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 Native Americans and African Americans, recognizing Afro-Indigenous histories and the shared connections of Black and Indigenous peoples.
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.
Selected Library Materials
Africans and Native Americans: the Language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples by Jack D. Forbes
Afro-Americans in the Far West: a Handbook for Educators by Jack D. Forbes
Black Indians: a Hidden Heritage by William Loren Katz
Our Land Before We Die: the Proud Story of the Seminole Negro by Jeff Guinn
African Americans and Native Americans in the Creek and Cherokee Nations, 1830s to 1920s by Katja May
Crossing Waters, Crossing Worlds the African Diaspora in Indian Country edited by Tiya Miles and Sharon P. Holland
Confounding the Color Line The Indian-Black Experience in North America edited by James F. Brooks
Black Indian Genealogy Research by Angela Y. Walton-Raji
Selected Archival Collections
Jesse W. and Marcella Ford Papers. Marcella Ford (1900-2001) was born on August 30, 1900 in Athens Georgia and raised in Chicago, Illinois the daughter of a Baptist minister. In addition to Ford's lifelong career as an African American history teacher and education consultant, together with her husband Jesse W. Ford, she was a founding member of the East Bay Negro Historical Society. As an educator, Ford worked with Cherokee students at Shaw University, and later with Otomi students in the Toluca Valley, Mexico. After moving to California, Ford served as chairman of the Indian Committee for the Northern California Council of Churches and as a Board member for the Intertribal Friendship House (IHF) of Oakland for 14 years. During her tenure on the board, she helped sponsor fund raising campaigns, program development, recreational activities, and assisted with the relocation of the IHF from its original location to a new building on 11th and Fallon Streets.
The Jesse W. and Marcella Ford Papers include a 1979 oral history with Marcella Ford conducted by the Intertribal Friendship House, in which she discusses her early involvement as a volunteer and Board member. Topics include Ford's background and training, her relationship with Indigenous communities of present-day California, the early history of the IHF, and founding administrators of the IHF including Walter Lasley. The papers also include various correspondence, brochures, pamphlets, and ephemera related to the Intertribal Friendship House.
Mayme C. Netherland Collection. Mayme (Mary) C. Netherland (1877-1973) was born to Oscar Thomas Jackson and Mary Ellen Jackson (née Scott) in Oakland, California. Her maternal grandfather, John Scott (1815-1916), was born enslaved in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. At the age of 23, he escaped and lived among the Cherokee people. During this time, he helped other enslaved people escape along the Underground Railroad.
Gladys Jordan Papers. Gladys Meriwether Jordan, pioneer educator and first African American woman to teach at the Emeryville High School, was born November 16, 1910 in Boynton, Oklahoma. Her mother, Susie Brown Meriwether, was a native of Oklahoma and member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Jordan finished her studies at Langston University in Oklahoma, then the only college in Oklahoma that admitted African American students, receiving her degree in 1941.
W. Hazaiah Williams Papers. Includes subject files on assorted civil rights and theological topics assembled by theologian, civil rights activist, and educator William Hazaiah Williams Jr. (1930-1999). The subject files include copies of the Alcatraz Indians of All Tribes newsletter [Volume 1, Number 1] and the article " Why We Are on Alcatraz.” by Indians of All Tribes, Inc.
Black Panther Community News Service Collection. Issues of the Black Panther Black Community News Service and The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service feature articles in support of and reports on American Indian Movement activism, including the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz by Indians of All Tribes (IOAT), and the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation.
Ronald V. Dellums Congressional Papers. Include legislative bills and subject and staff files created during Ronald V. Dellums's 27-year career as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Selected files pertain to:
- H.R. 8937 - Indian Education Act of 1971 (1971)
- H.R. 7039 - Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (1971)
- Wounded Knee (1974)
- H.R.7903 - Indian and Alaska Native Housing and Community Development Act (1977-1978)
- H.R.12533 - Indian Child Welfare Act (1977-1978)
- S.1214 - Indian Child Welfare Act (1977-1978)
- H.R.5664 - A bill to provide that certain Federal land in the Black Hills National Forest shall be withdrawn from public use in order that the Lakota-Dakota (Sioux) Nation may use such land as a cultural and religious resource area, and for other purposes (1981-1982)
- H.J.Res.459 - A joint resolution authorizing the President to proclaim May 13, 1983, as "American Indian Day" (1981-1982)
- H.J.Res.704 - A joint resolution to authorize and request the President to proclaim the week of November 23, 1986, to November 30, 1986, as "American Indian Week" (1985-1986)
- H.J.Res.271 - Designating November of each year as "National American Indian Heritage Month" (1993-1994)
- H.Res.539 - To encourage the President to establish an advisory commission on tribally controlled institutions of higher learning (1993-1994)
- American Indian and Native American issues (undated)
- United Indians Nation (undated)
- Speeches delivered to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (undated)
Barbara Lee Papers. Subject and administrative files documenting Barbara Lee’s six years as state assemblywoman for California’s 16th District, two years as a state senator for California’s 9th District. Selected files include:
- Native American Health Center (undated)
- California Native Americans Day State Assembly (1994)
Robert B. Pitts Papers. The papers of US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) director Robert B. Pitts (1909-1985) include material on the Joint Housing Conference between the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Public Health Service, and the Department of HUD, held in San Francisco, California, in 1968.
African American Museum & Library at Oakland Vertical File Collection. Includes printed material and ephemera collected by the African American Museum & Library at Oakland. The East Bay Negro Historical Society began vertical files in the late 1960s, collecting ephemera and newspaper clippings about African American history and culture. Selected items include:
- American Indian Nelson Mandela Planning Committee files (1990)
- Daughters of Abya Yala flyers (1992)
- South and Meso-American Indian Information Center flyers and newsletters (1989-1991)
- Native American authors distribution project material (1991)
- Bay Area Native American Ministry brochures (undated)
- The Indian Reader third issue (Fall 1987)
Reginald Pearman Photograph Collection. Photographic prints and negatives taken by Reginald A. Pearman when he worked as a photojournalist in the 1980s for the Oakland Tribune newspaper. Includes 7 photographs depicting various Tribal Nations of the present-day United States.
