From early accounts of free blacks in the Colonies to slave narratives recorded by Works Progress Administration employees in the 1930s to a recent speech by Senator Barack Obama, this collection offers a treasure trove of carefully selected primary documents from and concerning African Americans. It is among the largest and widest-ranging collection of its kind in print. The set provides more than 130 documents, including speeches, articles, mission statements, ephemera, testimony, letters, sermons, prayers, spirituals/songs, slave narratives, memoirs, essays, interviews, and more. Key official documents and important communications from noted African Americans are present, as are the words of ordinary African Americans from the past. Each document is introduced and contextualized, making this set especially valuable and helpful in research. The documents are organized in chronological order, each is sourced, and its introduction includes information such as parties involved, location, significance, and impact.