service Collection consists of 420 newspapers published by the Black Panther Party between 1967-1980. Issues of the The Black Panther are available to view digitally on Alexander Street using your Oakland Public Library card.

Image of the Community News Service newspaper
Black Panther Black Community News Service vol. I no. 6, 1967, Black Panther Black Community News Service collection, MS 178, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.

Commemorator Newspaper Collection. The Commemorator newspaper was a newspaper printed in South Berkeley from 1990-2013 by the Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party. The newspaper collection consists of 54 issues of Commemorator newspaper printed from 1990-2012. [View online]

Jonathan Eubanks Photograph Collection. The Jonathan Eubanks Photograph Collection includes seven photographs of Black Panther Party members at a “Free Huey” rally held in 1969, including portraits of prominent party members Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver, and Bobby Seale.

Henry Williams Jr. Film Collection. The Henry Williams Jr. Film Collection consists of 175 films and 3 reel-to-reel audiotapes mostly documenting the Black Panther Party and student and union protest movements of the late 1960s. [View online]

Black power a position paper by Sy Landy and Charles Capper circa 1960s
Black power a position paper by Sy Landy and Charles Capper, circa 1960s, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Black Panther Party National Anthem, December 12, 1969
Black Panther Party National Anthem, December 12, 1969, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
Kathleen Cleaver and members of the Black Panther Party holding rally in front of Alameda County Courthouse
Kathleen Cleaver and members of the Black Panther Party holding rally in front of Alameda County Courthouse, circa 1960s, Oakland Post Photograph collection, MS 169, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
May Day mass rally flyer
May Day mass rally flyer, May 1, 1969, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.
flyer, Community Committee to Elect Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown 1973
Community Committee to Elect Bobby Seale and Elaine Brown flyer, 1973, African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection, MS 179, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library.

Additional Information

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Consult AAMLO's finding aids in the Online Archive of California.

We are working to create new resource guides. Have an idea for a new guide? Contact us at aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org.