The Northeast
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Digital Images Online The Beinecke Library houses the Randolph Linsly Simpson African-American Collection as well as the Langston Hughes Collection and the James Weldon Johnson Collection. The James Weldon Johnson Collection includes a number of Van Vechten photographs of important figures from the Harlem Renaissance. Downloads should not be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. It is not necessary to seek the Library's permission to publish texts or images (unless the University is identified as the copyright holder.) The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library should, however, be cited as the source. Excellent download quality.
It's time to celebrate!! The Charles 'Teenie' Harris Archive collection has been saved and is now housed at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Harris, a photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier, was one of the best. Download quality is excellent. The Carnegie requires permissions however.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
In addition to finding information about this valuable section of the New York Public Library, you will find several online exhibits, which change from time to time. In Motion: The African-American Migration Experienceis a particularly good one. The website states that the images "are presented in the hope that they will at one and the same time address some of your viewing, research, education and study needs..." Very good download quality. The main New York Public Library Digital Collection (NYPLDigitalGallery) is also an excellent site. Searching via this site accesses not only the images available on DigitalSchomburg, but a number of images from the Schomburg's Rare Books and Manuscripts collection as well.
African American Images (Syracuse, N.Y.) This digital collection represents one fourth of the complete collection which is housed at the Beauchamp Branch Library in Syracuse. It is a basic site. No bells and whistles, but the download quality is good and the people are identified. There is no information about download restrictions.
The Northeast