I collect dictionaries and style and grammar books. I started toward the end of college. The entire collection did not make its way to Florida, but the books still pile up.
The old ones can date badly. Here's an entry from The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual -- the 1977 edition.
Negro, Negroes Use black or Negro, appropriate in the context, for both men and women. Do not use Negress.
Good to know the AP was so progressive, eh? One can understand an entry like this from the '60s. But the late '70s?
(We'll come to the Merriam-Webster's Second New International definition of "homosexuality" at a later date.)