Publications

The MIT Black History Project is committed to collecting, developing, curating, and preserving content on the Black experience at MIT dating back to 1865. We are also currently working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the challenges we all face within the greater scope of the Institute’s mission and accomplishments.

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Water Marked: A Novel, 1999
Book
1990s

Water Marked: A Novel, 1999

Faculty
A novel by MIT professor Helen Elaine Lee about two estranged African American sisters who reunite to understand their father, written in lyrical prose balancing grief and beauty.
Other Researchers
The Properties of Violence, 2013
Book
2010s

The Properties of Violence: Claims to Ownership in Representations of Lynching, 2013

Faculty
A book by MIT professor Saidiya Hartman examining representations of lynching in American culture and the contested questions of ownership in the history of racial violence.
Other Researchers
The Politics of Official Apologies, 2008
Book
2000s

The Politics of Official Apologies, 2008

Faculty
A book by MIT professor Melissa Nobles examining how official government apologies in the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are deployed for political purposes.
Other Researchers
Aerospace Engineer Aprille Ericsson, 2015
Book
2010s

Aerospace Engineer Aprille Ericsson, 2015

Alum
A children's biography of NASA aerospace engineer Aprille Ericsson, tracing her journey from science fair competitor to trailblazing rocket scientist and role model.
Other Researchers
Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee, 2011
Book
2010s

Robert R. Taylor and Tuskegee: An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington, 2011

Alum
A book interweaving the life of Robert Robinson Taylor, MIT's first Black graduate and the first accredited Black architect, with the story of his 40-year career building Tuskegee Institute.
Other Researchers
Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just, 1983
Book
1980s

Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just, 1983

Faculty
A biography of Ernest Everett Just, the pioneering African American marine biologist whose extraordinary scientific career was shaped by racial barriers in early 20th-century America.
Other Researchers
Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities, 2015
Book
2010s

Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities: Building Bridges of Hope through the Holy Spirit, 2015

Alum
A book by MIT alumnus exploring the intersection of racism, health disparities, and spiritual well-being, drawing on theology and public health to propose a path toward healing.
Other Researchers
Ron's Big Mission, 2009
Book
2000s

Ron's Big Mission, 2009

Alum
A children's picture book about young Ron McNair's determined trip to a segregated library in 1959, a pivotal moment that set the future MIT physicist and astronaut on his path.
Other Researchers
Abundance of Miracles: Autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, 2013
Book
2010s

Abundance of Miracles: Autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, 2013

Alum
The autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, MIT Class of 1972, tracing his path from Howard University student on the night of MLK's assassination to architect and community builder.
Other Researchers
The Physics of Karate, 1979
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Article
A Scientific American article co-authored by MIT physicist Ronald McNair PhD '77 and his mentor Michael Feld, analyzing the biomechanics behind how martial artists break boards with bare hands.
Faculty
Counteracting Hate with Positive Diversity Stories, 2017
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Article
A 2017 article examining the friendship between MIT physicist Michael Feld and a Black colleague, and how their bond became a model for countering hate with positive diversity.
Alum
A Soldiers Home, 1892
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1890s
Other Researchers
1890s
Thesis
An 1892 architectural thesis by Robert Robinson Taylor, MIT's first Black graduate, documenting a design for a soldiers' home and marking a historic first in American architectural education.
Student
Comparative wearing tests on different makes of globe and gate valves, 1910
Thesis
2017
Other Researchers
1910s
Other Researchers
1910s
Thesis
The 1910 MIT thesis of Dallas Brown Jr. '10, one of the Institute's early Black graduates, on comparative wear testing of industrial valves used in mechanical engineering.
Student
The Negro Farmer [excerpt]
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1910s
Other Researchers
1910s
Article
An article excerpt by Robert Robinson Taylor '92 written for MIT's 1913 Negro Farmer publication, describing the work of training Black agricultural professionals at Tuskegee.
Alum
Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, 2013
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A history of Bengali Muslim immigrants in early 20th-century America, tracing forgotten communities in Harlem and beyond, by MIT professor Vivek Bald.
Faculty
Crazy Enough To Try, 2015
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A 2015 book by MIT-connected author Joi Gordon encouraging readers to integrate personal passion into their professional lives, drawing on her own journey from student to nonprofit leader.
Alum
This Is How You Lose Her, 2012
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A novel by MIT professor Junot Diaz following the passions and losses of Yunior, a Dominican-American man navigating love and identity across New Jersey and the Caribbean.
Faculty
Phantasmal Media, 2013
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A 2013 MIT Press book by D. Fox Harrell examining how computing systems shape imagination, identity, memory, and social experience.
Faculty
Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique, 2012
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A book by MIT professor Sally Haslanger examining social construction theory and its application to race, gender, and other contested social categories.
Faculty
Black Faces in White Places, 2010
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A 2010 book by MIT Sloan alumnus Randal Pinkett offering strategies for Black professionals navigating and succeeding in predominantly white institutions and industries.
Alum
CyPhrons: Code of the Realm, 2011
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A science fiction novel featuring CyPhrons, virtual beings navigating a coded realm, in a story of hope, faith, and perseverance by an MIT-connected author.
Alum
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