Native American Law: BLSL's New Databases

Archives Unbound (provider: Gale) collections available through BLS Library:

• The American Fur Company: America's First Business Monopoly
  • Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "The papers include original letters received from factors, foreign and domestic agents, mainly to Ramsey Crooks, president of the Company; copies of letters sent by the Company; records of furs received from the [Native Peoples], and orders for goods to be shipped to the factors in exchange for furs."  (Date range: 1831-1849, source institution: New York Historical Society) 
• The American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism
  • Excerpt from Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "The American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded at a time of continuing social change and protest following achievement of national legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. The radical approach AIM adopted was based on its leaders' perceptions that early [Native Peoples'] advocacy had failed to achieve any tangible results by lobbying activities with Congress and state legislatures." (Date range: 1968-1979, source institution: Federal Bureau of Investigation Library)
• Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984
  • Excerpt from Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "Throughout the twentieth century Black Americans of all political persuasions were subject to federal scrutiny, harassment, and prosecution. The Federal Bureau of Investigation enlisted black "confidential special informants" to infiltrate a variety of organizations. Hundreds of documents in this collection were originated by such operatives."  (Date range: 1920-1984, source institution:  Federal Bureau of Investigation Library)
• The Indian Trade in the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands: Papers of Panton, Leslie and Company
  • Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "Comprising the papers of the Panton, Leslie & Co., a trading firm, this collection is the most complete ethnographic collection available for the study of the American [Native Peoples] of the Southeast. More than 8,000 legal, political and diplomatic documents recording the company's operations for over half a century have been selected and organized for this collection."  (Date range: 1763-1901, source institution: University of West Florida)
• The Legal Battle for Civil Rights in Alabama: Vernon Z. Crawford Records, 1958-1978 Civil Rights Cases and Selections from the Blacksher, Menefee & Stein Records
  • Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "[C]onsists of selected portions of the records of attorney Vernon Z. Crawford (1919–1986) and the Blacksher, Menefee and Stein law firm whose work represents a significant contribution to the shape of the civil rights movement in 20th century Alabama. Documents include legal documentation, complaints, petitions, requests, depositions, handwritten notes, correspondence, exhibits (maps, plans of school buildings, population diagrams), and surveys relating to cases on the following: discriminatory juror selection, civil rights violations (police harassment and brutality), discrimination in employment, school desegregation, and minority vote dilution."  (Date range: 1958-1978, source institution: University of South Alabama)
• Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Enforcement of Federal Law in the South, 1871-1884
  • Gale's description of this searchable "law and order" collection: "[D]ocuments the efforts of district attorneys from southern states to uphold federal laws in the states that fought in the Confederacy or were Border States. This publication includes their correspondence with the attorney general as well all other letters received by the attorney general from the states in question during that period, including the correspondence of marshals, judges, [incarcerated persons], and concerned or aggrieved citizens.  (Date range: 1871-1884, source institution: U.S. National Archives)

Note: Gale provides additional content (to which BLS does not currently subscribe) in its collections: American Studies; Business and Economic History; Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies; and Native American Studies.

History Vault (provider: ProQuest)

• History Vault's home page provides a main screen search feature and access to archival material by "Subject Areas," including:
  • American Politics and Society (including Progressive Era and New Deal)
  • Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle
  • [Native Peoples] and the American West (1809-1971)
  • Southern Life, [Enslavement], and the Civil War
  • Women at Work During World War II
• These are digital versions of original documents.  Older documents (such as letters, journals and petitions) may be in cursive text and might exhibit some deterioration.

Labor & Employment: The American Worker (provider: HeinOnline).   In BLS Library's SARA catalog record for this collection, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN).  (Remote access requires implementation of the BLS proxy server instructions for 1 web browser and librarians recommend the instructions for Firefox browser.)   

• Provides 10,000+ subject-coded titles "that illuminate the history of labor conditions and employment law in the United States."
  • Editors assigned each title one (or more) subjects:  Captive Labor; Employment Benefits; Equal Employment; Immigrant Workers & Agriculture; Labor Disputes & Strikes; Labor Laws & Legislation; Labor Market; Labor Unions; Mediation & Labor Relations; Minimum Wage; Occupational Illness & Dangers; Overtime Pay; Pensions & Retirement; Public Sector Employees; Trade & Economy; Unemployment Compensation; Wages; and Workplace Protections.
• Includes a chart of 24 landmark labor and employment cases (date range: 1842-2018) with links to the case texts.
• Includes a curated collection of scholarly articles on "employment discrimination, wrongful termination, collective bargaining, how the New Deal shaped labor law, right-to-work laws, labor disputes in major league sports" and additional topics.
• Includes "thousands" of books from the early 1900s-present. 
• Provides legislative histories of labor-related laws.  Examples:
  • Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
  • Legislative History of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, P.L. 92-261
  • Railway Labor Act of 1926: A Legislative History