LibGuides: HIS 350R: Civil Rights from a Comparative Perspective: Digital Archives and Collections

Online Archival Collections

Many archival collections have been digitized and released online. We have hand-selected the collections below for this class. Some are free and accessible to anyone online, while others require a paid subscription which is covered by the UT Libraries.

These collections vary in terms of user-friendliness and accessibility. Please let Adriana, the U.S. Studies Librarian, know if you have questions or run into trouble!

Austin Women Activists Oral History Project
Link directs to the Briscoe Homepage. See the box to the right on accessing the oral histories, including the audio and transcripts.
Civil Rights in Black and Brown: Oral Histories of the Multiracial Freedom Struggles in Texas
Videotaped interviews of Black and Mexican American interviewees around the state. Includes subjects such as Austin Brown Berets, desegregation, Black and Mexican American student activism.
Onda Latina: The Mexican American Experience
226 digitally preserved audio programs including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community from the radio series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982.
People's History in Texas
Founded in 1975 by five women, most former UT students. Watch two latest documentary productions, Stand-Ins and The Rag. They also have a separate archive of their research materials.
Portal to Texas History
Includes materials from the Briscoe Center on campus, historical Texas newspapers and much more
Tejano Voices
Includes oral history interviews and transcripts with Civil Rights activists Can limit search by region/search for Austin stories. The interviews were conducted in the 1990s/early 2000s but people reflect on student and Austin activism from the 1960s/1970s. Try searching on University of Texas, and selecting Austin-related interviews. There are important ones in this collection! In addition to the interviews, there are short biographies.
Texas Legislation, 1879-2015
The advanced search lets you search across sessions if you don't have a specific session or bill in mind. Use the "Subjects" for more targeted searching (ex: higher education - athletics)
UT Board of Regents Minutes, 1881-present

Recommendations from U.S. Latinx Studies Librarian

Chicano Database

Unlimited users.
Updated quarterly. Contains records for all types of material on Mexican-American topics and Chicanos. Since 1992, the Chicano Database covers material on the broader Latino experience, including Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Central American immigrants.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 2

Unlimited users.
Presents thematic content focusing on the evolution of Hispanic civil rights, religious thought, and the growing presence of women writers from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Rare and relevant books and newspapers – including rare anarchist newspapers – are presented in their original form. Extensive manuscript collections of both organizations and individuals are included for viewing, and are indexed for ease of search and maximum discovery. This collection offers a unique approach by focusing exclusively on the Latino-Hispanic history of the United States.

How To Access the Austin Women Activists Oral History Project

Start Here: Briscoe Center for American History Home Page

Navigate to Research > Digital Collections > Browse Collections (Don’t fill in the SEARCH box)

NOW, TYPE “Austin Women Activists Oral History Project Records” (with the quotation marks) into Search box.

Click on archives box picture in the first entry > List view (upper right)

Now you will see information for all the oral histories, including short descriptions. Read through the descriptions to choose your two interviews and click on the reel icon.Once you click on the icon, you can use CTRL-F to search for keywords in the transcript.