Black Student Unions and Black Studies Departments

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 history of Black Student Unions and the academic field of Black Studies.

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

Book jacket for From Black Power to Black Studies
"In From Black Power to Black Studies, Fabio Rojas explores how this radical social movement evolved into a recognized academic discipline."--Publishers description.

Color-line to borderlands : the matrix of American ethnic studies, edited by Johnnella E. Butler

From Black power to Black studies : how a radical social movement became an academic discipline by Fabio Rojas

Black studies in schools; a review of current policies and programs

Blow it up! The Black student revolt at San Francisco State College and the emergence of Dr. Hayakawa by Dikran Karagueuzian

The Black revolution on campus by Martha Biondi

Dude, where's my Black studies department? : the disappearance of Black Americans from our universities by Cecil Brown

White money/Black power : the surprising history of African American studies and the crisis of race in higher education by Noliwe M. Rooks

Black Panther : San Francisco State: on strike / a film from California Newsreel

Selected Archival Collections

Historic image of John W. Ware with officers of Black Student Union
John W. Ware standing with officers of the Black Student Union, 1977, 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 consists of 79 oral history interviews conducted in 2002-2007.

Includes an interview with fashion designer Henry Delton Williams discussing protests to form a Black Student Union at Oakland High School.

Ronald V. Dellums Congressional Papers. The Ronald V. Dellums Congressional Papers includes committee files, constituent correspondence, legislative bills, and personal files relating to his work and legislative achievements in the U.S. Congress.

Includes subject files related to Black Student Unions within the University of California system [Box 302] 

Rhonda White-Warner Papers. The Rhonda White-Warner paper consist of consulting project files and other material largely documenting the African American performing arts community in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s and 1980s.

Includes the monograph "Justice and hope: past reflections and future visions of the Stanford Black Student Union (1967 -1989)" [Box 8 : Folder 17]

W. Hazaiah Williams Papers. The W. Hazaiah Williams Papers consists of the administrative files of the Center for Urban-Black Studies and assorted subject files, photographs, notebooks, and printed material documenting the career of theologian, civil rights activist, and educator W. Hazaiah Williams.

Includes administrative files related to the Center for Urban-Black Studies 

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park Advisory Committee Audio Recordings Collection. Includes recordings of a 1977 meeting between the Allensworth Advisory Committee and the California State University, Bakersfield, Black Student Union.

Additional Information

Search the library using the catalog.

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.