African American History in the Archives

The Texas State Historical Association article on people of African descent in Texas provides an overview of the history of the community in Texas, political history, cultural impacts, and prominent African American Texans.
The Handbook also provides articles on prominent African Americans in Texas and Freedom Colonies.

The archived colonial records of Texas while under Spain and Mexico. 172 reels of microfilm plus 26 reels of translations
See Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Bexar Archives, 1717-1836 (3 vols.) by Chester V. Kielman.

Also see The Bexar Archives Translations by Paul L. Kesaris.

Also see The Bexar Archives (1717-1836) A Name Guide by Adan Benavides, Jr. – search by “Blacks and Black slaves” in the Index.

3 reels of microfilm that include:
Statistical reports of Texas, 1783-1820, and census reports of Texas, 1782-1806.
Census reports of Texas, 1807-1834
Census reports of Texas, 1835, and general manuscript series, 1603-1803.

The reproduced records (letters, endorsements, orders issued, “record of criminal offenses,” reports) of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Texas, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands for Texas, compiled by The National Archives of the United States.
99-95; pamphlet classified as E185.93 .T4 U55 1973.
18 reels of microfilm

The Texas Freedom Colonies Project is an educational and social justice initiative dedicated to supporting the preservation of Black settlement landscapes, heritage, and grassroots preservation practices.Their goal is to prevent the erasure, destruction, and decay of cultural properties within settlements in partnership with descendant communities. Cultural properties include home/farmsteads, churches, and schools. The Texas Freedom Colonies Project is an educational, social justice initiative dedicated to preserving the heritage of Texas’ historic African American settlements, and the planners and preservationists that made them possible.

The Black Diaspora Archive (BDA) is a collaborative project at The University of Texas at Austin, supported by LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, Black Studies, UT Libraries, and the Office of the President. Established in 2015 and housed at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, the BDA collects documentary, audiovisual, digital, and artistic works related to the Black Diaspora of the Americas and Caribbean. This encompasses historical publications, contemporary records, personal papers, and rare material produced by and/or about people of African descent—including scholars, professionals, community groups, activists, and artists.

From the Library of Congress.
This text lists out US Servicemen who served during the Civil War and are buried in the Eastern District of Texas, Central District of Texas, Rio Grande District, Department of Texas, Camp Ford at Tyler, Texas, and Corpus Christi, Texas.

The collection is nearly two million pages of internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the country. It charts the NAACP’s work and delivers a first-hand view into crucial issues. The collection holds the distinction of being the most heavily used collection in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

This site contains texts from The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen's Bureau, from various states including Texas. Of note is the listing of Freedmen's Bureau Records - Texas Reports of Murders and Outrages

Texas Negro Business and Laboring Men's Association.
Dec. 22, 1934 - Dec. 3, 1949
Jan. 7, 1950 - Dec. 14, 1957
Jan. 25, 1958 - Dec. 22, 1962
Jan. 4, 1963 - May 4, 1968
Microfilm (Non-circulating) HD4802 .N4

A weekly African-American newspaper published in Houston, Texas. Established in 1996.
Vol. 16 No. 14 (2011)
Vol. 18 No. 13 (April 22-28, 2013)
Books and Archives (Non-circulating)

The longest running African American newspaper in North Texas. Established in Dallas by William Blair in 1960. Various issues can be found in the William Blair Collection, AR742

A collection of African American newspapers contains a wealth of information about cultural life and history during the 1800s and is rich with first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day, including the Mexican War, Presidential and Congressional addresses, Congressional abstracts, business and commodity markets, the humanities, world travel and religion.

The culmination of more than 10 years of organizing and collecting materials, the African American Historical Serials Collection is a centralized and accessible resource of formerly fragmentary, widely-dispersed and endangered materials originating from various institutions and sources—including some that had not previously participated in preservation projects.
Now compiled and accessible to researchers in one digital collection, this unique resource documents the history of African American life and religious organizations from materials published between 1829 and 1922.