Publications

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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Report
1980s

Report on Issues, Implications and Recommendations Related to Retention of Undergraduate Minority Students: Science and Engineering Fields, 1987

Administrator
A report prepared for MIT by Clarence G. Williams examining retention barriers for Black and minority undergraduates in science and engineering fields.
Other Researchers
Discrimination Conference, 1955
Article
1950s

Discrimination Conference Issue of The Tech, 1955

Student
The March 1955 issue of MIT's student newspaper covering the National Conference on Selectivity and Discrimination in American Universities, held on campus.
Other Researchers
Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen article splash
Article
2000s

Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen: Black Meteorologists in World War II, 2006

No items found.
An article documenting the role of MIT-trained Black meteorologists, including Tuskegee Airmen, in advancing WWII weather forecasting and American military aviation.
Other Researchers
Article
2010s

Including the Excluded: Concepts for Successful Integration of the US Academy, 2014

Faculty
A lecture by MIT professor James Sherley on concepts for integrating underrepresented groups into the US scientific enterprise, delivered at a Johns Hopkins retreat.
Other Researchers
Paper
2000s

Civil Rights, the War on Poverty, and Black-White Convergence in Infant Mortality in the Rural South and Mississippi, 2006

Faculty
A 2006 public health study examining how civil rights legislation and the War on Poverty drove convergence in Black and white infant mortality rates in the rural South.
Other Researchers
Paper
1960s

Black Capitalism and Black Supermarkets, 1969

Faculty
A 1969 article by MIT economist Gordon Bloom examining the economics and social dimensions of Black-owned businesses and supermarkets in urban America.
Other Researchers
Article
2000s

MIT's Black Hole: Dr. James L. Sherley is just the latest professor to protest the lack of Black tenured faculty at MIT, 2007

No items found.
An article examining the broader pattern of Black faculty departures from MIT, placing the James Sherley case in the context of a longer institutional history.
Other Researchers
James L. Sherley
Article
2000s

An Avoidable Black Eye for MIT: Professor James Sherley Is Dismissed and His Laboratory Padlocked, 2007

No items found.
An analysis of the 2007 termination of MIT stem-cell researcher James L. Sherley, whose dismissal and hunger strike sparked a campus-wide debate on race and tenure.
Other Researchers
James L. Sherley
Article
2000s

It's No Picnic for Black Faculty at MIT, 2007

No items found.
A 2007 study documenting that Black faculty represent only about 3 percent of MIT's total faculty, analyzing the barriers to recruitment and retention.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities: Building Bridges of Hope through the Holy Spirit, 2015
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
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.
Alum
Ron's Big Mission, 2009
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Book
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.
Alum
Abundance of Miracles: Autobiography of Charles A. Cofield, 2013
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
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.
Alum
Song of the Water Saints: A Novel, 2002
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Book
A debut novel by MIT writing professor Nelly Rosario tracing three generations of Dominican women across continents, blending poetic prose with the weight of memory and migration.
Alum
Tackling Jim Crow: Racial Segregation in Professional Football, 2003
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Book
A book documenting the history of racial segregation in professional football, with a focus on MIT alumnus William Arthur Johnson who broke the color barrier in the NFL.
No items found.
The MIT Experience: Personal Perspectives on Race in a Predominantly White University, 2004
Article
2017
MIT Black History Project
2000s
MIT Black History Project
2000s
Article
An article by MIT's Clarence G. Williams reflecting on his experiences of race at the Institute, published as a chapter in a volume on diversity in higher education.
Administrator
William Barton Rogers and the Southern Sieve, 2005
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
An article examining the complicated relationship between MIT founder William Barton Rogers, his scientific career in the antebellum South, and the institution of slavery.
Administrator
The Serious Search for Black Faculty at MIT, 1995
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
An article documenting MIT's 1995 efforts to recruit Black faculty, naming the eight tenured Black professors then at the Institute and examining the barriers to diversification.
Faculty
The Gilded Years, 2016
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A novel by Karin Tanabe based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, who passed as white at Vassar in 1897, with a fictional subplot involving her brother, a connection to MIT.
Alum
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Facing the Future, 2012
Paper
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Paper
A 2012 study examining the challenges facing Historically Black Colleges and Universities and proposing strategies for their long-term sustainability and relevance.
Faculty
A Widening Sphere: Evolving Cultures at MIT, 2011
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A 2011 MIT Press book tracing the evolution of MIT's culture from its 1861 founding through more than a century of growth, diversity, and institutional transformation.
Administrator
Countless Connecting Threads, 2013
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A 2013 illustrated history of MIT celebrating the interconnected contributions of its faculty, students, and alumni across 150 years of science, engineering, and society.
Administrator
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