Background Research - New Chicagoans - A Raisin in the Sun Research

Background Research & Keywords

Once you have chosen your topic, consider doing some background reading on your topic to find an entry-point for your research. The following are some potential keywords to expand your search.

Redlining & Blockbusting:

redlining
"wealth gap"
"credit rationing"
National Housing Act of 1934
Home Owners' Loan Corporation
Hansberry v. Lee
"White flight"
Restrictive covenants (or exclusionary covenants)

Black Arts Movement:

BAM
Black pride
Amiri Baraka
Leroi Jones

Back-to-Africa Movement / Garveyism

"back to Africa"
Pan Africanism
black zionism
ex-slave repatriation
American Colonization Society
Marcus Garvey
Black Star Line

Second Wave Feminism

Reproductive rights
Women in the workforce
Gender discrimination
Homophile movement
Daughters of Bilitis
Sojourners for Truth and Justice

Communism & Red Scare

McCarthyism
Blacklisted
House Un-American Activities Committee
Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA)

Databases

African American History Online
Perform a keywords search to find articles on your topic or select the "BROWSE" tab in the menu just below the search bar.
Student Resources in Context
Find reference materials, news & magazine articles, and so much more on your topic in this database.
Gale eBooks
Use the search bar at the top or click on any of the eBooks, including "American Decades." Each search result is a chapter from an eBook in Latin's collection.
U.S. History in Context
Find scholarly, magazine, and news articles on your topic.
JSTOR
This database contains scholarly, secondary source materials. Make sure you select "full-text" to guarantee total access to your search results.
ProQuest Research Library Prep
Perform a keyword search to find scholarly and general information about your topic.
Black Life in America
This newspaper database designed specifically for researching Black life in American. We are trialing this database for potential purchase, so please try it out and let us know what you think. If you need to log-in off campus please use the following username/password combination, Latin/Roman

Lorriane Hansberry:

Recommended Websites by Topic:

Encyclopedia of Chicago
Perform a keyword search for your desired topic using the search box at the top left. Created and maintained by the Chicago History Museum, the Newberry Library, and Northwestern University.
Chicago: Destination of the Great Migration - The African American Mosaic - Library of Congress
Browse this collection of primary source documents from Chicago all related to the Great Migration.
Lorraine Hansberry Collection - Social Networks & Archival Context
Browse biographical information, primary source documents, and related people and places by navigating tabs.
Lorraine Hansberry: Radiant, Radical -- and more than "Raisin" - NPR Code Switch
Read or listen to this news story about the circles Hansberry traveled in and the impact of her work.

History of the Black Arts Movement in Chicago - WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
For more than 65 years, the South Side Community Art Center has been a haven for African American artists.
An Introduction to the Black Arts Movement - Poetry Foundation
Showcasing one of the most influential cultural movements of the last 50 years.
Black Arts Movement - National Archives
Browse documents related to the Black Arts Movement in the National Archives.

Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America (Chicago Map)
Browse this interactive map of Chicago in 1940 to see Redlining maps in action!
Racial Redistricting and Housing Discrimination in the Chicagoland Area - Lakeforest College
Use the Table of Contents navigation box on the right to access timelines and articles related to redlining and racial restrictive covenants in Cook County, IL.
Chicago's Awful Divid - The Atlantic
While this article discusses contemporary economic divides in Chicago, in also includes a history of how the city got to where it is.

The Waves of Feminism Explained - Vox
Peruse this article to read more about 2nd Wave Feminism and how it connects to the larger movement.
Introduction to the book Black International Feminism: Women Writes of the Black Left, 1945-1995 by Cheryl Higashida
Read the introduction to this book on Black Feminism, provided by Google Books.
Lorraine Hansberry's Existentialist Routes to Black Internationalist Feminism Chapter from Black International Feminism: Women Writers of the Black Left 1945-1995
Read the chapter about Lorriane Hansberry's feminism from the book Black International Feminism: Women Writers of the Black Left, 1945-1995 by Cheryl Higashida.

The Many Visions of Lorraine Hansberry - The New Yorker
Read or listen to this article about Hansberry from The New Yorker that discusses her communist identity.
The Good of All: Lorraine Hansberry's Radical Imagination - The Nation
Read this thorough book review for more information on Hansberry's radical roots, including communism and fighting against American poverty.
McCarthyism and the Red Scare - The Miller Center at the University of Virginia
Browse this online exhibit from the Miller Center at the University of Virginia for more information and primary source documents related to communism, the red scare, and McCarthyism in the 1950's.

Marcus Garvey Digital Collection - New York Public Library
Browse this collection of primary source documents related to Marcus Garvey, including editorials, essays, photos and more!
'Black Moses' Lives On: How Marcus Garvey's Vision Still Resonates - NPR Throughline
Read or listen to this story that covers the history and impact of Marcus Garvey.

Psychoanalytic Criticism Explainer - Purdue Owl
Read this overview of Psychoanalytic literary criticism to learn more about the varieties of ways this critical lens appears in texts.

New Chicagoans - A Raisin in the Sun Research: Background Research

Background Research & Keywords

Databases

Lorriane Hansberry:

Recommended Websites by Topic: