What was the Black Panther Party?

The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, student activists of Merritt College in Oakland, CA. Its ideology was heavily inspired by Malcolm X, Frantz Fanon, and orthodox Marxism.

Research Tips

There are many books about the Black Panther Party, some of which are collections of their writings, artwork, speeches, etc. Many members have also written memoirs of their experience in the group. For ones available through Enoch Pratt Free Library, search the catalog. Keep in mind, the Black Panther Party is also likely to be addressed in resources about the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and Black Nationalism.

Key People

Find information, primary sources, and more on key members of the Black Panther party.

• Brown, Elaine
• Douglas, Emory
• Cleaver, Eldridge
• Hilliard, David
• Cleaver, Kathleen
• Newton, Huey P.
• Davis, Angela
• Seale, Bobby

Databases

The library subscribes to several databases that may be helpful in your research. You will have to login with your library card in order to access them remotely.

• For the Black Panther Party's newspaper, oral histories of its members, and other primary sources, go to the Black Thought and Culture database.
• For additional news articles: Maryland Newspapers and Historical Newspapers
• For encyclopedia articles: Virtual Reference Library
• For articles from academic journals: JSTOR (only accessible within the library)

General Resources

• Black Panther Party Collection - The Bay Area Television Archive
  "Local newsfilm and privately produced footage relating to the Black Panther Party's Oakland Chapter, from the 1960s & 70s."
• The Black Panther: newspaper of the Black Panther Party
  Twenty issues of the paper made available in .pdf format by www.libcom.org
• FBI Records: The Vault - Release of investigative files that tracked the "militant activities, income, and expenses" of the Charlotte chapter. Also, files on Fred Hampton, Huey P Newton, Stokely Carmichael, and ones associated with COINTELPRO, particularly Black Extremist.
• MSU Libraries: Digital Collections: Black Panthers
  Various documents about and/or created by the Black Panther Party.
• Seattle Black Panther Party History and Memory Project
  Essays, video oral histories, digitized news articles, photographs, documents created by the members, and a section on the 1970 congressional investigation.