Research Guides: COMM 4300: Activism & Engagement: Social Movement Resources

Find Speeches

Vital Speeches of the Day
Coverage from 1934 to the present
Vital Speeches International
Coverage from 2009 to the present
American Rhetoric
Database of and index to 5000+ full text, audio, and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events, and a declaration or two.

ProQuest Congressional
ProQuest Congressional is a comprehensive database that searches across current and historical documents of the United States Congress, many of which are included in full text. It includes the U.S. Serial Set (the published working papers of Congress), Congressional Hearings, the Congressional Record (through 1997) and hundreds of thousands of House and Senate reports, State of the Union messages, Congressional journals, hearings, high-resolution maps, and more.

Access has recently been expanded to include ProQuest Congressional Hearings Digital Collection Historical Archive Parts B and C (1980-2010), ProQuest Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection, and ProQuest U.S. Serial Set 2 Parts G, H, and I.

1980s Culture and Society
1980s Culture and Society complies archival collections housed across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The database includes zines, newspapers, ephemera, oral histories, films, photographs, and government records. Capturing diverse perspectives, materials produced by grassroots organizations and under-represented groups are presented alongside government records and mainstream media to showcase the key social, cultural, and political concerns of the decade.
Civil Rights and Social Justice
Full text for an array of documents on civil rights in the United States, including legislative histories, congressional hearings, government reports, Supreme Court briefs, and publications from the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

Civil Rights Digital Library
The Civil Rights Digital Library Initiative represents one of the most ambitious and comprehensive efforts to date to deliver educational content on the Civil Rights Movement via the Web.
Digital Transgender Archive
The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.
Disability Social History Project
This online resources includes news and links to resources for disability in media and magazines & newsletters.
Freedom Archives
This collection is comprised of position papers, monographs, newspapers and other publications from or about the Black Liberation Movement. Includes The Student Voice, The Movement Newspaper, Crossroads, Soulbook and a sub-collection filled with assorted writings.
GLBT Historical Society: Digital Collections
Collections include newspapers, video recordings, and oral histories.

JSTOR

Over a thousand full-text scholarly journals and books covering all subjects in the humanities, sciences and social sciences. History, economics, art, literature, and mathematics are particularly strong. All journal titles are archived back to the first issue, many dating from the early 1800s. JSTOR now also hosts the complete ArtSTOR collection.
Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975

A database of photographs, images, manuscripts, rare printed material documenting the music, politics, fashion and youth culture in America and Great Britain from 1950-1975.

Access for BGSU Main Campus users only; not available for Firelands users.
Student Activism

Primary sources documenting the history of student organizing in the United States, including hundreds of items contributed by BGSU, in formats such as leaflets, fliers, newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings, periodicals, bulletins, letters, press releases, as well as meeting, demonstration, conference, and event documentation.

Topics include: Anti-apartheid divestiture, student involvement in the civil rights movement, Indians of All Tribes’ occupation of Alcatraz, Take-Back-the-Night anti-sexual assault activism, Vietnam War opposition and demilitarization activism, Women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and more.

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting
The Library of Congress and WGBH in Boston have embarked on a project to preserve for posterity the most significant public television and radio programs of the past 60 years: The American Archive of Public Broadcasting. The American people have made a huge investment in public radio and television over many decades, calculated at more than $10 billion. The American Archive will ensure that this rich source for American political, social, and cultural history and creativity will be saved and made available once again to future generations.
American Experience (PBS)
Free informational full-length films in English & Spanish on topics in American history, including films on the Civil Rights Movement, LGBT Rights, and environmental justice.
Black Film Archive
"Black Film Archive celebrates the rich, abundant history of Black cinema. We are an evolving archive dedicated to making historically and culturally significant films made from 1915 to 1979 about Black people accessible through a streaming guide with cultural context."
- Can browse all movies in the archive and can also browse by decade or genre

Kanopy

A streaming service for videos from major educational film producers and distributors. BGSU subscribes to select title licenses as requested for supplemental course material, in addition to a collection of over 10,000 titles through the Kanopy Base subscription. Check out this list of titles available here: https://libguides.bgsu.edu/streamingvideo/kanopy

Watchdocumentaries.com
Watchdocumentaries.com is a leading online collection of free documentaries. Our mission is to curate informative and educational documentary films and to organise them in an accessible manner. The library is regularly updated with new titles for you to watch and enjoy.