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Bound in Béxar County: Slavery in San Antonio

This topical guide aims to share resources on enslaved Black Texans from Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas from 1800-1865

Resources Overview

There are many resources available to study the history of slavery in San Antonio, Texas. This portion of the guide was created to help researchers navigate them effectively. Resources are organized into three sub-tabs for easy navigation: 

  • Books – A curated list of print and electronic books, along with guidance to looking for materials in the Blume Library, Worldcat and other sources

  • Articles – A selection of scholarly journal articles, open access articles and web articles, along with guidance on key Blume Library Databases that can be useful when doing historical research

  • Websites – A selection of credible online resources, archives, and repositories that offer free access to documents, maps, and more about slavery in San Antonio.

Each page in this section not only provides examples of useful resources, but it also includes search strategies and summarizes each resource, linking them for ease of access. Together, these tools will support deeper exploration into the complex and often overlooked history of slavery in central Texas. 

Primary Resources

Primary Sources 

Primary sources are foundational resources materials that provide researchers a direct look into history through personal narratives, newspaper articles, journals, government documents, speeches, photographs, etc. The Library of Congress provides an excellent explanation of researching using primary resources.

Getting Started with Primary Sources

 

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources take primary materials and summarize, interpret and examine them to be studied for further research. Examples of secondary sources are articles, biographies, books, websites, finding aids, textbooks, etc. The University of Illinois has an interesting video that clearly explains researching with secondary sources. 

Types of Sources and Where to Find Them: Secondary Sources