Black Studies

As well as the rare books and archives held by UCL Special Collections, the Library also subscribes to numerous databases of primary sources (digitised archival material). A primary source is a first-hand expression or evidence of an event or experience. This evidence can be in the form of the written word, images, artefacts, film or sound recordings, and will have been created at some point during the lifetime of the person involved. Using primary sources in your research adds context and credibility to your argument.

See a full list of over 200 primary source databases, many of which will have content of relevance to Black Studies, or see our list of key primary source databases in Black Studies.

The UCL Special Collections Small Press Collections, consisting of Poetry Store, Little Magazines and Alternative Presses, contain some mid-twentieth century publications by Black presses, and include poetry and artwork by Black writers and artists as well as magazines produced by activist groups from the 1960s onwards. The following is a selection.

To search Explore for material in the Small Press Collections, use the term 'smallpress' combined with your chosen keyword(s) and filter to show only those items in Special Collections.

Little Magazines and Alternative Presses:

• Bim. Pioneering Caribbean literary journal published in Barbados founded by Frank A. Collymore. UCL holds issues 1966-1989.
• Black Creation : A Quarterly Review of Black Arts and Letters. Published by the Institute of Afro-American Affairs, New York University, 1973-1975.
• Black Liberator: Theoretical and Discussion Journal for Black Revolution. Published in London, 1972-1976.
• Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. Published in Nigeria, 1957-1969, and was groundbreaking as the first African literary periodical in English, publishing poetry, art, fiction, literary criticism, and commentary.
• Black Review. Published in New York by William Morrow, a magazine for discussion of Black culture by Black writers and poets. UCL holds issues 1 and 2, 1971-72.
• Black Voice: Popular Paper of the Black Unity and Freedom Party. Published in London. UCL holdings: 1971-1984.
• Busara. Published by the University of Nairobi, one of the most influential literary journals of its time in Kenya. UCL hold copies 1968-1977. 
• The Cricket: Black Music in Evolution. Published in Newark, New Jersey, and edited by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka). Four issues published between 1968 and 1969; UCL holds issue 1 only.
• Dhana: Creative Writing. Published in Nairobi from 1971.
• Fire!! A Quarterly Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists. Only one issue published in 1926, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. Edited by Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman.
• Focus. Published by the University College of the West Indies and edited by Edna Manley with links to the People's National Party. UCL holds no.2 1948 only.
• Hustler. A fortnightly Black community newspaper first published in May 1968, initially edited by Courtney Tulloch from the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill. UCL holds 14th Nov 1968 only.
• Journal of Black Poetry. Published in San Francisco, 1966-1973. An important little magazine of the Black Arts era, featuring poems, essays and reviews.
• Kitabu Cha Jua. Published in San Francisco and edited by Joe Goncalves. UCL holds issues 1974-1975.
• Lotus: Afro-Asian Writings. Published in Cairo by the Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers from 1968. UCL holds issues 1971-1973.
• The New Voices: A Journal for the Promotion of Creative Writing. Published in Trinidad & Tobago and edited by Anson Gonzalez. UCL holds 1989-1993.
• New Coin. Published by the South African Poetry Society. UCL holds Vol. 1 no. 1 1965 onwards.
• New World Quarterly. Published in Guyana and then Jamaica, an Anglophone journal of intellectual expression and political developments. UCL holds issues 1966-1969.
• Okike : a Nigerian journal of new writing. No. 1 1971-. Edited by Chinua Achebe.
• Okyeame. Ghanaian literary magazine, 1961-1972.
• Savacou: A Journal of the Caribbean Artists Movement. Published in Jamaica by the Caribbean Artists Movement. UCL holdings: 1970-1973.
• Transition. Published in Uganda in association with the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research from 1961, covering political science and international relations. UCL holds 1964-1976.
• Zuka: A Journal of East African Creative Writing. Published in Nairobi by OUP. Text in English, Swahili, or other East African languages. UCL holds nos. 1-6, 1967-1972. 

UCL Library Special Collections is one of the foremost university collections of manuscripts, archives and rare books in the UK. Our holdings span the 4th century to the present day and cover a vast range of subject areas and disciplines. The strengths of the collections include language, literature and poetry from the 15th to the 21st centuries, 20th and 21st century small-press publishing, politics and social policy, History of Science, Mathematics, Latin American history and economics, Hebraica and Judaica, Education, the history of London and the history of UCL.

Anyone with a need to consult our collections is welcome to do so. UCL Special Collections is reference only. It is essential to book in advance to make sure of a reading room place and that the items requested are available. Please contact us at least two weeks before you intend to visit. Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate drop-in visits.

Search the catalogues for collections held across:

• UCL Special Collections comprising UCL Archives, UCL Records and the Institute of Education (IOE);
• School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES);
• Queen Square Archives comprising the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (UCLH) and UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology.