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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Ron McNair in The Physics of Karate, 1979
Article
1970s

The Physics of Karate, 1979

Faculty
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.
Other Researchers
Michael Feld and Ron McNair
Article
2010s

Counteracting Hate with Positive Diversity Stories, 2017

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
Soldiers' Home
Thesis
1890s

A Soldiers Home, 1892

Student
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.
Other Researchers
Dallas Brown
Thesis
1910s

Comparative wearing tests on different makes of globe and gate valves, 1910

Student
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.
Other Researchers
Page from The Negro Farmer
Article
1910s

The Negro Farmer [excerpt]

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, 2013
Book
2010s

Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, 2013

Faculty
A history of Bengali Muslim immigrants in early 20th-century America, tracing forgotten communities in Harlem and beyond, by MIT professor Vivek Bald.
Other Researchers
Crazy Enough To Try, 2015
Book
2010s

Crazy Enough To Try, 2015

Alum
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.
Other Researchers
This Is How You Lose Her, 2012
Book
2010s

This Is How You Lose Her, 2012

Faculty
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.
Other Researchers
Phantasmal Media, 2013
Book
2010s

Phantasmal Media, 2013

Faculty
A 2013 MIT Press book by D. Fox Harrell examining how computing systems shape imagination, identity, memory, and social experience.
Other Researchers
Type
Timeline
Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT, 2005
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Book
A 2005 MIT Press history of the Institute's founding, tracing the origins of MIT's motto 'Mens et Manus' and the vision behind America's first major research university.
No items found.
The Racial Climate on the MIT Campus, 1986
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1980s
Other Researchers
1980s
Report
A report examining the racial climate at MIT, documenting the experiences of Black students, faculty, and staff and recommending concrete steps to improve the campus environment.
Administrator
A Study of the Number of Black Graduate Student Applications for Fall, 1970
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1970s
Other Researchers
1970s
Report
A 1970 statistical study of Black graduate school applicants across 25 major universities, examining enrollment trends and barriers at the height of the civil rights era.
No items found.
Professor Joseph Applegate, 1997
Article
2017
MIT Black History Project
1990s
MIT Black History Project
1990s
Article
A Tech Talk article profiling Joseph Applegate, MIT's first Black faculty member and a pioneering linguist, published for African-American Heritage Month in 1997.
Administrator
A Break in the Pipeline, 1999
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
A 1999 Technology Review article examining the underrepresentation of Black faculty and students in the academic pipeline at MIT and peer institutions.
Administrator
1st National Conference on Issues Facing Black Administrators at Predominantly White Colleges and Universities, 1982
Proceedings
2017
MIT Black History Project
1980s
MIT Black History Project
1980s
Proceedings
Proceedings from the 1982 national conference examining the challenges faced by Black administrators working in predominantly white colleges and universities.
Administrator
The Rhetoric of Sex, the Discourse of Desire, 1992
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1990s
Other Researchers
1990s
Article
An article by science fiction author Samuel Delany, originally delivered as a 1992 MIT lecture, exploring the rhetoric of sex and the politics of desire in literary and cultural discourse.
Visiting
Ebony and Ivy, 2013
Book
2017
Other Researchers
2010s
Other Researchers
2010s
Book
A history of how elite American universities including Harvard and MIT were shaped by and helped perpetuate the ideology and economy of slavery, by scholar Craig Steven Wilder.
Faculty
NACA Report: Dynamics of Mechanical Feedback-Type Hydraulic Servomotors Under Inertia Loads, 1953
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1950s
Other Researchers
1950s
Report
A NACA technical report by MIT-trained aeronautical engineer Yenwith Whitney analyzing the dynamics of hydraulic servomotors used in aircraft control systems.
Alum
Report on Issues, Implications and Recommendations Related to Retention of Undergraduate Minority Students: Science and Engineering Fields, 1987
Report
2017
Other Researchers
1980s
Other Researchers
1980s
Report
A report prepared for MIT by Clarence G. Williams examining retention barriers for Black and minority undergraduates in science and engineering fields.
Administrator
Discrimination Conference Issue of The Tech, 1955
Article
2017
Other Researchers
1950s
Other Researchers
1950s
Article
The March 1955 issue of MIT's student newspaper covering the National Conference on Selectivity and Discrimination in American Universities, held on campus.
Student
Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen: Black Meteorologists in World War II, 2006
Article
2017
Other Researchers
2000s
Other Researchers
2000s
Article
An article documenting the role of MIT-trained Black meteorologists, including Tuskegee Airmen, in advancing WWII weather forecasting and American military aviation.
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