February is African-American History Month, a government-sponsored commemoration and a time when we “(pay) tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.” There are so many great ways to learn more about African-American history, from watching RETN’s Black History Month Sunday Video Series, which is broadcasting several videos focused specifically on African-American stories here in Vermont, to exploring primary sources through the National Archive’s African American History Month portal, to enjoying the work of some of the greatest African-American poets through the Poetry Foundation’s Black History Month collection.

African-American History Month at the Champlain College Library

Here are a couple of ways that you can explore, commemorate, and celebrate African-American History Month at your library:

Stop by the first floor of the Miller Information Commons and browse our African-American History Month book display. This year, we took a particular interest in showcasing books that focus on the stories of and the historical and cultural contributions by African-Americans from Vermont and New England.

Interested in video or live outside of the Burlington area? Our Kanopy streaming service provides access to tens of thousands of streaming films on a wide variety of topics, including hundreds on topics relevant to African-American history. We would like to spotlight in particular the African-American Leaders collection, which includes 64 documentaries that tell the stories of some of the most fascinating figures in American history, such as Ida B. Wells, James Baldwin, Tom Bradley, Maya Angelou, and Barack Obama.