200 North Main St | Bloomington, Illinois | 309-827-0428
200 North Main St | Bloomington, Illinois | 309-827-0428
https://tinyurl.com/localblackhistory
Developed June, 2020
Books available at the McLean County Museum of History Library
Edited by Susan Hartzold and Ruth Cobb
https://archive.org/details/PPPBook
Presence, Pride & Passion: A History of African Americans in McLean County
Beier, Lucinda McCray
A Matter of Life and Death: health, illness and medicine in McLean County, 1830-1995.
[Bloomington, IL]: McLean County Historical Society, 1996
Bloomingon-Normal Black History Project
We The People Tell Our Story. comp. and ed. Mildred Pratt.
Bloomington, IL: Bloomington-Normal Black History Project, 1987.
Cabek, Melanie, Mark D. Groover and Scott J. Wagers
Health Care and the Wayman A.M.E. Church: historical archeology. Tucson, AZ: Society for Historical Archeology, 1995.
Ekberg, Carl, Anne Malone, and William Walters
The Legacy: a survey of the historical architecture of Normal
Normal, IL: Town of Normal, 1990
Ives, Elizabeth Stevenson, and Hildegarde Dolson.
My Brother Adlai. New York: Morrow, 1956.
Note: She mentions employees including some represented in the oral histories.
Jelks, Edward B., and John W. Muirhead.
https://archive.org/details/barton-family-archaeology
The William Carey Barton Family: a study in historical archeology. Bloomington, IL: Bloomington-Normal Black History Project and McLean County Historical Society, 1996.
Kinneman, John.
A Report: survey of the Twin-City Recreation Center, Bloomington-Normal, Ill.
[Bloomington,IL]: Central Illinois Committee on Community Development, 1957.
McLean County Genealogical Society.
African-American Residents of Bloomington-Normal, IL, 1885-1917.
Normal,IL: McLean County Genealogical Society, 2002.
Muirhead, John W.
https://archive.org/details/historyofafricanamericansinmcleancounty
A History of African-Americans in McLean County (Ill.)
Bloomington, IL: Bloomington-Normal Black History Project and McLean County Historical Society, 1998.
Orser, Charles E., and David W. Babson.
Families and Cabins: archeological and historical investigations at Wessyngton Plantation, Robertson County, Tennessee.
Normal, IL: Midwestern Archeological Research Center, Illinois State University, 1994.
Richardson, Harriet Fyffe.
Quaker Pioneers.
Milwaukee, WI: Press of Gillett & Co., 1940.
Note: Includes information on the Duff family.
Turner, Glennette Tilley.
The Underground Railroad in Illinois.
Glen Ellyn, IL: Newman Educational Publishing, 2001.
Wagers, Scott J.
https://archive.org/details/mclean-county-blacks-civil-war
McLean County Blacks in the Civil War.
[S.l.:s.n.], 1993.
Washington, Caribel and Scott J. Wagers.
Wayman A.M.E. Church: one hundred fifty years of history, 1843-1993.
Bloomington, IL: [Wayman A.M.E. Church], 1993.
Williams, Rick.
African-American Churches in Bloomington-Normal: the development of Black Baptist, Methodists and Disciples in the 19th and early 20th centuries. [History Department Honors hesis]
[Normal, IL.: Illinois State University, History Department], 1991.
BPL-Bloomington Public Library
HCC-Heartland Community College Library
ISU-Illinois State University, Milner Library
IWU-Illinois Wesleyan University, Ames Library
| ISU | Harrison, Edgar Agustus. The Financial Status and Occupational Opportunities for Negroes in Bloomington-Normal[MS Thesis]. Normal, IL: Illinois State Normal University, 1950. Studies in Education (Normal, IL); no.128. |
| ISU | Phelps, Landra G.. From Negro to Black to African-American: name changes and their effect on Black residents in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois [MS Thesis]. Normal, IL: Illinois State University, 1999. |
| HCCISUIWU | Pirtle, Carol. Escape Betwixt Two Suns: a true tale of the underground railroad in Illinois. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois Univerity Press, 2000. |
| Pratt, Mildred A Tribute to Love. Bloomington, IL: Heartland Publishing, 2002. | |
| BPL | Wells, Wyatt. The background of the Negro in McLean County [Archival material], 1940 |
| BPL | Williams, Rick D.. Black Disciples in McLean County, Illinois: a history of the Second Christian Church, Normal and the Third Christian Church, Bloomington. Normal, IL: Illinois State University, 1990. |
These materials are available for in house use only. Much of this collection is unprocessed so be sure to ask the Librarian for assistance.Information about African-American history and families in McLean County is located in the Archives under the following box and/or folder names. Also check the Archives card catalog and the photo index for additional resources. If present, links take you to finding aids that are available on our website.
Note: If you are making a special trip to use these materials please call first to be sure someone will be available to assist you. Phone: 309-827-0428, ask for the Library.
eBlackCU-A collaborative portal on African-American history
Illinois Alive! - African American Experience